A Sound Installation by gen ken montgomery
Close your eyes.
Why should sound composing to refer to traditional music instruments? Must there be a visual element to sound? The ice crush-a-matic is a sound making device, along with the rest of them. But Icebreaker is not about instrumentation or composing or presentation. It's about creating an experience through listening. The Icebreaker was used as a starting point to record and manipulate sounds which were then feed through 8 speakers placed in a circle facing the center of a darkened room. You are in the center. There a chair and some cushions but you are free to walk around or do as you please. The room is more than dark. It is black. You can't see your hand in front of your face. Whether you want to close your eyes or not is your choice. The sounds originating from the Icebreaker engulf you. They come from various points in space and move around you, through you, over you, past you. You hear many things and they might be very different from what I hear or what the next person hears. You may detect the sounds of ice being crushed or the huming of the engine but you will hear alot of other things too. And they might remind you of memories or inspire fantasies, you may be freightened or you might get bored.