Cadence

Cadence is a responsive sound sculpture comprised of organ pipes reclaimed from a historical building in Hamilton and constructed wind and action systems. There are three main traditional components: the air supply, bellows, and pipes. However, these elements have been realized in an unconventional way, creating an instrument that behaves more like a being than something being played. Cadence, by its very nature, draws on the long history of idiosyncratic handmade instruments, built not for prestige, but for auditory company. An instrument is viewed as an extension of the body, acting as a natural mediator between subjective experience and physical reality. While Cadence navigates this space as a part-instrument, it also occupies space as a sensory being, both hearing and feeling. This balance brings up the essential nature of creaturehood, as a thing that has been made and also as a thing exists in its own self. When thinking of it as a being, the airflow becomes a near-continuous audible sigh. According to Nicola Masciandaro in his essay “Miracle of the Sigh,” the sigh is what unites us, occupying the space between the actual and ideal, marking reality itself as open, “spontaneously expanding without limit.” It is this in-between where Cadence resides, sounding – sighing -- in response.

Cadence is a collaborative project by Maria Simmons and Joshua MacDonald. It was generous funded by the Ontario Arts Council and supported by Factory Media Centre.