Wind Ensemble

The Bentway, Toronto. May 24 – October 6, 2024

Participatory audio installation

Windsocks, powder coated aluminum with pick-up mics and sensors, speakers

Technical direction Driftnote

Vocals Neema Bickersteth, Peg Evans, Fides Krucker, Alex Rand,  Stephen Michael Spencer, Taurien Teelucksingh

Rippling through the enormous concrete columns under the Gardiner Expressway, wind, sounds, and the vibrations of the city are a formidable set of site conditions to respond to. Commissioned as part of The Bentway’s 2024 season “Softness”, my aspiration was to invite the public to pause and connect to the natural and built environment -  and to one another -  through observation, listening, and play. 

Moving like a group of dancers, brightly coloured windsocks flew overhead, bringing visual form to the speed and direction of the wind. Soothing wind chimes echoed throughout the bioswale below, while six colourful “whisper cone” forms invited visitors to participate. Their vocal expressions triggered the sounds of an ethereal choral ensemble. If interaction concurred with friends or strangers on different cones across the installation, additional layers of singing were heard in ever changing arrangements. Through the blending of air movement, sound, and human interactions, Wind Ensemble was an unexpected offer of respite, pleasure and belonging, amplified by the dazzling scale of The Bentway.