Cooper McBean – Caustic Room

A series of tones are played randomly through an set of 5 resonant panels, producing an evolving audio environment. This is captured via microphone and fed to a transducer which excites the surface of an illuminated pool at the center of the space. The resulting reflections, or “caustics” provide the sole source of light in the room. As the sound of the space is fed live into the water, the viewer may “play” the room by adding their own sounds.

Cooper McBean (born 1980 in Brattleboro, VT) is a musician, artist, bookbinder, juggler, woodworker, and dungeon master, who lives in Austin, TX with a human, 2 dogs, a fish, and 5 chickens.  He has no formal training in any of the above activities.