Sennheiser Technology Enables Visitors to Experience a Unique, Multi-Faceted Journey of the Artist’s Sound and Style
It was announced yesterday that on September 23rd, the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition makes its U.S. debut at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). The exhibition, meticulously curated by the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London, explores the incredibly diverse work of one of the greatest artists of our time. For each of the exhibits, including the MCA exhibit coming to Chicago in September, V&A has partnered with audio specialist Sennheiser to ensure the best possible audio experience for visitors.
‘David Bowie Is’, which has already been experienced by more than half a million visitors around the world during its recent visits to London, Berlin, Sao Paulo and Toronto, is an artistic and technical marvel that covers the entire expanse of Bowie’s luminous career: from Ziggy Stardust to Aladdin Sane and beyond. By leveraging Sennheiser’s audio expertise, including its guidePORT technology and 3D immersive sound simulation equipment, visitors are left with an unforgettable sound and style experience that explores the very essence of David Bowie. Sennheiser’s guidePORT expert Robert Genereux is on site to install and configure the system at MCA.
David Bowie’s career is marked by continual re-invention, intellectual depth, musical inno-vation, striking visual presentation and unwavering artistic integrity. The exhibition takes visitors on a sonic and visual journey, retracing his creativity and influences from all areas of his art using a wealth of material — including videos, stage costumes, album covers, stage sets, photographs and of course his music. To develop the exhibit, curators Victoria Broackes (V&A) and Geoffrey Marsh were given unprecedented access to the David Bow-ie Archive, consisting of more than 70,000 pieces.
Striped bodysuit for Aladdin Sane tour, 1973
Design by Kansai Yamamoto
Photograph by Masayoshi Sukita
Sukita / The David Bowie Archive 2012
An Unprecedented Marriage of Art and TechnologyIn preparation for their sonic and visual journey, each museum visitor is given a pair of Sennheiser headphones and a guidePORT receiver — enabling them to walk freely into 25 different ‘display zones.’. Inside a control room behind the scenes, Sennheiser is constantly broadcasting 25 live audio streams through transmitters that are perfectly mapped to the floor plan of the exhibit. Each time a visitor walks towards a different display, the relevant audio stream activates, broadcasting high quality audio through corresponding antennas located nearby. Small trigger units called ‘identifiers’ located throughout the exhibit are able to recognize the geo-location of each visitor and pick up the appropriate audio stream.
In addition to the pristine streaming audio occuring throughout the exhibit, visitors are also invited to experience an extraordinary 3D audio spectacle, consisting of Bowie concerts from over the years and an exclusive ‘mash up’ of his songs, created by Tony Visconti, Bowie’s long-time producer. The immersive audio experience is made possible by a spe-cial 3D upmix algorithm created by Gregor Zielinsky, Sennheiser’s International Recording Applications Manager, and the experience is delivered through an array of hidden loud-speakers from Neumann — a Sennheiser subsidiary.
‘David Bowie Is’ is groundbreaking not only as an interactive exhibition of one of the great-est artists of our time, but also in how it integrates Sennheiser technology throughout the overall experience. This is another example of how Sennheiser has been a driving force in the innovation of sound since 1945 and routinely supports innovators and artists all around the world.
Using Sennheiser’s guidePORT receivers,
visitors of the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibit are able to experience
pristine streaming audio throughout the exhibit.
The Sennheiser Group based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, was founded in 1945 and has gone on to become a leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Sales in 2013 totaled 590.4 million euros. Sennheiser em-ploys more than 2,500 staff worldwide and operates plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA. The company has a worldwide network of subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Bel-gium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Rus-sia, Hongkong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Mex-ico, and the USA. It also has long-established trading partners in other countries. Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin, a maker of studio microphones and monitor speakers, and Sennheiser Communications A/S, a joint venture making headsets for PCs, offices and call centers, are also part of the Sennheiser Group.
More up-to-date information about Sennheiser is available on the Internet at www.sennheiser.com.
Cover photo:
Album cover shoot for Aladdin Sane, 1973
Design by Brian Duffy and Celia Philo, make up by Pierre La Roche
Photograph by Brian Duffy – Duffy Archive
Source: Press Release
