Music Box
location: New York, NY
date: 2005
contact: hMa | hanrahan Meyers architects LLP
In 2005 hanrahanMeyers architects (hMa) were commissioned by sound artist and composer Michael Schumacher to design a ‘music box’ to contain the computer hard drive for sound installations by various New York sound artists and composers. hMa designed an anamorphic cube for this purpose: a geometric figure that incorporates into its design the fourth dimension of time. The Box is a warped cube with a lid that opens to reveal computer guts from above, with a control area in front for sound controls. The Box is currently on view and for listening at Diapason Gallery in New York.
HMa sees the Music Box as an investigation into the phenomenon of sound waves, part of the office’s ongoing investigations into natural phenomena. HMa is an atelier with an experimental component. The office supports ongoing investigations into materials of nature, including sound and light waves. As all materials are essentially wave elements of nature, sound is considered as relevant a material for investigation as steel, wood or glass.
In the Music Box sandblasted wood finished with white lacquer meets sound waves to create an anamorphic cube. The cube is shaped in response to wood, and also to sound.