diploma project

Buddhism Through Sounds

Objective: using musical instruments, devise a means to initiate thought processes to know more about Buddhism, its philosophy and practices.

Research included surfing for different instruments and branches of Buddhism. Monasteries at Sikkim, Dharamsala, Ladakh were visited and monks and scholars interviewed. Various publications were studied. A few explorations like interactive website, comic strips, mirror installations and an installation having stencil tracing for interaction, were considered. The last one was finalised.

To get the required output, different electronic sensors were tried and a final box design was selected. As the cover is opened, chanting is heard. By tracing the instrument stencil on each layer, its sound gets added. As the final layer is opened, all sounds stop; only breathing is heard. The box is an attempt to depict that all instruments are just different accessories for meditation and ultimately the practitioner concentrates on breathing. Deliverables comprised an interactivesound artefact.

class room project

Sounds of the past