WINDGATE . 2021

Windgate is a one-of-a-kind musical object, a twisted skyscraper that can be played like an instrument.

Poetic and daring, Windgate sings about the alienation and otherness that skyscraper architecture instils on us.

The piece is a reflection on Melbourne’s CBD skyscraper developments and the effect on the city and its inhabitants during the pandemic.  

The piece takes the shape of a portal, alluding to a mountain or a strange twisted skyscraper and is covered in a tactile and dynamic envelope of fabric blades.

This surface is composed of thin wool fabric blades - fabric strips off-cuts from totems construction - interspersed with acrylic resin and coloured reflective foil - a type of perspex. This blade’s composition forms a pleasant-to-touch, fur-like surface and bursts of colour twist and weaves throughout its surface.

Depending on the viewer’s position the surface changes creating a lenticular effect. The reflective foil surface emerges between blades, appearing to contain a marvel of galaxies, crushed into a microcosm.

A portion of the delicate fabric blades pours down into the void of the portal like stalactites. Reaching into the void to touch chimes like crystals, they sing songs that evolve over time, controlled by custom software.

The sound component of Windgate relies on the movement of a participant‘s hand through the strips of wool partially veiling the entrance to the portal. Feedback is given via ultrasonic sensor, processed by an algorithm and piped through an integrated speaker.

Wind and chimes can be heard, responding to the entering of the portal, evoking crystal caves and windswept peaks. When left alone, Windgate breathes and sighs like the ocean and occasionally quivers and vibrates as though it might be receiving an inter-dimensional telegram.

Windgate aspires to offer a new path of dialogue with a design that brings the body to the centre. The tactile surface of the wool blades and interactive soundscapes open channels of communication with the audience.

Windgate feels like it’s alive, it resonates and vibrates, punctuated with the sound of wind and drone tonalities alluring the viewer to touch and interact. 

In March 2022, Marta Figueiredo, experimental artist and musician Aarti Jadu and musician Jonathon Griggs collaborated to present  “Windgate Sings the City” at MPavillion.

An immersive performance in which the sound of object and human, electronics and voice alternated to dilute boundaries and create connection.

Windgate Sings the City - poem collaboration with Tess Maunder