By Brigid Costello, Alyssa Rotwell and Alastair MacInnes

Play @ beta_space is a special exhibit particularly designed for the younger audiences of the Powerhouse Museum. It brings together two playful interactive animations that invite audiences to discover music in unexpected and everyday places.

The installation involves two interactive works; Resonating Residences, a playful interpretation of a block of flats as a musical instrument; and Sprung!, a musical toy made out of animated springs and soap bubbles. In both works the audience uses sensors in the floor to control computer animations and the music they create.

Resonating Residences is created by artist Alyssa Rothwell.  The work is inspired by a realisation that our neighbours can be recognised by the sounds that resonate through floors wall ceilings and doors.

Sprung! is created by artists  Brigid Costello and Alastair MacInnes.  The work was created whilst Brigid was a resident at the JAIST Nishimoto lab in Japan. Inspired by this experience, the music produced by the work is based on a Japanese pentatonic scale known as the Hirajoshi.