Nature is the ultimate example of optimization, efficiency, and beauty. For 4.5 billion years, Earth has evolved by finding the best solutions to every challenge, creating immense biodiversity. Humans once lived in synergy with this system, until we began shaping the environment to our needs through technology, often in conflict with nature. The more we distance ourselves from it, the greater the environmental cost, which directly impacts our own evolution. We urgently need a radical change in how we live and interact with our surroundings.
But how can we return to living in balance with our planet and with ourselves? We believe it is possible to find the answer by observing nature and understanding its principles.
From the macrocosmos to the microcosmos, in mathematics, visual arts, and music, we can find recurring patterns expressed in different forms. These proportions resonate in our minds, creating a pleasant sensation and a sense of harmony. Simple harmonic relations, whether visual or acoustic, are more easily perceived by the brain and can even positively influence our emotions.This inspired us to explore the relationship between our visual and acoustic perceptions, with a focus on harmony.
To achieve this, we designed interactive devices grounded in physical principles and modern technologies, capable of stimulating the observer to experience a unified sense of space and time.
“There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres.”
Pythagoras
When exploring the connection between mathematics and music, one inevitably returns to the ancient Greeks. For them, music was linked to religion, cosmogony, and social life. At one point, celestial orbits, the composition of matter, time, and the origin of the universe were all explained through musical harmony.
Pythagoras (c. 569–475 BC), known as the founder of musical theory, dedicated himself to uncovering mathematical patterns in music. He discovered that the most pleasing musical relationships correspond to simple mathematical ratios and identified the harmonic intervals currently known as Pythagorean intervals or Tetrachord: the octave, the fifth and the fourth (2: 1, 3: 2, 4: 3). He developed a theory that all musical intervals were related by integer ratios and concluded, that all nature consists of harmony arising from numbers.
The first intervals consist of the root or octave (2:1), the fifth (3:2), the fourth (4:3), and the third (5:4 or 6:5). These intervals form the basis of the pentatonic scale, which transcends both geography and time. The pentatonic scale has been found all over the world: in Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, African, and North and South American music, as well as in blues and jazz, where it is easily recognizable.
The diagram above displays the mathematical relationships between the frequencies of the A minor pentatonic scale. The geometric relationship between the upper and lower curves is directly related to the musical interval being played. For example, when playing in the interface the pad corresponding to D′, the fourth of the second octave, the motor lifts the stripe, creating two curves in a 3-to-4 relationship (comparing the distance between the upper and lower points of each curve), since A′ is in a 3:4 ratio to D.
The interface can be activated by any visitor. Each pad sets a motor in motion—first pad, first motor; second pad, second motor—establishing a sequence that unfolds like a timeline. The stripe’s center shifts upward or downward in direct response to pitch: higher tones raise it, lower tones lower it. The duration of each sound determines how long the stripe remains suspended at a given height. Through this interaction, the notes shape a constantly evolving visual pattern, unpredictable visual performance born from sound.
These harmonic relationships, present in countless cultures throughout history, generate pleasant sensations and manifest as beauty to both the ear and the eye. This experience awakens our curiosity and drives us to continue exploring the link between vision and sound, with the intention of materializing it in an interactive device capable of providing a unique aesthetic and multisensory experience.
In essence, Sound Wave functions as a counterbalance to digital excess. By containing abstract acoustic phenomena in a tactile, sensory, and contemplative form, it represents a vital analog resistance within an era defined by hyper-digital saturation.
But it is important to emphasize that the work does not position technology as a negative aspect. On the contrary, the piece exists thanks to digital interfaces and electronic systems. Rather than trapping the audience within screens or purely virtual spaces, technology here is translated into a physical, spatial, and sensorial form.
Digital processes generate the structure, the result is pure materiality and sensory interaction. In this sense, the installation does not reject technology. Instead, it reveals how digital tools, when employed critically and poetically, can become a bridge between the digital data and the great gift of human perception.
