Art Meets Tech as RAC and 72U Collaborate on Musical Poster

Wall art is seen, not heard and never played with. That is, until now. 72andSunny’s creative residency 72U has designed a Musical Poster, a piece of artwork with embedded sensors, that creates music when touched and invites people to play music at the intersection of art and technology. To introduce the auditory wall art, 72U invited Cherrytree Records recording artist/producer RAC aka André Allen Anjos, to compose an original track on the Musical Poster.

The Musical Poster can be played “acoustically” on a wall or in the performer’s lap, or be hooked up to an amp, as RAC demonstrates in 72U’s short film. In either mode, the Musical Poster facilitates an artistic collaboration between the designer and the performer -- breaking down barriers inherently constructed in traditional art pieces.

Musical Poster Demo w. RAC from 72U on Vimeo.

"72U’s Musical Poster explores the future of music making, which is something that’s very important to me,” said André Allen Anjos. “It's easy to take a finished song for granted, but the process of getting there is often just as exciting as the finished product."

The Musical Poster is built on the principles of visual art and user interface design, ensuring that the Poster’s face is intuitive and still valid on its own as an artform. By touching eight different areas on the Musical Poster, the performer can toggle with individual musical loops, creating a myriad of unique blends. The performer can express their personal style by activating the capacitive pads and turning the knobs on the side of the poster to adjust the frequency and waveform of a loop.

“Art is typically not meant to be touched. It’s relegated to a wall for appreciation at a distance,” said Ben Snell, the 20-year-old technologist behind the Musical Poster. “With the Musical Poster, we created an object that begs us closer, that turns viewers into participants and encourages a conversation between creator and performer.”