Designer Transforms Home into Both Musical Instruments & Architecture

Artist and designer, Doug Aitken is one of many artists who are showing the world their innovations and artistic endeavors in virtual tours during the COVID-19 health pandemic. The videos of his digital roadtrips show his creative processes and their final results.

The videos are translated like short films and shot in various locations. In the 5th video in his series, called Sound On (!), he transforms his home into an interactive musical playground in Venice, California.

The artist and his friends perform at the house using the instruments he created within his residences furniture and fixtures. The nickname for his approach to design and his artistic philosophy is called “Acid Modernism.” Modernism being the strategic and analytical approach to architecture including functional elements and manufactured materials. Acid being the experimentative and enhanced experience through stimulation, interaction and multi-sensory observations.

The artist designed two tables that double as both functional furniture and musical instruments. One is comprised of slices of tuned marble slabs. The other is made of wooden chambers created to produce a percussion sound. The staircase in the residence is made of wood and each step has a hidden microphone amplifying a series of musical notes when visitors walk up and down it.

This musical playhouse combines the fun and engaging process of making music combined with the practical uses of furniture and fixtures inside of a home.