Each block is associated with several different but related clips for each mood and rotating the block will select which of those clips is playing. When the table is in a particular mood, the sounds of the blocks work together (ie. they are in time/key etc.). When the table’s mood changes, the sounds of the blocks change gradually (as does the tempo of the piece). Eventually, all the blocks settle into a new mood where everything works together again, but in the changeover things can be quite chaotic and interesting hybrids are created which are different every time.

The actual clips are very varied in type and length and there are about 200 in all, but they are all united by having been recorded by a handheld microphone in the workshop itself (and its grounds) with deliberate disregard to any extraneous noise created by people working. Some of the blocks are locked to tempo, so placing a block down or rotating may not have an effect instantly. Others are free running so there is an instant response. (There is no muting/unmuting of already playing tracks going on here.) If a block isn’t touched for a while, it goes to sleep and fades out, so the table gradually becomes quiet when no-one is playing with it. When the blocks are moved again they wake up.

Finally, the position of the block on the table controls the apparent location of the sound through quadraphonic panning, which seems to strongly enhance the physical sensation of controlling the music.

The blocks themselves have labels printed on them to make them appear like packaging for mundane things you might find at a workshop at first glance. At second glance, some appear to contain impossible or incongruous objects. The sounds a box makes relates to the packaging in more or less obscure ways…

In the gallery, we give no explanations or introductions, so the real fun of this project has been to see how people interact with it!