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Bruce Odland

Bruce Odland

Sonic Thinker · Artist · Composer

  • ABOUT
    • Bio
    • CV
      • Sound Installation
      • Sonic Architecture
      • Performance
      • Theater
      • Film
  • PROJECTS
    • Sound Installation
    • Sonic Architecture
    • Performance
    • Theater
    • Film
    • The Tank
    • Odland & Auinger (O+A)
      Bruce Odland (O) New York + Sam Auinger (A) Berlin, have been working together for over 30 years, developing a Hearing Perspective of the world we live in. They make installations in public space to encourage people to “think with their ears”.
    • Early Works
  • SOUND THINKING
    • Interviews & Podcasts
    • Seminars & Presentations
    • Writing
  • PRESS
  • CONTACT

Odland & Auinger (O+A)

Sound artists Bruce Odland from New York and Sam Auinger from Berlin, have been working together for over 30 years. They’ve developed a Hearing Perspective of the world we live in. They make installations in public space to encourage people to “think with their ears”. O+A have a dedicated site.

Harmonic Gate, O+A, 2020

Harmonic Gate, O+A, 2020

This Sound Installation by Bruce Odland and Sam Auinger for Europaallee in Zurich opened in September of 2020.  Three “soundstone” loudspeakers play back city noise that has been transformed into a soundfield of harmony.  It all happens in real-time.  Harmonic … continue reading

Posted on July 8, 2021July 8, 2021Categories Featured Projects, Installation, Odland & Auinger (O+A), Sonic Architecture

Reflections on the Sonic Commons

LEOMJ19_pp063-068

Credit: Leonardo Music Journal 19 (2019)

download pdf… continue reading

Posted on February 22, 2019February 25, 2019Categories Odland & Auinger (O+A), Philosophy, Writing
Requiem for Fossil Fuel

Requiem for Fossil Fuel

O+A, Thessaloniki, documenta 14, 2017

O+A performed their Requiem, as part of documenta 14, in the Rotunda of Galerius (300AD), Thessaloniki Greece.  The acoustics were perfect.

“Orchestra of City resonances” by Sam Auinger played live. Audience surrounded virtuoso singers:  Sarah … continue reading

Posted on September 27, 2017February 28, 2019Categories Featured Projects, Odland & Auinger (O+A), Performance
Harmonic Bridge: 1998-present

Harmonic Bridge: 1998-present

In 1997, before MASSMoCA opened, Director Joe Thompson decided to activate the town of North Adams with sound art.

O+A noticed that the town and museum were divided by Highway 2 overpass, and the resulting road noise coming from the … continue reading

Posted on July 7, 2017February 26, 2019Categories Early Works, Installation, Odland & Auinger (O+A)
Tonic

Tonic

O+A, West Hollywood

A real time sound installation that transforms street noise into harmonic sounds from the bus stop at the south-east corner of the intersection, creating a psycho-acoustic effect in public space in real time. The sound of traffic … continue reading

Posted on July 2, 2017February 28, 2019Categories Installation, Odland & Auinger (O+A), Press
Harmonic Conduit

Harmonic Conduit

Harmonic Conduit links two communities in Boston. Northeastern University and Lower Roxbury now connect through sound art in the Ruggles Station.

Odland and Auinger (O+A) tap into the soundscapes of each community, choosing recording locations that highlight economic disparity. The … continue reading

Posted on July 1, 2017February 25, 2019Categories Installation, Odland & Auinger (O+A)
Symphony of Resonances

Symphony of Resonances

O+A, Thessaloniki, documenta 14, 2017

Tuning the Ruins played in the ruins of the Palace of Galarius, an emperor who once ruled all of the Roman Empire. Today the ruins sprawl three blocks in between 60s and 70s apartment buildings. … continue reading

Posted on July 1, 2017February 25, 2019Categories Installation, Odland & Auinger (O+A), Sonic Architecture
Quiet is the New Loud

Quiet is the New Loud

O+A, Brugges Triennale, 2015

O+A were invited by the festival curators to create a large scale sound installation for the city center of Brugges, Belgium. They decided to bring to attention the city’s remarkable quietude In this noisy world, quiet … continue reading

Posted on May 24, 2015February 25, 2019Categories Featured Projects, Odland & Auinger (O+A)
my eyes…..my ears……

my eyes…..my ears……

O+A explore the politics of the senses – the offer made to our eyes and ears by the world our culture has built. This searing 40 minute performance is both a critique of urban design and a call to action.… continue reading

Posted on February 21, 2015February 25, 2019Categories Odland & Auinger (O+A), Performance, Sonic Architecture
Sonic Vista

Sonic Vista

O+A, Frankfurt, Germany 2011 – to present

For the 20th anniversary of Frankfurt Germany’s famed greenbelt, O+A created a real-time sound installation on a historic railroad bridge over the Main River.  They transformed the sounds of the city into harmony, … continue reading

Posted on October 24, 2011February 26, 2019Categories Featured Projects, Odland & Auinger (O+A), Sonic Architecture
Composing a Symphony of the Streets

Composing a Symphony of the Streets

Wall Street Journal – Steve Dollar

Two musicians combine the noises of the city and a traditional mass for a modern urban soundscape.

Source: Composing a Symphony of the Streets… continue reading

Posted on November 12, 2010May 12, 2019Categories Odland & Auinger (O+A), Press

Sounds of the city: urban noise hits right note

Irish Times

TWO COMPOSERS have found a way to take the discordant “soundscape” of a city and turn it into a form of music. It transforms the buzz of cars, aircraft and clatter of light railways into tones that have … continue reading

Posted on July 6, 2010February 25, 2019Categories Odland & Auinger (O+A), Press
City Ears, 1996, O+A

City Ears, 1996, O+A

For the MANCA Festival in Nice, France, Bruce Odland and Sam Auinger (O+A) created an architectural sound performance.

Custom parabolic speakers beamed sound which bounced off the iconic Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art building. Sonic reflections were distinctly perceptible … continue reading

Posted on February 20, 1996February 24, 2019Categories Early Works, Odland & Auinger (O+A), Performance, Sonic Architecture
StadTraum, 1991, O+A

StadTraum, 1991, O+A

For the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s death, Bruce Odland and Sam Auinger created a performance installation, StadTraum. It was a composition in four movements performed at the heart of Salzburg. An audience of 20,000 attended. Sound came from mountaintops, … continue reading

Posted on June 29, 1991February 25, 2019Categories Early Works, Odland & Auinger (O+A), Performance
Garden of Time-Dreaming, 1990, O+A

Garden of Time-Dreaming, 1990, O+A

In honor of astronomer Johannes Kepler, O+A created a sound cosmology, Garden of Time Dreaming. On the 400th anniversary of the city of Linz in Austria, this cosmology played throughout the gardens of the Castle of Linz. 400,000 visitors … continue reading

Posted on May 20, 1990February 24, 2019Categories Early Works, Installation, Odland & Auinger (O+A)
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