The sonic architecture of Synesthetic Weather is deeply influenced by the traditions of sound art. This section focuses on several sound-based works and artists who have had the greatest impact on the project, including Janet Cardiff, Ryoji Ikeda, Christina Kubisch, Annea Lockwood, and Chris Watson.

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller’s The Forty Part Motet demonstrates how sound can become an architectural material—each speaker functions as a “sonic body,” and audiences navigate among these bodies, pausing and moving through them. This “walkable sound-source embodiment” directly inspired the project’s approach to emotional spatial distribution: Anger, Sadness, Confusion, and Calm are each positioned within the space as sonic presences that feel corporeal, almost like bodies occupying the environment.

Ryoji Ikeda represents a very different but equally powerful lineage—mathematically precise, minimalist sound aesthetics. In works such as Test Pattern and spectra, Ikeda constructs high-intensity psychological experiences using frequency, rhythmic density, and flickering light. His practice demonstrates that emotion does not require narrative or melody; pure sonic parameters are fully capable of generating powerful affective responses. As a result, both the Anger and Calm zones of my installation draw upon Ikeda’s strategies of frequency control, minimalism, and high-definition sonic detail.

Christina Kubisch’s Electrical Walks revealed to me the emotional potential of “invisible sound.” By exposing the hidden electromagnetic noises embedded in urban environments, Kubisch captures a world that is audible but not ordinarily perceivable. This directly inspired the Confusion zone, where drifting, unlocalisable frequencies and low-density noise are used to destabilise visitors’ spatial orientation and create a gentle yet persistent sense of dislocation.

Annea Lockwood’s A Sound Map of the Danube offers a contrasting emotional landscape, shaped through slow unfolding and patient attention to environmental sonic detail. Her work does not narrate, yet it conveys deep emotional resonance. This influenced the Sadness zone through descending glissandi, soft noise textures, and dark-toned sonic layers that together form a sustained, humid, and introspective emotional atmosphere.

Chris Watson’s Storm had a direct impact on the design of the “Noise Storm” in the Anger zone. Through the layering of wind, pressure, and thunderous low frequencies, Watson constructs an immersive meteorological intensity. This guided my decision to use broadband noise, low-frequency rumble, and dynamic surges to simulate an “emotional storm”—one that expands, peaks, and collapses with visceral force.