Forget London’s Fabric or the Balearics’ Space Ibiza, the quest for audio perfection has reached its peak. Proving that size really does matter, the UK’s largest horn loudspeaker will be the centrepiece of a new art installation at the Science Museum exploring humankind’s ongoing search for pure, matchless audio experiences. The Exponential Horn: In Search of Perfect Sound opening 20 May, will feature a reconstruction of a 1929 loudspeaker horn, designed by the Museum’s then Curator of Communications, Roderick Denman to produce the widest possible frequency range. The sound artist behind the project, Aleks Kolkowski, has lined up a programme of music, spoken word, archive radio footage, sound art and live broadcasts with collaborators including BBC Radio 3, Resonance FM and the Royal College of Music. The Denman Horn has been badged as an ‘audio dinosaur’ alongside the results of today’s vogue for miniaturisation, with the colossal instrument measures a whopping 27ft in length with a 7ft 1in square.
Kolkowski said of the horn: “This audio leviathan, seemingly primed and ready to blast through the museum walls, instead offers up a uniquely immersive aural experience, one in which sounds and voices from the past and present converge.” For more about the giant horn, visit the Science Museum website.
