The Light That Entangles

Steve Symons

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

The Light That Entangles (TLTE) is a musical instrument-based installation for up to three players where participants are encouraged to immerse themselves in the experience of being together, rather than focusing on their individual musical expression. Unlike many NIMEs, this work does not sense individual players actions and map them to control functions. Rather, the interface itself is a physical sound synthesis system that suggests its own emergent interactions. Handheld objects constantly send and receive multiple sources of audio-encoded light that is shared when the objects are brought into proximity (see figure fig_tlte_studio). It is here, where the emerging shared light field is de-coded and the audio transmitted to a mixer for amplification, that the installation creates sound. Rotating an object, or changing its relative position to the others, changes the nature of the light-broadcast information that is both sent and received to nearby interfaces. Thus any action reforms both the potential for all subsequent players’ actions as well as the listening experience. In this way, the interface-synthesis integration creates a field of entanglement within which the players constantly co-constitute the materiality of the shared audio-encoded light and the agency of their co-players. The participants are quite literally playing and listening to the light that entangles them.

Citation

Steve Symons. 2026. The Light That Entangles. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20782045 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_music_6,
 abstract = {The Light That Entangles (TLTE) is a musical instrument-based installation for up to three players where participants are encouraged to immerse themselves in the experience of being together, rather than focusing on their individual musical expression. Unlike many NIMEs, this work does not sense individual players actions and map them to control functions. Rather, the interface itself is a physical sound synthesis system that suggests its own emergent interactions. Handheld objects constantly send and receive multiple sources of audio-encoded light that is shared when the objects are brought into proximity (see figure fig_tlte_studio). It is here, where the emerging shared light field is de-coded and the audio transmitted to a mixer for amplification, that the installation creates sound. Rotating an object, or changing its relative position to the others, changes the nature of the light-broadcast information that is both sent and received to nearby interfaces. Thus any action reforms both the potential for all subsequent players’ actions as well as the listening experience. In this way, the interface-synthesis integration creates a field of entanglement within which the players constantly co-constitute the materiality of the shared audio-encoded light and the agency of their co-players. The participants are quite literally playing and listening to the light that entangles them.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {6},
 author = {Steve Symons},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20782045},
 editor = {Lia Mice and Nicole Robson and Tara Pattenden},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {Installation},
 numpages = {6},
 pages = {17--22},
 presentation-video = {https://vimeo.com/1054465606},
 title = {The Light That Entangles},
 track = {Music},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_music_6.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}