Sonic Mountain (Sonoma) is situated within Donum’s lush eucalyptus grove. Mimicking a wind chime, Doug Aitken’s installation responds to changes in the surrounding environment and creates patterns of sound as wind moves through it. As a living and interactive artwork, Sonic Mountain (Sonoma) explores the fluidity of time by creating a continuously evolving experience that is activated by the surrounding landscape.
On September 7, the installation was activated by multimedia artist Hisham Akira Bharoocha and 20 percussionists at dusk. Audience members tasted wines from the vineyard and sat on benches as they watched the performance from cozy, blanketed benches. Once the sun had fully set, all were invited to stand in close proximity to the installation, and experience the performance in a more intimate, ritualistic setting. Standing there in the sonic radius of two concentric circles of graduated steel rods, surrounded by a dense canopy of eucalyptus trees, a pulse was shared between a few dozen strangers for one late summer night in the Sonoma Valley.