The Isle Is Full of Noises, An Immersive Revision

By: Autumn Walters

“Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises” serves as both a quote by Caliban from Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” and the main inspiration of Michael Century’s installation, “The Isle Is Full of Noises”. The experience begins as we enter a dark room with six spotlights in a corner, each shining on a spot that is either empty or populated by a chair or bean bag. Music fills the room, a compilation of voices and sounds coming together to create an otherworldly auditory experience that varies at different points in the room. In one corner is Michael Century, himself, next to a screen displaying the music editing software he is using as he manipulates and molds his ethereal song.

This avante garde installation is a recreation of the island described in “The Tempest”, a story which served as Shakespeare’s response to the knowledge of imperialist explorers in the Caribbean Islands. Characters Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, find themselves on an “isle of noises” and meet the monstrous being, Caliban, who introduces them to the island. Caliban can be seen as a representation of the indigenous Caribbean people and the island, the Caribbean islands. Century aims immerse us in the sensory glory that is the “isle of noises” through the use of Wave Field Synthesis speaker arrays to create a spatialized sound that travels around the room. The music includes the voices of actors, Kevin Craig West and Erica Tryon, as the characters Caliban and Miranda describing the sounds heard on the island as well as recordings of animals and birds.

Overall, the experience is calming and the movement of sounds in the space feels organic as if alive. I enjoyed the fact that you could experience different aspects of the audio from anywhere in the room, a result of the Wave Field Synthesis speaker arrays. The sounds themselves successfully reflect the foreign and mystical aspect of discovering a new place and capture the wonder of the island itself. The addition of the screen showing the musical software works to tie the audience into the context of the piece itself. Seeing music tracks labeled “Caliban”, “Miranda”, “Vowels”, “Animals” and “Birds” connects us back to the idea of the “isle of noises” and “The Tempest” and watching these tracks being manipulated by Century gives us some insight into his thought process.

Where I find this installation lacking the most is in its visuals or lack thereof. The audio works wonderfully to connect the audience to this vision of the island using sounds inspired by “The Tempest”, but visually there is nothing that connects back to the story besides the screen with the tracks which would still be considered auditory. There are chairs arranged and spotlighted, but what form of significance do the chairs, themselves, have? What does their inclusion do to amplify the immersive qualities of the installation besides providing a place to sit? The spotlights are there to highlight particular areas where the sound is most present, but I feel as though they could have been used for mood lighting to give more of a visual sense of this new space. This installation is currently only immersive auditory-wise, but by adding and tying in visual elements that relate to the concept, it can become a multi-sensory experience.

The other issue I found with the piece is the lack of a proper introduction to the context of the “Isle of Noises”. We have the option to read pamphlets offered with some background information on the origin of the quote “The Isle Is Full of Noises”, but that’s not a mandatory part of the experience. You are not required to read the pamphlet, but by not doing so you have no understanding of how this installation draws from its source material. There needs to be a mandatory alternative to the pamphlets that clues in the audience to the artist’s inspiration because without context, the “isle full of noises” is just a room of sounds.