London-based design studio Reality is__ was tasked to translate the complex world of music NFTs into a physical space, and to create an installation to excite the visitors of Linecheck Festival. //REFRACTED SOUND was conceived as a spatial translation of blockchain technology, symbolising the combination of physical and digital worlds. By unifying scenography, multimedia, and audience engagement, Reality is__ created a unique experience to educate visitors about NFTs as a new music format.

Showcasing NFTs in a physical experience involved taking the intangible and making it visually striking. Everything from the choice of material to the direction of the visual content was steered towards portraying a duality between digital and physical, attempting to create an entirely novel event for passionate music fans, showcasing NFTs in a playful environment.

Alongside the music NFT platform Brots, and featuring artists from Asian Fake, an independent record label, //REFRACTED SOUND provided a visceral listening experience for the audience: The design worked around architectural columns to cleverly divide the installation into three distinct listening booths, each of which brought to life songs from one of three featured artists: GINEVRA, Deriansky and ALDA. The songs were accompanied by stunning visual content unified by the creative concept “Blurred Boundaries” and created ad-hoc for the event. This concept and the content highlighted the increasingly blurred line between the way humans experience digital and physical environments. Inside the listening booths, sound dampening material was used to help deliver high quality audio to the listener by blocking out external noises. An infinity mirror effect within each booth created a surreal environment to totally focus the visitor’s attention on the artist’s work.

Surrounding the booths, Reality is__ used a grid of plinths or ‘blocks’ to portray blockchain technology in physical space. Dichroic acrylic was used for the plinths to refract sunlight, giving the installation its name, and washing the space with a spectrum of vibrant colours which subtly changed the environment throughout the day. The colourful translucent material referenced the transparent exchanges and transactions that are unique to the blockchain. This material alongside the repetition of regular elements gave a lightness to the surroundings whilst unifying the space, immersing the visitor in a simultaneously individual and collective experience. Using every detail to reference NFT technology, binary code on each block spelled out MUSIC NFT, with the whole space arranged for visitors to ‘step into the blockchain’ and discover the music of the featured artists within each booth.

//REFRACTED SOUND 2.0 is currently in the works, with the original exhibition in storage, ready to be reused in the summer of 2023 to extend the life of an otherwise temporary experience.