About

Gary Raymond’s use of sound as an integral element challenges fine arts dominance by the visual sense. Raymond pushes this dominance off base by playfully forcing the viewer to process unexpected sound elements, changing the expected interpretation of his art pieces. Raymond illuminates the interplay between inanimate and articulate expression with his 3D works. His pieces are designed to create new perceptions about who we are and how we define ourselves in relation to the industrial objects society creates. 

Gary Raymond first explored Sound-Art in 1979 with an “Audio Playground” design for Disneyland’s 360 Degree Theatre Preshow. Primarily involved in sound design for public events, in the 1980’s Gary experimented with electronic music composer Steve Roach in the presentation of abstract music for public spaces

“In exploring the relationship between vision and sound; I use the juxtaposition of these elements to create the ‘Uncanny Valley’ in our perception. This is where familiar objects and sound are combined in a way to create unfamiliar feelings, causing us to think and react with greater awareness to things we take for granted. My Bliss comes from exploring these relationships” GR.

Gary Raymond’s sculptures are Audiointeractive, Audiostatic, Audiomobile, and Audiomuted.

Audiomobile, first conceived in 1998, was inspired by Alexander Calder, combining Mobiles with Audio that moved from speaker to speaker, a logical extension of Calder’s fascination with movement. Modern digital sound technology allowed the addition of this element not previously available.

Audiostatic, the logical parallel of Calder's Stabile concept has non mobile physical elements with stationary or moving sound. The word Static of course adds fun to the concept with the double entendre meaning of stationary (English for the French stabile) and attention getting sound.

Audiointeractive, a new and original concept, allows the view/listener to co-create the sound art experience.

With Gary Raymond’s Audiomuted, having first experienced his Audiointeractive, Audiostatic, and Audiomobile pieces, the viewer’s brain is programmed to expect a sound element. Audiomuted is the decontructionist version where the viewer involuntarily fills in their own imaginary soundscape based on experiences with the previous sound art pieces.