Project Overview
Terracoustics is a sculptural sound project that reimagines terracotta as a living, acoustic body. Blending terracotta with sound technology, the work transforms hand-built earthen forms into resonant chambers that emit, absorb, and remember sound. Drawing inspiration from India’s sonic architectural heritage, such as the whispering domes of Agra Fort or the vaulted acoustics of Gol Gumbaz the project, explores how voids, not solids, shape sonic experience. Using real-time sound interactions, each sculpture becomes a responsive organism. Sounds emerge not from external sources but from the tuned geometry of the clay itself. By collapsing boundaries between craft and code, Terracoustics invites audiences into a tactile, intimate mode of listening. It is both an artistic and cultural inquiry into how space, material, and memory resonate, inviting silence, vibration, and breath as tools of engagement.
Expected Impact
Bridges cultural heritage and innovation by translating India’s ancient sonic architecture into contemporary interactive sculpture. Revives and transforms terracotta craft into a technologically integrated, acoustically alive medium. Preserves hand-building traditions while enhancing them with data sonification, sensors, and bone conductors. Expands artistic discourse by treating sound as a sculptural material rather than an external addition. Advances technological exploration in acoustic simulation, sensor-based interactivity, and generative audio systems. Fosters cross-disciplinary dialogue between art, architecture, sound design, and digital fabrication. Creates immersive, tactile listening spaces.
Applicant Background
Gitanjali Poluru is a multidisciplinary artist, her practice explores the intersections of sound, memory, and form. She completed her Masters in Fine Arts from Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence and Bachelor's in Sculpture from Maharaja Sayajirao University Baroda. Her works include sculpture, interactive installations, and sonic experiments, mainly delving into the unseen and unheard translating fleeting movements, architectural echoes, and emotional residues into tactile experiences. She investigates how space and sound shape perception.