1968
In March 1968, Max Neuhaus conducted a pioneering experiment in Toronto that marked a significant milestone in his transition from percussionist to sound artist. This work is historically linked to his "Public Supply" series, in which he began using radio and telephone networks as instruments.
Neuhaus employed a special mixing and grouping control system that allowed him to move sound quickly and dynamically. It was his first use of this specific technical setup to manipulate live audio feeds.
Networked aesthetics: The Toronto experiment was a precursor to his more famous Public Supply projects (such as the 1973 Chicago version), in which he moved from "guerrilla" work with radio stations to a more consolidated exploration of providing audiences with "special instruments" to play with their own voices over the telephone.
This period (1968) is widely cited as the moment when Neuhaus ceased performing as a musician to devote himself entirely to "sound installations," a term he coined to describe his site-specific, non-visual artworks. Context within E.A.T.: This work coincided with his growing involvement in the Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) movement and his research residency at Bell Laboratories, where he focused on the "creation" of sound rather than its representation.
This residency in Toronto provided the technical proof of concept for the interactive, mass-media sound works that would define his career throughout the 1970s.