Capitol News

Michigan State University (MSU) has introduced a new app-based installation called "Art Moves MSU" that aims to connect visitors, students, and the community to its campus through music. The installation utilizes a series of beacons along the Red Cedar River trail and various locations around campus to create a generative sonic experience for users.

The app allows participants to transform their daily walks across campus into immersive musical journeys. It is activated when users pass by these beacons, offering a unique "choose your own adventure" of sound. Chisa Yamaguchi, senior manager and producer with SOZO, an international contemporary arts agency involved in bringing the installation to MSU, expressed excitement about the project. She noted, “There’s such a drive for innovation and a culture of belonging that really holds hands with an experience like this.”

"Art Moves MSU" is designed to feature rotating works from various artists, musicians, and storytellers. Among the inaugural compositions is a piece by Hays Holladay, one of the producers of the app. This composition responds to movements along a specific stretch of the Red Cedar River and offers different listening experiences on either side of the river. Holladay stated, “Every time somebody experiences this piece, it will be slightly different... You’re the conductor.”

Another composition included in the app is by Kakia Gkoudina, a former MSU doctor of musical arts student. Her work focuses on the Beal Botanical Garden's efforts to restore natural habitats along the riverbank. Performed by student musicians from MSU’s College of Music, Gkoudina emphasized that performing near the river reveals new aspects of her composition: “Nature makes herself heard and that is precisely what can make the entire experience unrivaled.”

The initiative highlights how integrating arts into university infrastructure can transform everyday experiences into unexpected ones. As MSU becomes the first university to implement this app across its campus — following its use in Central Park, SXSW, and by the U.S. Department of State — it explores new ways to engage its community.