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EARTH SONG | Site-specific sound installation

Sonification of Earth's seismographical activity

Deep down below the ground we walk on, earth constantly moves as almost unnoticeable but ongoing vibrations: The earth is "singing". This song constitutes the conceptual outset for the since 2012 ongoing project Earth Song.  Earth Song can be understood as an artistic interface which makes audible the seismic activity of a large-scale geography —often a whole country—  and transforms this to an embodied sonic, spatial experience. 

A close collaboration with researchers at Uppsala University, the work makes use of real-time data from a number of seismic measurement stations all over a country which is forwarded to the site of respective installation and transformed into sound. In the installations each loudspeaker— hidden under wooden panels the visitor can sit or lean on— represents one specific geographical place.

The sounds in the installations are thus directly trigged by the seismic activities taking place at distant places in this very moment. Sometimes as audible bell-sounds , sometimes as pure vibration. In this way, using sound as both audible and tactile experience the work aims at establishing a connection to the vibrational song of our Earth.

Earth Song is initially developed as a permanent sound installation for Boberg School (2021) in Stockholm.

Commissioner: Stockholm Konst. Curator: Monika Nyström. The work has been further developed for Heroines of Sound Festival in Berlin (2021).  Curator: Bettina Wackernagel.

CREDITS:

Björn Lund: Senior lecturer at Department of Earth Sciences, Geophysics; Svenska nationella seismiska nätet

Andre Bartetzki: Artistic sound design and software programming

Manfred Fox: Sound technology

Christiaan Postma Hangmen: Design and realization of bench construction (Boberg school).