Soil sounds 2
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
Sound kinetic objects respond to soil moisture conditions in their current location. The acquired data generate sound and create an audio acoustic environment. The installation takes into account the issue of environmental sustainability and at the same time combines it with media art and data sonification.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
The concept deals with sonorous research based on the geological subsoil of a selected locality, and such an approach oscillates between scientific facts and the artistic grasp of reality. Through my own device, I collect digital data in nature, which I then turn into sound and transform them into a real audio acoustic environment in the country. It is in such an acoustic environment that the viewer has the opportunity to directly encounter data that are sonicated, but at the same time recording them in the form of raw data or sound recordings will serve as a map of soil conditions in specific places and will connect art, ecological issues and increase interest in their mutual connection.
Key objectives for sustainability
The main material used in this project is PLA, which is a polylactide, which is degradable and thus replaces conventional plastic. The form of objects is created using 3D printing in the FDM method. I prefer author-made sensors that do not have a combination of plastic and metal, and I use only metal parts that can be easily replaced when the material degrades and then could be recycled. The concept raises the issue of sustainability mainly by its essence, which also consists in opening discussions and increasing interest in soil moisture values, which are associated with soil quality, which also becomes a storage of nutrients for surrounding greenery and woody plants, which are an important element of quality air and environment in which we live. From the surrounding trees become water reservoirs and they could prevent the undesired flooding of streets and buildings during heavy rains. Such an approach fulfills all the main points of sustainability that it presents. The very interest in measuring the values of soil moisture reflects the importance of greenery in the urban environment, and such a concept has the potential to transfer it or to bring it to the general public.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The aesthetics of the concept is based on thin sheets, the thickness of which resembles grass blades and their height is between the recommended height of grassland and half the average height of the human knee level. Such a dimensions places this concept in the role of easily observable but at the same time does not disturb the surrounding environment. The very quality of the experience lies in the sound that is generated. The objects with their layout and acoustic properties create an immersive environment and the viewer can move smoothly between the individual objects with his movement and capture the differences in soil moisture through hearing. The sound can resemble the buzzing of bees, so that the concept, in addition to its visuality, also acoustic properties does not disturb the environment in which it is located, but becomes part of it.
Key objectives for inclusion
Participation does not only occur when the viewer is in the installation, but it takes place constantly. Through their daily actions, people influence many things in nature, and one of them is soil moisture. So participation becomes a constant cycle. However, the inclusion, when the viewer also receives feedback, occurs directly at the installation place. The viewer begins to notice the importance of the soil and is aware of its own actions which can be transformed into more environmentally friendly thanks to this concept. Such a view of changes in soil moisture may also change his view of topics such as sustainability issues, the green future and climate change. By re-encountering the public, such a concept can have educational and informational tendencies, thus transcending the boundaries of interdisciplinarity.
Innovative character
The very view of participation as a constant cycle, not only of the direct contact of the viewer with the work of art, becomes an innovative component of the concept from the point of view of the artistic installation. The overlaps between art and science are becoming connections that also looks at the community and issues of the future. At the same time, the principle of sonification of data by means of our own devices is guided by the research - artistic character, which also became experimental sound instruments which supports the already ongoing interdisciplinary work and can be a challenge for its further connection with other types of art.
