GAP
GAP is a spatial sound piece, reflecting on the displacements and fragmentation of signals in wireless communication processes. Using sonified recordings of electromagnetic waves, it investigates perceptions of wireless connectivity and the relationships between signal, vibration, air and empty space.
In recent years, it has become ever more evident how much of modern human communication is based on digital wireless technologies, that allow for connection over distances. Through different devices, we are constantly transmitting an increasing number of signals in the form of electromagnetic waves, that travel though the seemingly empty airspace between our material surroundings. With phones, computers and tablets, it’s possible to connect with these signals from anywhere in the world, no matter the distance to the original place of origin, as long as there is Wi-Fi or roaming available.
Based on Camille Roth’s ongoing work with sonification of electromagnetic waves from telephone and Wi-Fi signals, this piece dives into the exploration of materiality, texture and the sense of touch in these sound, and investigates experiences of both connection and distance, in relation to wireless communication.
The spatial sound composition plays with the idea of taking a signal, and tearing it apart, examining both the signal as well as the gap in-between. Various sonic textures take up the space, and ends up taking the listener on an immersive journey through small micro-variations in continuous electromagnetic streams.
The piece was created at Lobe Studio during a residency in the end of 2021. The sound material consists of processed bites from electromagnetic field-recordings made locally in Vancouver.
The residency and development of the piece was supported by: Knud Højgaards Fond, The Danish Art Foundation, SNYK and Danish Composers’ Society.
Run Time ~ 30 mins
Pathways
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Pathways is a sound installation, consisting of an 8-channel soundscape, copper wire and glass, reflecting upon the way waves of energy move through and around space and matter.
Detailed sound textures made from recordings of the electromagnetic activity that can be detected in close proximity to devices such as a phone or computer, are moving through, around and between the physical materials in space. It is an exploration of the relationship between the flow of signals through air, and the materials used for letting certain signals pass through, while filtering or blocking others.
Inspired by Camilles ongoing work with sonification of electromagnetic waves from radio, telephone and Wi-Fi signals, the piece explores concepts of barriers, connections, interfaces and conducting materials, that shape the way information flows. Everywhere in our modern urban society data and information flows thought the air as electromagnetic signals, that can be picked up by technology; receiving devices, that will work as interfaces, translating the electromagnetic signals into data, text, images or sound, for us to interpret. When the air between us becomes the main medium for this wireless communication, the materials used as transducers, demodulators, conductors, and isolation, are shaping the paths of these communication processes. The piece reflects on these invisible, moving ubiquitous signals, and their relationship to physical materials as well as the space in-between.
Original length: 9 min. 12 sec. loop.
The installation was created during a residency project with the working title: Passing Through: Conducting waves, space and matter, at Inter Arts Center, Malmö, Sweden in 2020. The residency was supported by the Danish Composers’ Society and Koda’s Cultural Funds.
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Myths of Electromagnetism
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……………….. Binaural sound recording excerpts from the Spatial Sound Institute, Budapest, dec. 1st 2018 – Best on good headphones.
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During their residency at Spatial Sound Institute in the fall 2018, Camille Roth and Rebekka Bohse Meyer collaborated to develop Myths of Electromagnetism, a spatial sound installation for the 4DSound system, consisting of 42 omnidirectional speakers spread across the space. The project explores electromagnetic radiation, the ubiquitous invisible data and signals in the space around us, and the ways that we as humans relate to these phenomena.
Electromagnetic radiation surrounds us everywhere in our modern urban environment. An escalating number of Wi-Fi hotspots are transmitting radio waves filled with digital information, that can be accessed from everywhere with the right equipment (technology and encryption keys). What looks like empty space between buildings, above streets, around trees and inside our houses, is actually filled with digital information and communication processes. But how do we understand this invisible medium that flows through the air and shapes our society?
This installation presents a sonic interpretation of how these phenomena manifest themselves in the space around us – how they move, behave and affect us. Inspired by how societies have imagined electricity and electromagnetism throughout history, the work deals with representation as well as the myths and the notions on such phenomenon. From imagining electromagnetism as something dangerous and supernatural, to acknowledging it, as well as heavily relying on it’s importance for transmitting communication, information and data, it is still a phenomenon that triggers discussion in terms of how it affect us and our bodies, as the density of waves becomes more and more concentrated.
The composition is primarily created using sound recordings of high-frequency electromagnetic waves in urban environments, and lower-frequency waves from phones and computers – captured by a detector that transduces the different electromagnetic wavelengths into sound waves.
The installation consists of two parts, of which the first is a sonic staging of the air as charged with electromagnetic particles, that surround and move through the listeners body, increasing and decreasing in density. The second part focuses on the locality of transmissions and de-modulation of signals, as we follow movements through space, intertwined with bursts of mythical imaginations of the nature of these invisible forces.
The piece was presented in loop of 18 min. repeated over 2 hours, twice during the afternoon, as part of the event Inaudible Realities at Spatial Sound Institute December the 1st, 2018.
The residency project Myths of Electromagnetism was supported by the Danish Arts Foundation and 4DSound.
Camille Roth 