8 Sonification in Media Art

In the course of digitalization, the materials and methods in the arts have also changed and led to increased interest in scientific content and ways of dealing with data. This has expanded the esthetic and conceptual options associated with sonification.

A contemporary work that uses sonification in order to control sound by means of a video image is the multimedia installation Brilliant Noise by Semiconductor.^[21] The sound is the conversion of the radio waves emitted by the sun, which is further modified by particular parameters from existing video material of satellites. Another recent work that examines the ability to make our environment audible is the G-Player or its portable version, the G-Pod, by Jens Brand. Satellite measurements of the earth’s surface are played on a custom hi-fi device or on a modified iPod; one can choose from among different satellites that then reproduce the topography of the desired regions.^[22] As a technical metaphor, Brand draws on the function of a record; the topography of the earth is played back by the G-Player as if it were a groove. Interestingly enough, the artist Nicolas Reeves uses a similar technical metaphor in the description of his Cloudharp as an oversized CD player that scans the sky with an infrared laser. Here, the measurements of various factors, such as surface structure and density of the clouds, have been transformed in real time into a polyphonic piece by means of parameter mapping. In allusion to the Harmonices Mundi, Reeves also calls his meteo-electronic instrument the Keplerian Harp.^[23]

Weather occurrences have always been a point of reference for depicting nature in music.^[24] Projects by the media artist Andrea Polli examine meteorological and climatic phenomena. In her work Atmospherics/Weather Works, sonification is created based on simulations of historical storms. Although these are of virtual origin, their conversion is strongly reminiscent of recordings of noises caused by the wind. A part of her artistic motivation is to allow the experience on a small scale of weather-related phenomena that extend over vast areas.