I am a PhD researcher at Z-Node (University of Plymouth, and the Zurich University of the Arts - ZHdK). My research aims to create a sonic understanding of astronomical space, showing how radio can be used to make space audible.
My central question is: How can using radio as an instrument of audification create insights into astronomical and other electromagnetic phenomena?
I have traced the histories of radio telecommunications and radio astronomy from Hertz's work on the radio wave, to Jocelyn Bell's work with pulsars, demonstrating how radio has been used to deepen scientists' understanding of our universe. Keyto my work is the recurrence of uncanny 'accidental' discoveries, from Thomas Watson's encounter with VLF radio whilst working with Alexander Graham Bell on the invention of the telephone, to Karl Jansky's discovery of radio waves from the solar system, whilst working at Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1930s, to Penzias and Wilson's discovery of radiation from the Big Bang - again whilst based at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Referencing alternative artistic histories of radio, I have also illustrated how radio has also been used to reveal the hidden aural attributes of the electromagnetic spectrum.
I have developed a conceptual framework for analysing the role of radio within my research, hypothesising that radio has roughly five main functions:
I. A carrier wave: radio waves propagate through space, often carrying information
II. A mechanism of reception: receivers receives signals in the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum
III. A system of distribution: transmitters distribute content to an audience of listeners
IV. An apparatus of communication (Brecht, 1932): a means by which people communicate
V. An instrument of audification: radio instruments allow the electromagnetic spectrum to be heard
I am also evaluating the taxonomies employed by contemporary auditory display theorists, such as Gregory Kramer, to verify the use of the term 'audification' to describe my use of radio, rather than the more popularly used expression, 'sonification'.
My research is both theoretical and practice-based. It draws on practice-based art works such as Radio Astronomy, which takes live feeds from radio telescopes around the world, and broadcasts audified radiation over the internet and on FM radio; and Sound Elevator, a site-secific sound installation for the glass elevators at Forte di Bard in Italy, which correlated the upward movement of the elevators, with different astronomical phenomena.
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