Set Margins, book, ISBN 978-9083449807, English, 208 pages, 2024, The Netherlands

There has been particular attention paid to energy in scientific and artistic circles, understandably due to its universal quality. This attention has been greatest in the Pacific region, probably because of the frequent activity of natural forces on the planet’s most dynamic tectonic plate. Lawrence English, scholar and founder of the seminal label Room40, has co-curated with Robert Takahashi Novak the exhibition Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific at Chapman University, Los Angeles. This is a co-edited expanded catalogue, and in his intriguing introduction, English articulates what he has been investigating for decades: human (limited) perception of sounds, and thus vibrations and energies. He skilfully engages in conversations with some of the artists who share their insights, such as filmmaker Malena Szlam, who explains how the artist’s and scientist’s ‘sense of discovery’ can change how our bodies react to new sensorial and cognitive experiences, or sound artist Akio Suzuki, who recounts his adventure in capturing an almost uncatchable sound in the Hamaoka Sand Dunes using his self-designed Analapos instrument. Vibrations of all kinds, and thus sounds, feed the discourse about energy in situated practices and unique cultural experiments, forming an informative and distinctive collection of texts and artworks.