Dewi de Vree and Patrizia Ruthensteiner present a series of Magnetoceptia performances and installations. These are named after “magnetoception”, defined as the sense, or ability that enables an organism to “detect a magnetic field to perceive direction, altitude or location”, making them audible through electronic sounds. The artists build wearable antenna receivers that pick up specific electromagnetic frequencies, making them audible. These are subsequently used during performances that are inspired by a local context or particular history. Some, for example, were inspired by the ancient Qing Dynast’s tremendous hairdos or guided by elements of the Estonian Native Calendar. These performances have the aesthetic structure of a ritual, as they use tools manifesting something that previously could not be seen through a series of prescribed gestures. The costumes and antenna’s materials, then, reinforce a modern way of collectively dealing with the invisible, and the unknown.

 

Magnetoceptia – Warp Weighted Skidder Maiden // Estonia

 

Magnetoceptia // Aerial Mast Sunset Performance, Tetterode Amsterdam 2016