In our daily life, we are surrounded by an enormous quantity of electrical and electronic appliances and are immersed in an invisible and dense network of radio frequencies and electromagnetic fields. Discussions on the potential effects of such exposure on humans are commonplace, but now artists are beginning to explore ways in which to give form and expression to the receptivity of the natural environment to such frequencies and signals. The impacts of RF-EMF fields on ecosystems have already been observed, for example, in areas where a cell phone antenna is installed, trees have shown changes in their trunks, leaves and branches. In this permanent installation created for Sonar Park by the sound artist Ioana Vreme Moser, Arboreal Receptors, thin coils wrapped around tree trunks collect radio frequencies, radar, cell tower emissions and other electromagnetic signals. The trees, transformed into a circuit of antennas, convert these signals into mechanical forces that vibrate thin sheets of metal generating sound every time the waves reach the tree network. Sound and movement thus become the expression of an intangible force, perhaps a cry of pain in a communication system that overlaps the almost secret, mycorrhizal network that runs silently and invisibly underground. Benedetta Sabatini

 

Ioana Vreme Moser – Arboreal Receptors