Harnessing The Flight of Mosquitoes To Create A Sound Installation

Robin Meier

Robin Meier and Ali Momeni have harnessed the flight of mosquitoes to create a sound installation. The object of the project “truce” is to settle the score between people and mosquitoes by allowing visitors to appreciate the beauty of the insects’ “song”.

The project is made possible by inserting a small microphone, tethering it with bees’ wax and wire. The amplified sound is projected when the mosquitoes flap their wings reacting to a recorded track of real mosquitoes in the wild.

“Truce is an interactive sound installation which explores a mosquito’s natural synchronisation behaviour highlighting the musical interactions between insect and computer;” the artists explain. “When male mosquitoes change their buzzing frequency to synchronise and match that of a female mosquito, this enhances the mosquitoes’ ability to copulate mid-flight”. “The computer produces a stimulus sound derived from the North Indian classical vocal tradition of Dhrupad and three mosquitoes independently tune their buzz to the sound”.

Sonica is a programme dedicated to world-class sonic arts, presenting emerging British talent alongside exceptional international artists in  collaboration with renowned co-producers and venues. Curated by Cathie Boyd, Patrick Dickie and Graham McKenzie, Sonica gives a UK platform to performances of exceptional and rarely-seen work.

Produced by Cryptic – Sonica can be festival-like in its scale and ambitions, however it can just as readily be represented by a single work popping up in bespoke locations around the world.

Sonica was launched in Glasgow in November 2012 and has since toured to Aarhus, Aberdeen, Den Bosch, Edinburgh, Huddersfield, Lulea and Norwich.

Sonica 2013 includes eight UK premiéres, two Scottish premiéres and four Sonica commissions as part of one long weekend of sonic art encompassing music, performance, sound, multimedia and visual art.

Truce: Strategies for Post-Apocalyptic Computation Robin Meier / Ali Momeni CCA 31 Oct – 3 Nov, 11am – 6pm

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