IN*AUDIBLE & NON*VISUAL

023e50a6-ce6e-41c4-9943-99e35b4ae8f6.png

-by Elisabeth Hinkel (Curator at Improper Walls)

From Sonic Weapons to Art

About a year ago I first heard of Long Range Acoustic Devices, so called LRADs. Officially, they are acoustic hailing devices produced to communicate with big crowds.

“LRAD systems deliver live or recorded voice messages with exceptional clarity for any operational scenario. Optimized to the primary range of hearing, LRAD’s advanced driver and waveguide technology ensures every broadcast is clearly heard and understood, even above crowd, engine, and background noise.”
— https://genasys.com/ahd-products/

For comparison, a normal conversation is held at about 60DB, the threshold of pain levels at around 130DB, but a LRAD can emit around 160DB continuously. This causes not only pain, but permanent hearing damage. Alarmingly shocking about this device is that it can also emit soundwaves outside of human’s hearing capacity, and basically anything else besides voice messages - for example sounds of fireworks, bombs, sirens or inaudible frequencies, that - because of the movements of the inner ear - cause dizziness, nausea and distress. In many reported cases, LRADs were used most recently to disperse mass protests during the BLM movement. Protesters experienced distressing sounds over hours, which caused anxiety, headaches, psychological issues, disorientation and even heart episodes. The usage of LRADs clearly crossed the line from a mass communication tool to a sound weapon, even entering the realm of psychological warfare. Which is especially absurd in democratic societies with the right to demonstrate. It is a significant and highly-up-to-date reminder of the power of sound waves and their potential and actual abuse by authorities so silence, disperse and hurt society. 

This was already discussed in an article published 1968 in DIE ZEIT, a renowned german newspaper, but eagerly dismissed due to the technological possibilities of the time. Now these devices easily fit in the trunk of a car - anywhere in the world. With technological development comes also growing significance of responsibilities. The topic of sound waves and their impact on the world doesn’t stop at LRADs or sonic weapons. Noise pollution is wrecking the nerves of millions of people in cities around the world, and also the nerves of environmentalists. The impact of noise is not yet studied sufficiently (in 2021?!) but it is clear that noise disrupts migratory movements of animals, their orientation, communication, mating and rearing. Sea animals especially suffer from sonar devices and fishing techniques that use dynamite, which literally crushes swim bladders. Sonic waves travel faster and further underwater. Whales can die from sound devices used in war to detect submarines and are known to avoid deep-sea drilling platforms, resulting in the phenomena of lost, disoriented animals dying in uncommon waters and on shores worldwide. 

Overall, the impact of noise pollution is a constant invisible threat to the mental and physical wellbeing of every living creature on this planet. And it is exactly this invisibility and in many cases even the inaudibility that keeps this topic below the radar.

News like this created shivers up and down my spine. Probably you are already familiar with Azctec death whistles and the bible story about the fall of Jericho, but somehow the mythological far-away appeal of these stories was crushed immediately, the further my research went. While talking about LRADs in the Improper Walls team it became clear that the topic of harms and pleasures of sound waves should be brought up, made visible and audible.

Although the idea for this exhibition came from a place of dystopia, it is not limited by it. Sound waves are much more than a possible weapon, but are an integral part of our five senses and culture. Music, language and poetry are cultural pillars of our society and especially music has undergone many changes over the past decades with electronic devices being broadly accepted as original instruments. Sound artists and experimental musicians endeavor in the grey areas of composed noise and noisy music. Devices such as the record player, radio and wireless earplugs allow everyone to listen at any time, anywhere. Among the noises of everyday life, many enjoy the relaxing powers of the autonomous sensory meridian response, better known as ASMR. Meditation apps advertise with unhearable frequencies. Curiosity in the possibilities of sound can be found anywhere. Pinpointed sound waves destroy kidney stones, through ultrasound we can check on the unborn. And sound is used in hopes of communicating with the dead. It is not restricted to ablebodied humans, on the contrary. Deaf and deafblind artists in all artistic branches show how the impact of sound waves goes far beyond hearing capabilities. Rhythm and vibration travel in any way. Synesthetic installations allow the experience of merging senses. This list can go on endlessly…

IN*AUDIBLE & NON*VISUAL

As a cultural platform Improper Walls is interested in the intersection of art, science and society. We are thankful to be able to work with contemporary topics that move people right in the now, like virtual realities, mental health, climate change and gender norms. We believe that creating awareness and the ability to create alternative ways of education are inherent parts of artistic practice. 

The aim of this project is to illuminate all aspects of soundwaves, across all possibilities, from warfare to sound art, from noise pollution to scientific use, from communication to music. IMPROPER WALLS aims to generate attention in order to give the audience food for thought at precisely this intersection of arts and sciences, and to make sound waves through unusual practices perceptible as a sensory experience.

 
ARTBarbora HorskáNinth