In this project, I used technology to challenge and displace the subjective experience of natural processes. I arranged for water to drip into empty soup cans, and then amplified the noise made by the falling water using piezoelectric contact microphones taped to the bottom of each can. The signals from the microphones were distorted and amplified, creating an electroacoustic apparatus.
Photo copyright 2008 by Dan Hemingson. Thanks Dan.
The results can be startling, as the electrification of a rather familiar sound process, dripping water, challenges our associations of tranquility and the "natural", and confronts our fear of water and electricity mixing together in any way. For me, beautiful dreams of electric rain and digital oceans emerge from these types of pursuits.
Listen to a sound sample here: