“Macrophones: Listening to the Climate Crisis via Atmospheric Infrasound” presented by House
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Artist Talks Online Content
Presentation Title:
- Macrophones: Listening to the Climate Crisis via Atmospheric Infrasound
Presenter(s):
Abstract:
A microphone is a device used to amplify small sounds, but what I call a macrophone brings very large sounds—aka infrasound—into our perceptual range. Normally too low-frequency to hear, infrasound travels vast distances through the atmosphere, even across the globe. It comes from superstorms, heavy industry, wildfires, calving icebergs, HVAC systems at massive data centers, avalanches, and even police weaponry. Big phenomena like these are entangled with the climate crisis, which is difficult to perceive directly on a planetary scale. And yet this crisis continually makes sound—what can we hear when we’re able to listen to it from where we stand?
