NGV Pavilion
NGV Pavilion
A live sonification of the Earth’s magnetic field, ‘Listening to the Earth: Our Magnetic Fields’ is an ambitious collaboration with artist Michaela Grove spanning architecture, art, music, science and design, taking live geomagnetic field monitoring data from across the planet and turns it into an immersive audience experience.
Location
Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country Melbourne, VIC
Completion
2021
Client
The National Gallery of Victoria
Artist
Michaela Gleave
Collaborators
Geoscience Australia INTERNET Magnet
Four listening structures located within the NGV’s Grollo Equiset Garden invite audiences to ‘hear’ the earth, with the real-time audience reaction within each sound structure combining across time and space to create a hypnotic soundscape of the planet.
The project connects with data from scientific observatories at sites globally, generated in collaboration with Geoscience Australia and the International Real-Time Magnetic Observatory Network (INTERMAGNET). Resonating with real-time data, the forms respond to the strength of the field for each location as it shifts across time, with each instrument corresponding to other variously located observatory instruments.
Scaled in relation to the human body and encouraging multiple points of physical engagement, the structures become a place for contemplation and perspective; a meditative reminder of the vastness of natural forces and the position of the human being within them.
Each structure is carved from a layered block of timber, giving a sense of solidity. Acoustic resonators, fixed internally, utilise the timber form to generate a real-time soundtrack that can be both felt and heard.
Operating as listening devices that envelop the space in sound, the shapes are reminiscent of sound mirrors, astronomical observatories, or whispering walls.
The disk forms are each coated in Shellac mixed with beeswax providing a protective natural finish. Shellac is a resin that is secreted by the female lac bug and scraped from the bark of trees. It is a honey coloured natural primer and gloss varnish that insulates and seals out moisture. Mixed with beeswax, the varnish softens. The inclusion of the wax acknowledging that bees navigate using the magnetic field. The wax and resin adding an olfactory dimension to the experience.
