Cascade. 2023

Sculptural Sound Installation

Variable dimensions (max: 10m x 6m x 0,3m). 128 channel sound, 128 speaker cones, 128 light- diffusing optic fiber, 128 lasers, 64 amplifiers, 16 audio interfaces, 3D printed modules, 2 custom PWM-DMX boards, wood, custom software.

Waterfalls emit infrasonic frequencies that travel across vast distances. Imperceptible to human hearing, these signals guide certain migrating birds during their journeys, serving as an invisible compass. At the same time, growing sources of anthropogenic infrasound, from wind turbines to aviation, alter these acoustic landscapes and disrupt the orientation patterns many species rely on to navigate the world.

Vilanova captured the infrasound emitted by the Iguazú Falls in Brazil and Argentina, the Niagara and Montmorency Falls in the US and Canada,. In Cascade, a series of speakers unable to reproduce such frequencies transduce their vibrations into a suspended field of fibre-optic strands. The signals travel downward; the sound waves appear to ‘fall’ through shifting light. As the fibres quiver and tremble, visitors are invited to move through this suspended environment, to touch and sense how these aquatic frequencies take form on the skin.

Cascade proposes an expanded, embodied form of listening: an invitation to attune to these fragile sonic ecologies and attend to their preservation.

Credits:

Idea, Production, Construction: Marc Vilanova
3D Design: Javi Albo, Rodrigo Waihiwe
Technical Design & Fabrication: Javi Albo
Software: Alfredo Ardia
Custom Hardware and Firmware: Wesley Lee
3D Printing: Nuno Oliveira
Text: Ana Prendes
Installation Support: Johanna Palmeyro, Clarisa Esevich, Márcio Ferreira, Tiago Rosendo, Guillaume Côté, Myriam Lambert, Triska Sicuranzo, Matias Tolchinsky, Elsa Guerra, Alba Medinyà, Neus Masdeu, Júlia Faura, Mercè Lledós, Lisandro Marquez
Support: EMAP, Creative Europe, Avatar Center, Institut Ramon Llull, OSIC, Konvent Puntzero

Photos: Eloise Coomber, Adriano Ferreira, Charline Clavier

This work was realized in part within the framework of the European Media Art Platform (EMAP) residency program at Gnration with support of the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union, Avatar Center, and the Institut Ramon Llull.

Available for booking