Emerging Media Technology- Beneath and Beyond

Upon researching projects which utilize emerging media technology, I found this piece "Beneath and Beyond", by the scottish artist Stephen Hurrel. This is an ever changing live piece that uses the internet to constantly monitor one hundred seismic stations around the world, therefore making very effective use of communication technology. By doing this, the piece collects vibrations, which are converted into raw data and speeded up so that they are audible to the human ear. As the work is constantly scanning, it is new sounds that are heard all the time in real time. To enhance the piece there are visuals which represent what is being heard which show seismic graph lines and wave forms. The environment that the installation is shown in is important to. It is situated in a very dark space where only the visuals and the speakers can be seen. There are 6 red speakers aligned across the width of the visual display, so both the sound and visuals are given equal prominence.
The artist of "Beneath And Beyond" intended to explore how computer software, developed for the internet could bring real life environmental "events" into the gallery. Hurrel states "I have created meeting points between nature, culture and technology. His inspiration of the piece is the west coast of scotland and he talks about how the deep lochs became the ideal site to house nuclear submarines."These symbols of efficient, total destruction were in direct contrast to the ancient landscape; shaped by the slow forces of the ice age and massive tectonic shifts." Added to this the artist was interested in the greatness in nature and wanted to explore how the tools of the 21st century could "be used to posit a more symbiotic relationship between nature and technology."

Overall, I think this is a very effective piece. The artist successfully uses the internet to bring real life examples of the environment to the installation. Also, the fact that it is in real time enhances this effect and everything that it plays is new, increasing the interest in it. I also think the performance environment is crucial to its success as it is just the visuals and the sound that you hear in a blackened room so this increases the relationship between the installation and the audience.

http://www.hurrelvisualarts.com/docs/?p=44