Arden Conine: Forcings

Abstract

The Earth is awash in sound. Many geophysical processes are measured as oscillations, positioning sound as a shared structure through which Earth systems can be observed and translated. This exhibition explores sonification as a way of working with cyclical Earth processes, such as tides, to engage environments that remain largely unknown yet exert a massive influence on life on Earth.

Along the edges of the Antarctic landmass, glaciers flow into the sea, thinning and floating to form massive ice shelves that regulate how much ice is lost to the ocean. Beneath these platforms lies a sub-ice-shelf cavity—an enclosed, rapidly changing space inaccessible to direct human presence and knowable only through geophysical data. Shaped by tides, gravity, and temperature, this hidden interior provides the conceptual framework for the exhibition.

The gallery becomes a sound studio composed of a series of custom-carved acoustic foam panels installed throughout Tjaden Hall’s Experimental Gallery. Referencing Antarctic motifs and visualizations of sound, the panels alter the acoustics of the space, positioning listening as a way to encounter climate data, uncertainty, and deep time.

Biography