A team of the UB collaborates with Sónar 2016 project ʻEarthworksʼ

Geologists from the UB collaborate in an artistic project to turn seismographic data from Fundació Sorigué gravel’s industrial activity in Balaguer (Lleida) into sound records.
Geologists from the UB collaborate in an artistic project to turn seismographic data from Fundació Sorigué gravel’s industrial activity in Balaguer (Lleida) into sound records.
Research
(28/04/2016)

Turning the seismographic data from natural phenomena (earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers…) and industrial activity (gravelʼs exploitation) into sound records: this is the original proposal by Earthworks, an artistic project which will be launched in the next edition of Sónar Barcelona festival, from the 16th to the 18th of June. In this work, driven by the British artists Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, the Semiconductor duo, thereʼs also the collaboration of some experts of the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona, who have obtained seismic data from the Plantaʼs gravel extractive activity -the industrial complex of the Fundació Sorigué in Balaguer (Lleida) -born from an established collaboration agreement by Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG).

Geologists from the UB collaborate in an artistic project to turn seismographic data from Fundació Sorigué gravel’s industrial activity in Balaguer (Lleida) into sound records.
Geologists from the UB collaborate in an artistic project to turn seismographic data from Fundació Sorigué gravel’s industrial activity in Balaguer (Lleida) into sound records.
Research
28/04/2016

Turning the seismographic data from natural phenomena (earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers…) and industrial activity (gravelʼs exploitation) into sound records: this is the original proposal by Earthworks, an artistic project which will be launched in the next edition of Sónar Barcelona festival, from the 16th to the 18th of June. In this work, driven by the British artists Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, the Semiconductor duo, thereʼs also the collaboration of some experts of the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona, who have obtained seismic data from the Plantaʼs gravel extractive activity -the industrial complex of the Fundació Sorigué in Balaguer (Lleida) -born from an established collaboration agreement by Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG).

Earthworks: Anthropocentric sound

 

Earthworks is a work by Semiconductor which shows Earthʼs geologic evolution through time until the Anthropocene, the modern geologic era which is defined by the impact of human activity on the earth ecosystems. This year it will be the main focus of SonarPLANTA, a joint initiative by Sónar and Fundació Sorigué, launched in 2014 to promote the experimentation of creative language around science, technology and new art media. The British duo Semiconductor, known by their use of scientific methods and data obtained from natural environment used in their works, has also collaborated with other scientific research centres (NASA, CERN etc.).

 

Like Semiconductor said, “we want to create an experience that talks about the phenomena of landscapeʼs formation, using scientific language to study these processes: using seismologic data to control geomodels, a technique used by geologists when studying the Earthʼs formation”.

 

Transforming seismic waves into harmony

 

Earthworks will consist of 5 big screens arranged in zigzag, where they will screen animated graphics inspired by the sand states around the industrial complex Planta Sorigué in Balaguer. Earthwork graphics will activate from seismographic data turned into sound, obtained from the extractive activity of the gravel in Planta by a team of the University of Barcelona led by Professor Albert Casas, from the Department of Mineralogy, Petrology, and Applied Geology of the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the UB, with the collaboration of Professor Mahjoub Himi and the geologist and support technician for research Raúl Lovera.

 

Geomodels: relief in three dimensions

 

The creative work by Semiconductor for the new SonarPLANTA artistic proposal includes geomodels too; a technique to produce scale geological structures and ease the three-dimensional study of the geological processes that determine the relief. The artists could meet the methodology in more detail in the Geomodels Analogic Modelization Laboratory, directed by Professor Josep Anton Muñoz from the Faculty of Earth Sciences, who is also responsible in the Geomodel Research Institute (UB).

 

Sónar 2016: art, science and environmental conscience

 

Sónar festival is a key event internationally and in the world of digital technologies and experimentation with new supports and languages in the barrier between sound, image and space. The creation of Sónar+D, a meeting place for the creative technology communities, has also generated an innovation space for different cultural, artistic and business areas. In the 2016 edition, Anthropocene will be the main focus of the Sónar festival, which wants to make people conscious of the big human impact on landscape and natural ecosystems around the world.