(hydro)Files for Polyphonic Landscapes
artistic research project and
network of 8 environmental live audio transmitters
exhibited and performed at Zone2Source, Amstel Park
in collaboration with ArtEZ University
Nov 2022 - May 2024, Amsterdam, NL
(hydro)Files was part of the Polyphonic Landscapes artistic research project at Zone2Source Gallery, Amsterdam (NL), and in collaboration with ArtEZ professorhsip Theory in the Arts/ ArtEZ University (NL).
Read here the publication and essays produced for research project.
(hydro)Files installation view at Zone2Source, Amsterdam, Oct-Dec 2023. Between March 2023 - December 2024, (hydro)Files consisted of a network of 8 live audio transmitters that continuously broadcast the real-time soundscape from various sites above and below the waterways of Amsterdam.
8 (open air) stereo microphones and (underwater) hydrophones transmitted sound continously from surface, drinking and sewage waters. Streaming from inside the cavity space of a bascule bridge, inside a public lido and the amstel canals, outisde a historic water pumping station, dangling of temporary cycling bridge, and transmitting from Rotterdam port and via solar power from the sand dunes outside Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has an incredibly long history in water management and a deep going relationship with its waters. One third of the Netherlands is below sea level and most of its land is built on sand. River dikes prevent flooding from water flowing into the country by the major rivers Rhine and Meuse, while a complicated system of drainage ditches, canals, and pumping stations (historically: windmills) keep the low-lying parts dry for habitation and agriculture.
In December 2022, I started a conversation with hydrological scientist Maarten Ouboter about 'giving the water a voice'. Together we located and researched important acoustic landmarks and nodes that reflect the diverse ecologles of the water networks In and around Amsterdam.
hydroFiles is research-in-progress looking into the affordances and limitations of live audio streaming and making contributions to creative discourses on environmental sound. Through the slow and durational monitoring of the digital air waves, the project engages with the emancipatory potential of technology in music and sound art, and prototypes immersive and sustainable strategies for composing new sound works with live audio streams. hydrofiles is supported by Waterschap Amstel, Gooi en Vecht, Waternet and could not have happened without the support of Maarten Ouboter. artist research and concept: Lia Mazzari map: Maarten Ouboter, Frank van Schaik
(hydro)Files is supported by Waterschap Amstel, Gooi en Vecht and by Waternet.
Listen here Live to a remaining permanently installed live audio transmitter - [this is not a recording!]
Hydrophile_5 is a live audio hydrophone broadcasting in real-time from beneath Berlage Brug, in Amsterdam since April 2023.
Our team included:
Initiative, coordination:
Professorship Theory in the Arts, ArtEZ University of the Arts
Dr. Peter Sonderen, responsible professor
Joep Christenhusz, MA, project leader
Zone2Source
Alice Smits, artistic director
Artistic Researchers:
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay (IN, NL)
Yolande Harris (UK, US)
Teemu Lehmusruusu (FI)
Lia Mazzari (IT, UK)
Project partners:
Zone2Source
Educational partners:
Honours Lab, ArtEZ University of the Arts
hydro(F)iles interactive map with QR codes guiding listeners to live audio streams.
(hydro)Files outdoor sound installation view at Zone2Source, Amsterdam, Oct-Dec 2023.
