Tag Archives: environmental art

Soundscapes of Socioecological Succession

The creation of five sound sculptures centered around fire-affected areas of the 2020 Holiday Farm fire near Blue River, OR. The work was part of the Soundscapes of Socioecological Succession (SSS) project that was funded through a Center for Environmental Futures, Andrew W. Mellon 2021 Summer Faculty Research Award from the University of Oregon.

Read more about the process on the blog.

Video 1. Sound sculpture C prototype. Burnt cedar wood and audio sourced from fire-affected area near Blue River, OR.

Video 2. Sound sculpture D prototype. Wood and audio sourced from fire affected area near Blue River, OR.

Video 3. Sound sculpture E prototype. Wood and audio sourced from fire-affected area near Blue River, OR.

Video 4. Sound sculpture A prototype. Wood and audio sourced from fire-affected area near Blue River, OR.

Video 5. Sound sculpture A prototype. Wood and audio sourced from fire-affected area near Blue River, OR.

Featured Intermedia, Featured Splash, Installation

Wildfire

Wildfire is a 48-foot long speaker array that plays back a wave of fire sounds across its 48-foot span at speeds of actual wildfires. The sound art installation strives to have viewers embody the devastating spread of wildfires through an auditory experience.

The work was installed at the Edith Langley Barrett Art Gallery in Utica, New York. The work ran Sept. 19 – Dec. 8, 2019 as part of a solo art exhibition entitled, “Impact! works by Jon Bellona.” Wildfire was part of SPRING/BREAK Art Show in NYC March 3 – 9, 2020 curated by Megan C. Austin and Ashlie Flood.

Wildfire was made possible through the University of Oregon Center for Environmental Futures and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Impact! exhibition was supported by funds from the Oregon Arts Commission. Additional support made possible from the Edith Langley Barrett Art Gallery.

Public Final Report for University of Oregon Center for Environmental Futures.

Wildfire sound art installation. 16 speakers along a white wall, playing back sounds of fire at speeds of wildfires — http://janelleshootsphotos.com

Close up of wood speaker panel on wall of the sound artwork, Wildfire — http://janelleshootsphotos.com

Close of custom electronics as part of sound artwork, Wildfire — http://janelleshootsphotos.com

Photo Credit: Janelle Rodriguez

I mixed-down the forty-eight foot, 16-channel work into stereo (2-channel). An embedded Spotify player is below, but the stereo version may be found on Apple, Amazon, YouTube or wherever you stream music.

Research, Writing

Aqua•litative: Acoustic & Kinetic Translations of California Water Data

Installation, Intermedia

Aqua•litative

Aqua•litative is a kinetic installation that renders multiple data sets related to California’s water history into movement and sound. The installation displays climatological data as a chronological narrative of water in the state by transforming water data into acoustic sounds (ringing of clock chimes) and physical movement (motors moving arms of balsa wood) shown in a gallery space. Precipitation data creates sonic patterns, analogous to rain droplets, in a continuously evolving play between density and rhythm.

Aqua•litative is by Jon Bellona, John Park, and John Reagan. http://aqualitative.org The installation is part of an Environmental Resilience and Sustainability Fellowship, funded in part by the Jefferson Trust and the University of Virginia Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs.