Scattered by the Trees

Wood, Steel, 2 channel audio

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

At the rear of the island, beyond the old fortress walls, lies a small forest. This area used to be separate, but as a result of climate change and landfills, two islands became one.

Scattered by the Trees by Michael Akstaller examines the acoustic peculiarity of forests and groups of trees. In a clearing, he has installed two cones that send acoustic signals in the direction of the surrounding trees to make their forwarding effects perceptible. Recent research on the acoustics of the forest shows that the architecture of the trees and the forest floor is capable of transmitting certain frequencies over long distances, much like a telephone line that allows animals to share information, send warning signals, and find like-minded people. Even if they cannot “hear” themselves, i.e. presumably have no receptors for these frequencies, the trees make a significant contribution to making them audible. The interrelationship between forest floor and foliage, trunks and gaps, determines the characteristics of the spread. A complex system of absorption, reflection, and diffusion determines how and where the sound travels. The unadulterated pulse can only be heard at the source, everything else is modifications of the original sound, variations through layers of air, reflections through trees, bodies, winds.

Akstaller’s cones are experimental constructions, measuring instruments, vocal organs which, built from precisely and individually manufactured layers of wood, can transport sound in the frequency spectra of the forests. They are tuned to the specific frequencies that make it possible to follow the dialogue of the ecosystem.

The acoustic architecture of the forest makes it clear that territories are not fixed, they wander in the air, via sound, messenger substances, currents. Our environment is more complex than we can ever experience. It’s about respecting it, even though we don’t understand everything.