cascade, by marc vilanova

Waterfalls are the only continuous source of infrasound we can find in nature. Large waterfalls create incredibly low frequencies that can travel up to 400 km. These frequencies exist below our audible range and are imperceptible to the human ear. However, other species can perceive them. Recent studies show how birds use these frequencies to guide them, with some having exceptional sensitivity to detect infrasound. Detecting and memorising the frequencies of cascades becomes the sensory basis for long-distance migrations. In recent years, studies detected navigation failures in birds due to human-made noise caused by industrial and urban sources of infrasonic frequencies.
Presented for the first time to the public and developed in artistic residency at gnration, Cascade uses infrasound recordings registered at the Montmorency Falls in Quebec City, Canada. These recordings activate 88 speakers, unable to reproduce those frequencies, but whose vibration is transmitted to a luminescent optical fibre. In this piece, we can hear an attempt to play these sounds and see their visual resonance through strings of light. The audience is also invited to walk through the curtain of light strings and perceive these invisible sounds through the body, trying to feel the vibration in an awareness of the multiplicity of realities surrounding us.
Marc Vilanova is a Catalan visual and sound artist who works on the intersection between art, science and technology through sound and light installations, performances, and sculptures. His pieces have been presented at festivals in Japan, the USA, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Iran, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia and many countries in Europe.

Marc Vilanova is a selected artist from the 2022 programme of EMAP – European Media Art Platform, an initiative co-funded by the Creative Europe programme.

This project is a co-production with Avatar Center from Quebec City

european media art platform is a project cofinancied by the european union