Standing wave installation aims to teach environmental listening

Speaker 1, a presenter, described Standing wave as "a place to practice environmental listening," a form of mindfulness that focuses on environmental cues instead of breath work.

The presenter said the project is intended to "enculture a different sort of attitude towards the environment" so people feel greater kinship and are "more prone to take care of it." The presenter added that the work is aimed at future generations and outreach to younger populations: "We're talking multi generational. Right? ... that's why we reach out to younger populations and get them involved."

Standing wave, the presenter said, consists of two elements: "this undulating lattice of pine strips and steel pylons" that creates a canopy and houses about 30 simple electronic devices the presenter called "critters." The devices use "very primitive circuits" and photoresistors that change resistance with light; the presenter described the result as a material response to conditions: "It's responding materially to the environment."

The sounds emitted, the presenter said, are synthesized and change with daylight. "It sounds a lot like birds or insects chittering," the presenter said, and emphasized that "these are not recordings. It is a purely synthesized sound." The presenter described the audio as timbrally rich and modulated by the sun's passage, and said listening to such sounds can be both calming and a tool to spur environmental awareness.

The presenter framed the installation as part of experimental responses to climate change, saying there is "an opportunity for these, like, really rich, very experimental ways of dealing with this problem that we've tried to deal with in so many other ways." No formal action or funding decision related to the work was reported in the meeting record.