FM: Paranormal

Paranormal is an art research project by Frozen Music that captures sonic activity inside the Richmond Cottage in full-spectrum audio and is presented as a three-channel sound installation as part of the spring exhibition “Home” at The Deering Estate in South Miami

This project involves the creation of : 

a-) simultaneous multi-channel recordings of infrasonic, normal and ultrasonic auditory phenomena occurring in a particular locale that combines natural and human (of both current and historical significance) soundscapes; and

b-) a presentation of the resultant recorded materials in an experiential, and educational context through a high-resolution performance and exhibition

This project is a step towards the potential to study auditory processes that cross the multiple sensory and perceptual boundaries of observers and instrumentation. This may also include phenomena often demarcated as “extra-sensory” or “supernatural”

Our purpose in pursuing this project is three-fold: 

1-) to ascertain whether or not such full spectrum acoustic portraits might constitute a viable technique for ecological monitoring through the revelation of emergent patterns of information that are not otherwise perceivable to researchers; 

2-) to contribute information about how different acoustic domains structurally couple and exchange information; and 

3-) to create an exhibition that not only represents the results of acoustic research but is also an immersive aesthetic experience that guides us towards the realization of the limitations of our human auditory sense and how that impacts our relationship to the world at large. 

The project will focus upon the question: what is happening in the world beyond our senses and how might we best pursue a deeper understanding of their complexity?

The recording process will entail a number of existing field technologies such as digital audio recorders, high-resolution microphones, ultrasonic microphones, geo-phones, and other specially made acoustic transducers

For this project, Frozen Music began the residency phase of Paranormal in early winter of 2021 by invitation of Melissa Diaz, curator at Deering Estate, who commissioned Paranormal as an installation for her exhibition, Home — The Estate’s Spring Contemporary exhibition that opened April 17th and runs through June 13, 2021

Copyright 2021, Subtropics Editions.