Sonic Planetarium: Satellite Pipes is a site-specific variation of Sonic Planetarium for Tufts University Art Galleries as part of TuftsPUBLIC: Wave Farm.
November 2018 to May 2019
The seven silver cylinders hanging from the Art Center’s atrium ceiling channel audio representing satellites and other orbiting objects which are within radio transmission range of Tufts University in real time. Each pipe is assigned a category of orbiting object and named after the stars in the constellation Orion. The gallery map and descriptions below detail the source and type of each sound.
As with Sonic Planetarium, the sounds are recordings from radio transmissions from that satellite in the past, or interpretive sounds representing that satellite or object. Instructions on how to participate by adding your audio to the growing model are here.
Plan view of Remis Sculpture Court at the Aidekman Arts Center at Tufts University, showing the position of the installation’s overhead silver pipes.
Betelgeuse
This pipe features cube satellites, the International Space Station, sounds of data packets containing system position and status, and other mission data as well as human voice contacts with the ISS.
Bellatrix
Listen here for vintage transmissions. These are recordings from satellites launched prior to the destruction of Skylab in 1979. Most of these satellites are defunct; their past transmissions remind of their persistent presence in orbit.
Orion’s Belt
This pipe is assigned amateur radio satellites, which in addition to satellite functions, operators use to make voice or morse code contact with each other over thousands of miles.
Salph
These are interpretive sounds which represent objects in orbit. Many orbiting things never have transmitted (e.g. debris), and so other sounds are used to represent these objects in the sound model.
Rigel
This pipe features weather satellites and earth observation satellites which send data from optical sensors. These sounds are likely image data of our area and the surrounding landscape.
This project is made possible in part with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts in Partnership with Wave Farm: Media Arts Assistance Fund, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, Electronic Media and Film Program, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and is a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts.