PhD candidate in Intermedia Art, Writing and Performance听Ryan Wade Ruehlen听was recently awarded the听听graduate student research grant for his dissertation project, "Atmospheric Distrubances."
Over the next two years, Rhuelen will be running experiments with UAV drone technology as an 鈥渁coustic prosthetic鈥� to conduct a series of live audio performances composed of ever-changing radio frequencies circulating in the atmosphere. As part of his practice-based research investigation, Rhuelen will ask;听鈥淗ow can drones and the sounds they access in the atmosphere be (re)imagined through a contemporary work of intermedia performance art?鈥�
Whereas drone technology is used by governments as military weapons and law enforcement agencies to conduct surveillance operations, they are also now becoming available for more commercial and DIY hobbyist uses. Artistic uses of drones are largely focused on their ocular features and tend to not take into account the ways that these devices may heighten our awareness of the environment's electro-acoustic aspects. Rhuelen鈥檚 project goes against the grain of current art practices and uses听drones to capture the auditory potential of the atmosphere, instead of representing yet another 鈥渂ird鈥檚 eye view鈥� of the landscape below.
Ruehlen has begun to study and build devices with very-low-frequency (VLF) radios. VLF waves lie between 3鈥�30 kHz, which begin to fall below the audible range of the human ear. VLF is often referred to by hobbyists and scientists as 鈥渘atural radio鈥� because it acts as a conduit, capturing and translating weather phenomenon.听By utilizing the drone as a courier system to construct tall antennas for receiving very low frequencies, the drone acts as an auditory extension for gathering and performing sound compositions. These performances will take place at various locations in Colorado and other rural parts of the United States, transmitting the live signal back to car radios for communal deep listening experiences.
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