duga

Kinetic and sound installation.

The project is based on the analysis and interpretation of data on the Schumann Resonance, obtained in real time from scientific research laboratories. The Schumann Resonance is the phenomenon of the formation of standing electromagnetic waves of extremely low frequency between the Earth's surface and the ionosphere. The phenomenon was theoretically substantiated and experimentally discovered by the German physicist W. O. Schumann in 1952-1954. The resonance occurs as a result of lightning discharges. Despite 70 years of study, the Schumann Resonance is still a very relevant and not fully understood topic, receiving new interpretations due to the accumulation of data. Unfortunately, many people, especially those involved in pseudoscience and esoteric New Age practices, constantly speculate on this scientific topic and engage in inaccurate interpretations of the phenomenon, which significantly hinders its study. One of the tasks of the Duga project is to create a work at the intersection of science and art, which will not flirt with pseudoscientific concepts, but will interpret and use the phenomenon through the artist's characteristic artistic language to create a complex artistic image.

The installation consists of a pendulum with a permanent magnet and a system of 4 electromagnets installed at the bottom of the pendulum. Each of the electromagnets changes the polarity of the magnetic field in accordance with one of the harmonics of the Schumann Resonance. This causes the pendulum to move constantly with uneven oscillations. At the end of the pendulum, there is also an infrared LED, which is observed by a camera installed underneath it. This camera has a filter that blocks any light except for the infrared light coming from the LED on the pendulum. This allows to exclude any extra light and images to obtain only the picture of a moving pendulum.

The resulting image is displayed on a screen and represents the harmonography of the pendulum's oscillations. Essentially, the system is a 2-coordinate oscilloscope with 4 variables. The resulting image is slightly processed and represents a unique cybernetic choreographic study, similar to a dance. In addition, the installation displays direct data obtained from scientific stations in real time.

The movements of the pendulum captured by the camera are also the starting point for creating an infinite sound composition. Essentially, the resulting oscillogram from the pendulum's movement serves as a two-coordinate joystick-trigger for multiple harmonic generators and resonators, using the lines of the pendulum's light as envelopes for their parameters.

The name and form of the work refer to the only remaining over-the-horizon radar (OTH) - Duga, located in Pripyat, Ukraine. Despite the fact that OTH radar is not related to the Schumann Resonance, it uses a similar principle of using the Earth and ionosphere as a waveguide, allowing radio waves to travel beyond the horizon.

One of the main ideas of this project is to show how interconnected we all are; while wars are going on and countries are dividing territories, attacking each other, people constantly forget that the whole world is permeated with a multitude of subtle and complex phenomena on a planetary scale. Some of them are man-made, others are of natural origin. They envelop us, functioning as a complex planetary information network, sometimes not amenable to analysis and understanding. The Duga is a small installation arriving in a dynamic prayer for the cessation of wars and turning to natural phenomena that indicate the planetary unity of all on Earth.