NST -
north south train

Audiovisual Album 2024

 

"NST" is an audiovisual album investigating the electromagnetic fields around the Berlin S2 line Nord-Süd-Bahn from Gesundbrunnen to Südkreuz featuring ten different titles. It was developed while being in conversation with Christina Kubisch, the pioneer of electromagnetic sound investigations. It entails electromagnetic sonifications of the train ride itself, and different entities from each of the 10 stations on the way. These recordings were made with the Electromagnetic Headphone by Christina Kubisch and the Soma Ether, The recordings are combined with 3 video layers, 1. & 2. filming out of the left and right window of the train simultaneously, which are then layered, and 3. presenting the recorded-entity of each station visually. The 10 different sounds of each station were processed, arranged, and then mixed with the recordings of the train ride into a composition. In this way, it could be said that the sounds of each station are turned into instruments for the ride until the next station. Each title has its own method of making the composition, following various image cues, characteristics of sounds, and others. This results in the general pattern for each of the 10 titles:

The raw sound of the entity at the station can be heard - Leaving the station, the raw recording of the train can be heard -  After a while the sound from the entity is reintroduced in altered forms and mixed with the raw sound of the train - At the next station the sounds from the previous entity fade out. - Repeat; next title. Aesthetically, the album deals with two phenomena that appear familiar, while actually being only enabled by technologies: The sonification of the train sounds very similar to what we experience acoustically as the train engine is accelerating. Such resemblance is rare when investigating electromagnetism, as most electrical entities do not share their characteristic in both the acoustic and electromagnetic spectrum. The Layering of the two videos filming both the left and right side of the train appears similar to reflections we witness from the opposite window when sitting on a train. The layering here goes further though, as the right side is inverted to align with the left into one direction of flow. In moments it becomes possible to perceive left and right simultaneously.  These seemingly familiar aesthetic experiences are used as the starting point to delve into a world unseen and unheard.