Louise Mackenzie

Tentacular Resonances is an ongoing body of research which draws upon the writing of Donna Haraway, Don Idhe, Salomé Voegelin and Jane Bennett to explore the material relationship between resonance and form.

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Tentacular Resonances uses technology, poetics and ritual to explore the physical effects of sound on the body, drawing from scientific research that suggests sound can alter living material at the molecular level.

Current works include an experimental installation and live interactive performance. Using DIY technology, copper, blown glass, clay and bodies of water that contain living organisms (e.g. seawater), a network of 'animated' vessels connects to a central 'organ'. When approached, sensors in these vessels trigger sounds that resonate through a series of speakers placed beneath the central organ. Although not scientifically calculated, this resonance is theoretically sufficient to allow DNA exchange amongst the micro-organisms naturally occurring in the seawater through a process known as horizontal gene transfer. The more that the peripheral vessels are stimulated, the more likely genetic information will be transferred between organisms, thus through cultural interaction, life may be transformed. In a performative ritual, seawater is then returned to the ocean in a symbolic commitment to our inescapable cultural entanglement with the wider environment.

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Made in collaboration with Generator Projects, Dundee, Justin Marshall, University of Northumbria and Jeff Sarmiento, University of Sunderland.

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