Rob Ray feral art and technology

Strange Sounds in Strange Place 1: Sounds of a bubbling steam placed in overhead powerlines to evoke rivers of electricity.

Strange Sounds in Strange Place 2: Sounds of a busy Manchester, UK motorway placed in a drainpipe to mystify pedestrians walking on a footpath above.

Strange Sounds in Strange Place 3: Sounds of a clanging rusty metal springs placed up in a tree.

Each team had a backpack of stuff such as rope, mp3 players, small audio amplifiers, headphones, audio recorders, and some small tools. I also included copies of the zine for guidance and inspiration.

I made a zine for the project with two chapters. The first chapter introduces thinking and practices for making interactive artwork outdoors/off-grid. The chapter bends the U.S. Army's FM:531 BOOBYTRAPS (archive.org) field manual as a prompt to both undo and do; undo the violence intended in the manual and do the practice of creating suprise (also intended in the manual). You can check out the full zine (pdf) if you'd like to see more.

The second chapter is an introduction to thinking about making interactive artwork outdoors and, typically, offgrid. I use an example project of making a tin can resonator or aeolian harp, as a small wind-powered artwork a person can make and install in an afternoon. You can check out the full zine (pdf) if you'd like to see more.

Sample pages showing the sourcing of a good tin can to make a great resonator. You can check out the full zine (pdf) if you'd like to see more.