- Experimental
- Playful
photosynthetic beats – utricularia vulgaris, marais des pontins
by ludwig berger
The audio for this archive episode is a teaser. You can listen to the full album here
With 'photosynthetic beats — utricularia vulgaris, marais des pontins', landscape sound artist and educator, Ludwig Berger shares the minute polyrhythms of aquatic plants’ photosynthesis.
On a too-hot summer day in the Swiss Jura, Ludwig Berger was listening to bog ponds with an underwater microphone. Below the surface, lay swarming tapestries of submerged greenery bathing in sunlight. These were the aqueous cradle of oscillations essential to our world.
As aquatic plants photosynthesize, they release oxygen bubbles from their stems and leaves. The moment of release creates myriads of extremely short sound pulses, resulting in ever-changing polyrhythms stemming from different parts of the plant. At a particularly high frequency, the pulses become continuous tones. From these sounds, one can deduce if and how strongly the plant is converting CO2 to oxygen. This depends on light and temperature, but is also affected by contaminants, fertilizers or pesticides.
The work was created at the residence of "La Dépendance" in St. Imier in July 2022. Thanks to Jan van Oordt and the Collectif du Pont.
