soundart & vinyl culture

Photography: Peter Trautwein, K.A.Laar, Audio: Sound recorded on location, sound installation by K.A. Laar
Supported by: Erwin und Gisela von Steiner Stiftung, WasserStiftung Munich, Dar Si Hmad, pilotraum01 e.V., Peter Trautwein / aqualonis
Special thanks to: Serafine Lindemann / artcircolo, Peter Trautwein, Soufian Aaraichi, Jamila Bargach, Aissa Derhem
©KalleAldisLaar2019

The Sound of the Fog
A sound-art project by Kalle A. Laar

Ongoing global warming, extreme weather conditions, the threat of livelihoods and habitats are undeniable. According to the latest report by the World Bank, the causes of climate refugees will increase dramatically by 2050 as a result of climate change - a fact that concerns us all.

CloudFisher for fog harvesting
In dry mountainous and coastal regions with high fog concentration, the CloudFisher collects water from fog and provides hundreds of thousands of people with a secure supply of drinking water. The CloudFisher is the first standard fog collector that can withstand high wind speeds. It is quick and easy to install, and requires no energy or maintenance. All materials are food-safe.

The project on Mount Boutmezguida in Morocco is located in the Aït Baamrane area in the Anti-Atlas mountains near the coastal town of Sidi Ifni. The population is largely made up of Berber communities, especially women, children and elderly people: the men are often absent for months at a time, looking for work in the towns. In recent years, the region has been increasingly threatened by drought; the desert has spread and the water table is steadily sinking.

By 2019, the CloudFisher nets on Mount Boutmezguida provide 18 villages with drinking water. It is the the largest fog collection project worldwide.

The Fog-Sound project
The construction of a sounding body merging both aesthetically and functionally with the framework of the fog nets was the vision of sound-artist Kalle Aldis Laar from the very beginning. In close collaboration with fog-net designer Peter Trautwein he constructed various “fog harps”, operated by wind and weather. The result is an unusual on-site composition: the sound of the fog. This sound work is not only the first of its kind to draw attention to the importance of the fog
as a valuable resource at the Sahara Gate in one of the driest places in the world. It should also provde a cultural framework for educational campaigns and public relations locally.

The sound of the fog
Several strings run parallel to one of the hollow fog masts, holding the net construction. Connected directly to the mast, the wind causes the strings to vibrate, top and bottom bridges (like on any string instrument) transmit their resonance to a resonating hollow body as well as directly to the poles holding the nets. Depending on the weather conditions, a multi-facetted drone-like sound is created, the excited strings resonate in various ever-changing overtones and at different volumes. The Fog-Harp is easy to assemble and requires no maintenance, the materials used are weatherproof and durable.

Kalle Aldis Laar: sound artist, composer, dj, author of radioplays, vinyl researcher. Founder of „The Temporary Soundmuseum“, an archive of vinyl record documents on contemporary history. Exhibitions, performances, art biennials of Venice and Havana, Ars Electronica Linz, Transmediale Berlin. Interdisciplinary project development for artcircolo.de (e.g. in Eritrea and Czech Republic). Lectures on Perception, Sound and Art, (Technical University Munich, Nanjang University Singapore, Universität der Künste UdK Berlin)

Project Management: Dr. Serafine Lindemann, www artcircolo.de

The DVD will be available soon.

⇒ Soundscape Fog project