Acoustic Oxidation
Transforming the chemistry of rust into a living composition where electrons and air compose in real time.
Hearing the invisible
Acoustic Oxidation explores how oxidation, a process usually regarded as silent, produces subtle patterns of vibration that can be interpreted as sound. The premise is simple yet radical: every chemical transformation generates micro-events of motion, and those motions can be amplified into music. By linking corrosion sensors directly to resonant transducers, the project allows matter itself to score and perform its own transformation. Instead of simulating decay, the system listens to it, giving physical processes an audible dimension that changes continuously over time.
What emerges is not a conventional composition but a dialogue between air and metal. When a copper surface oxidizes, the shifting charge potentials fluctuate like low-frequency tremors. When steel corrodes, the resulting texture grows denser, producing a deep pulse that blends into the architecture. Each installation is a conversation between chemistry and acoustics, where the only conductor is oxygen. The pieces remind us that sound does not need to be struck, plucked, or blown, it can simply be allowed to form through reaction.
Designing instruments that age
The instruments built for Acoustic Oxidation are deliberately impermanent. Their circuitry is minimal, designed to capture signals with as little interference as possible. Each metallic component is left exposed so that environmental factors, humidity, light, even the presence of visitors, can shape the rate of decay. The act of listening becomes intertwined with the act of transformation. As days pass, the tonal spectrum shifts, and what once sounded like a steady hum begins to fracture into complex harmonics. The hardware itself grows brittle, and in doing so, changes its sound signature.
This design philosophy embraces entropy as an essential part of composition. Rather than maintaining perfect fidelity, the system celebrates degradation. The speakers emit noise that drifts in pitch and texture, producing what some listeners describe as the sound of weather compressed into metal. Over time, the installation becomes quieter, as if the material is running out of breath. That gradual fading is integral to the experience, an ending that happens without finality, an unhurried surrender to silence.
Oxidation as rhythm
From an acoustic perspective, oxidation is not random. It follows cycles influenced by temperature and moisture, producing natural rhythms. The sensors embedded in each piece translate these patterns into frequencies that oscillate slowly, often below the threshold of ordinary hearing. Visitors perceive them as a gentle throbbing in the air, a vibration that resonates through the floor. The rhythm is steady yet unpredictable, expanding our understanding of what constitutes tempo. In Acoustic Oxidation, rust itself keeps time.
Engineers collaborating on the project refer to this process as “material percussion.” Instead of striking metal to produce resonance, the environment does the striking. Each droplet of condensation, each microscopic reaction, acts like a drummer performing at a geological pace. The result is hypnotic and strangely human. People standing among the installations often find their breathing unconsciously aligning with the low pulses, as if their bodies were syncing to the chemistry around them.
The poetics of chemical sound
Acoustic Oxidation invites philosophical reflection on the relationship between creation and decay. Traditional instruments are designed to resist time; these are designed to reveal it. Their music is inseparable from their aging. The sounds that emerge are fragile and shifting, much like the memories they evoke. In listening, we participate in a process that mirrors our own temporality. The crackle of rust and the hum of oxygen remind us that permanence is an illusion and that beauty often exists in states of transition.
By translating corrosion into sound, the project transforms neglect into awareness. What is usually dismissed as damage becomes a source of resonance. The installations create an acoustic empathy between humans and materials, suggesting that the language of change is universal. The tones of rust echo biological processes: growth, exhaustion, renewal. In their whispering drones, we can hear something both ancient and immediate, a conversation between matter and mortality conducted entirely through vibration.
Future applications
Beyond its artistic scope, Acoustic Oxidation opens possibilities for environmental monitoring and material research. Because the sensors detect extremely fine changes in electrical potential, they can serve as indicators of corrosion in infrastructure or artifacts. By analyzing the frequency spectra of different metals, scientists can identify unique signatures of decay. In essence, each metal species has a voice, and listening to it can reveal the health of structures long before visual damage appears. This cross-pollination of art and science demonstrates that attentive listening can be a powerful diagnostic tool.
The installations continue to evolve in outdoor contexts, where wind, rain, and sunlight add new layers of complexity. As weather patterns shape the rate of oxidation, the compositions change from day to day. The project thus becomes a kind of planetary stethoscope, an attempt to hear the Earth’s slow respiration through the medium of corroding metal. To stand in front of it is to hear the passing of time, not as decay but as music: a steady, patient rhythm that has been playing since the first moment oxygen touched iron.