The Geofónie installation explores the geological context of our environment—in particular, the limestone foundation beneath Brno, which it presents in the form of sound and kinetic objects: a series of objects creates an environment that references the slow geological processes that shape our planet.

R. Murray Schafer advocates the idea that the whole world can be perceived as a great symphony of sounds that we create together. The Geofónie project offers the opportunity to perceive the world and its parts as a musical score. With the help of proprietary devices and codes, each segment of measurable reality can be subjectively read—essentially interpreted—and transformed into a sensory experience. Everything can become a musical score. For Geofónie, limestone and puddingstone were selected from the artist's living and working environment.

The project was originally created as a local, site-specific installation for the Hády quarry. Outside the context of its original location, in the gallery, the stone brought along becomes the central theme – it becomes a “3D vinyl record.” Instead of a needle, an invisible laser beam from a ToF sensor is used.

Kinetic scanners rotate around the stones, illuminate them, and measure their surface. The sensor data is not played back directly, but is used as a modulation source for parameters that map the sonification using granular synthesis. The sound is transmitted to a rotating loudspeaker, creating a more complex spatial sound field. In this way, the temporal intersection in the exhibition combines the presence of contemporary technology with stones that were formed 380 to 360 million years ago.

One hypothesis for the causes of the first mass extinction (Ordovician-Silurian) was an increased concentration of calcium in the oceans—toxic to many soft-bodied organisms, they began to die. Others, able to metabolize calcium, transformed and used calcium to build their spines, teeth, bones... We humans are their descendants; limestone is compressed sediment from their bodies. A story of toxicity and adaptation.

Technical support: Filip Dobrocký (HW, SW); Geological consultant: Mgr. Tomáš Kumpan, Ph.D.