Magnetic Fluctuations

Magnetic Fluctuations is a workshop developed from the sound installation of the same name, first presented at Biennale Son. Participants will be introduced to a custom generative system created in close collaboration with Dutch radio astronomer Rob Stammes. This system receives real-time data from magnetometers, ultra-sensitive microphones, and antennas located at the Polar Light Center in Lofoten, Norway, an active station monitoring auroral activity. These live data streams, which reflect variations in electromagnetic activity, directly shape sound parameters such as pitch, timing, and velocity, transforming atmospheric fluctuations into a dynamic musical composition.

The workshop builds on the legacy of American composer Alvin Lucier (1931 to 2021), whose work explored acoustic phenomena and the artistic use of electromagnetic signals. Alvin Lucier envisioned connecting Very Low Frequency (VLF) signals directly to synthesisers, an idea that this system brings into practice. Developed over nearly three years, the setup is now stable and adaptable, capable of interfacing with a variety of musical, visual, or mechanical instruments.

Throughout the workshop, participants will gain hands-on experience with the system and explore how real-time environmental data, particularly electromagnetic variations associated with auroral activity, can be translated into other mediums. The workshop encourages reflection on natural phenomena as active contributors to composition and invites participants to imagine new forms of collaboration between human and non-human systems.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own concepts or instruments they would like to integrate into the system. The workshop will be both theoretical and practical, culminating in a variety of experimental sessions. Experience with software such as Ableton, TouchDesigner or Max/MSP is helpful but not required.

Sébastien Robert is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher working at the intersection of visual and sound arts, technology, science and ethnography. Since 2020, he has been developing a research cycle entitled You're no Bird of Paradise, which explores disappearing sound rituals and cosmologies. Beyond simple documentation, but distinct from formal ethnographic archiving, his work aims to translate these intangible resources into tangible, lasting artworks, using materials that resonate with the traditions of the communities encountered as well as with the geographical specificities of the territories explored. Through this approach, Sébastien Robert seeks to establish a dialogue between non-Western epistemologies and contemporary technologies, calling into question dominant modes of world perception and bringing to light often overlooked plural knowledge systems.