sound prints about contact AMBIENT STATE OF EMERGENCY
With the world cascading in ever more frantic and uncontrolled directions,
the threats both caused by and faced by human ways of life—from weather to war—are increasingly undeniable. Collective inertia and denial are no longer options.
AMBIENT STATE OF EMERGENCY is an investigation into methods of communicating the necessity of urgent action. It asks questions such as: What makes people feel urgency? Can an alarm cut through complacency during a period of alarm fatigue? How might we decentralise alert systems in order to rethink public warning infrastructure?
To answer these questions, this multidisciplinary project draws on research from the fields of sound design and circuit building, the science of attention, and media studies.
This project also responds to the Western-centric narrative that emerged after global conflicts in the 20th Century: the belief in perpetual peace, the end of history, and the idea socially responsible capitalism would continue indefinitely. That solid ground has become sticky and gulping mud. Liberal democracies now struggle to find balance, while nimble techno-entrepreneurs exploit social division for their own ends.
Warnings ignored, crises mounting
Scientific communication has largely failed to motivate nations to adequately prepare for the climate crisis, despite clear warnings from scientists and increasingly erratic and dangerous weather patterns clear for all to see. Climate targets are further and further out of reach, with messaging failing to spark the necessary action. Delayed and inadequate centralised responses to the COVID-19 pandemic further exemplify the failure to prepare for crises, even in the face of clear and repeated scientific warnings.
The signs are there—some governments are beginning to act. Sweden, Finland, and Germany, for instance, have recently produced emergency handbooks for citizens, detailing what to do in a crisis. But these efforts remain the exception, not the rule.
This project challenges that failure. Using sirens, printmaking, and experimental forms, AMBIENT STATE OF EMERGENCY seeks to provoke attention, action, and understanding in a world that urgently needs it.
AMBIENT STATE OF EMERGENCY is a registered trade mark. ®