Inter-Totem is a project that merges art, science, and technology to translate seismic activity into an immersive auditory artistic experience. Developed in collaboration with geoscientist Stefan Mertl with Interdisciplinary Transformation at the University of Austria 2024, the project explores non-standard visualisations through sonification open data with exploring craft, culture, and technology by using Totem as reinterpretation objects. Historically, totems have symbolized mystical connections between humans and nature, embodying spiritual or cultural relationships.
In Inter-Totem, we redefine this concept, using technology to make the Earth’s subtle movements perceptible to humans in real-time, thereby extending the concept of the totem to include a sensory dialogue with the Earth itself. Our connection to the places represented in the project also adds a personal dimension to its cultural and environmental commentary.
In a world increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters, traditional seismographs, while effective in scientific contexts, are often difficult to resonate with the broader public.
The project arose from a shared desire to make natural phenomena more accessible to people, beyond the typical scientific graphs and data visualisations. Also, as an artist and heritage researcher, especially symbols that transcend mere functionality to carry profound meanings—fuelled the creation of this project. We envisioned a project where cultural symbolism, artistic form, and scientific data merge, combining with various materials and technologies. Our collaboration brought essential skills from 3D material, digital interactivity, and coding.
For the project, I crafted four clay sculptures that embody each of us and serve as a modern interpretation of the totem, blending these with 3D-printed elements and embedding a Raspberry Pi system within each. These totems serve as interactive nodes in a global network. This exploration led us to transform real-time seismic open data from our four geographically diverse locations—Indonesia, Austria, Ukraine, and the USA—into dynamic soundscapes.
Team:
Eko, Letta, Jack, and David