The air is restless, constantly in motion. A cubic inch of air holds 25 billion billion molecules, colliding and dispersing faster than the speed of sound. This perpetual movement creates a sound which is inaudible to us. What would it mean to listen to the particles?

In the installation Particular Matter(s) Jam Session (2018), visitors find themselves part of a rhythmic ensemble. A beam of light illuminates dust particles of domestic, earthly and cosmic origin. Cameras record the position and velocity of the particles in real time as they travel through space, transforming them into musical tones that are voiced through a set of speakers spread out across the space.

The frequencies produced by the choreographies of particles of dust resound in the threads of a spider/web. The vibratory movements produced by the spider in its web are amplified through a speaker that is positioned below the beam of light. This reverberation animates the particles, causing fluctuations and collisions. The presence of visitors in the space generates new variations in this evolving ecology.

Particular matter(s) is an exercise in attunement to bodies and forces on air—giving voice to the vibrations in the room, as if they were interspecies translators. Dust particles, the spider/web, visitors and the interplay of heat, electrostatics and air currents become the musicians of this interspecific jam session.