Etna_experiment is an exploration of ground movements and seismic signals in the vicinity of the Etna volcano. Continual background vibrations, known as seismic noise, often distort seismic signals and limit their detection. Seismic noise is mostly generated by wind and ocean waves or even vehicle traffic and industrial activity. We played on the characteristics of seismic noises such as wind and other noise-generating phenomenons contrary to seismic stations which are usually built in remote areas to eliminate the influence of seismic noise. Although we set our movable sonoseismic lab in the remote area of Montalbano Elicona on the island of Sicily, Italy on the outcrops of geological hard rock far away from larger cities, our aim was not to eliminate the seismic noise, but rather to emphasise the importance of all the noises the earth creates in the multiverse, not the universe, of its movements. The experiments were aimed at presenting the sonority of even the smallest movements on and in the earth. We view sound not as a totality but as a fragmented soundscape of noises, drones, hums, etc. We were detecting not only the potential seismic movements which happen on a very low-frequency scale but also the effects of wind and microseismic movements in large stone masses in the area around the beautiful megaliths of Argimusco.
Photos by Saša Spačal.