Five large ceramic vessels are positioned in a room filled with static noise. This acoustic installation invites you to discover the hidden compositions resonating within each of them. As you listen up close, the static fades, revealing the unique resonances of each vessel.

Transformative Resonance is an acoustic installation by sound artist Kunrad. The installation consists of five large ceramic vessels positioned in a circle. 

A constant static noise fills the space, masking detailed auditory information. However, embedded within this noise are the exact resonant frequencies of the vessels. When coming closer and putting one’s ear onto a vessel, the static is filtered, revealing one of five ‘hidden’ compositions—each unique to its respective vessel. Each ceramic pot is handmade, giving it a distinct resonant character with a rich, complex harmonic texture.

In order to hear the entire installation one has to listen to each of the vessels.

The philosophy behind the installation is to gain more understanding and empathy for the voices of things and beings that sometimes remain hidden, obscured within our daily lives. 

The project draws inspiration from traditional handmade ceramic resonators across cultures, including the quevri, a large pot used in Georgian winemaking, the udu, a clay instrument from the Igbo people of Nigeria and the Korean onggi.

The large vessels were initially created during a residency at EKWC. The final version of the installation is being developed, with acoustic analysis and specialized speaker and electronics design conducted in collaboration with Ohme Lab and the VUB.

The idea behind this artwork is transformation. By shifting the focus of our senses, we become aware of different aspects of the world around us. Through my work, I aim to emphasize the small sounds and phenomena that often go unnoticed.

— Kunrad

We’re very happy to welcome Guillaume Slizewicz as Artist-in-Residence for Sustainable Robotics.

He will be joining a group of a group of international experts on sustainable robotics, AI and automation gathering in Brussels over the course of five months at the Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies to learn, exchange & experiment. During this residency we will support him in delveloping his own research project on robotics.

What connects the human experience and its quantified representation? How do biometric data – and the act of collecting them – influence the body they describe? These questions are at the core of this performance & research project, featuring two performers and a knitting machine.

We’re looking forward to welcoming Rebekka Jochem as Artist-in-Residence for 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘢. Ohme, Pilar & FARI join forces for this project focused on exploring the interactions between biometric technologies and human expression in live performance.

Using a real-time data transfer between sensor technologies measuring the biosignals of a performer and the modified control panel of a household knitting machine, Rebekka will knit a live-generated pattern visualising the collected biometric data. She will develop the performance in collaboration with dancer/performer Agnetha Jaunich.

The technical expertise provided by the Biometrika residency will be critical in realising the technical aspects of collecting, interpreting, and transmitting biometric data to the knitting machine. The collaboration with the scientists and engineers of Fari and Ohme Lab will form an integral element of the research and will further develop the concept of the project.

I look forward to exploring how a performance on biometrics, built around a domestic knitting machine from the 80s, can engage people outside of the classic tech and media art demographic in a conversation about technology.

What if construction waste could be transformed into something new — not by human hands, but in collaboration with living systems? By mobilising the Sporosarcina pasteurii, Bento Architecture is part of an evolving field of research, exploring how biological processes can transform waste into new materials.

This bacterium has a unique talent: it precipitates calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) through its enzymatic activity, creating an alkaline environment where particles and aggregates bind together. The result is a guided form of biocementation—partly controlled nor entirely left to chance—that invites us to reconsider waste. Could the leftovers of construction sites be transformed into bricks, terrazzo, or entirely new materials, while fostering a more thoughtful relationship with the living world?

This residency doesn’t just focus on materials; it asks deeper questions about our responsibilities to the ecosystems around us. How do we interact with the living (like bacteria), the non-living (like waste), and the in-between? It encourages reflection on decarbonization, the potential of contemporary ruins, and how humans might better coexist with non-human actors.

By viewing construction waste not as debris to discard, but as a resource to reimagine, this residency opens a space for architectural practices that collaborate with the life forms we often overlook. This is a journey into the future of building, where human creativity works in tandem with the quiet genius of microbial life.

An artistic, scientific and technological investigation of the complex communication methods beneath the ocean’s surface.

Antoine Bertin’s research engages in an audiovisual exploration of the conversations between aquatic species through the use of sound recordings and machine learning. This research draws on machine listening techniques to decode the intricate communication methods of marine life communication. 

During this residency project Antoine and Ohme collaborate on the design and composition of an intimate radiophonic plea for marine species, blending spoken word, sculptures and immersive soundscapes, drawing the audience into the fascinating world of listening to the ocean.

To support Antoine’s research, Ohme Lab is developing a system that transforms marine recordings into point cloud structures through machine learning. These structures will be used in digital art visualisations and 3D printing.

The microscope enabled humans to see anew, with both our eyes and our imaginations. Digital acoustics are an invention of similar significance. Like the microscope, they function like a scientific prosthetic: as they extend our sense of hearing, they expand our perceptual and conceptual horizons.

— Karen Bakker, The Sounds of Life.