Interview Jan Johan Draaistra

Jan Johan Draaistra interviewed by Tuana Inhan during the Graduation Show 2022 at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK).

Hydroradio

Graduation project 2021-2022 by Jan Johan Draaistra
Multimedia installation

The sea is becoming a place that is increasingly inhabited by people. Hydroradio is a platform for monitoring both natural and anthropogenic sounds in response. It addresses the sonic ecology created by increasing human activity, formed by oceanic traffic, sonar activities and industrial extraction. This invisible sonic infrastructure affects both the orientation and communication of non-human life forms.

Hydroradio platform is controlled by self-developed (radio) buoys that act as speakers of the North Sea. They broadcast underwater sounds from various locations around the Dutch coast via a live radio link. Visitors are invited to experience and interpret underwater sounds, vibrations and frequencies emitted by the unseen sonic infrastructures in the installation.

In addition, the platform functions as an open-source action, which stands for the development of self-made tools, which enable the collection of local data as an alternative to the already existing, often nonpublic data extracted by sensory networks in our oceans that are involved in international governmental activities.

www.janjohandraaistra.nl