Pressure Plates III
Audiovisual installation. 13:42 minutes. Continuous loop. Joshua Bonnetta & Fabian Lindner 2025
Pressure Plates III is the third in an ongoing series of sonic portraits of seismic landscapes. It is a collaboration with seismologist Dr. Fabian Lindner of the Ludwig-Maximilians- University of Munich.
The installation work explores the inner geological sounds of mountains of the Hochstaufen (1,771 m), a mountain within the Chiemgau Alps known for small earthquakes, occurring after rainfall. Seismic recordings were collected from an array of sensors around the mountain which measure ground motion. Apart from local seismicity, the sensors also recorded earthquakes from other regions, anthropogenic noise and ocean-generated signals. The data was collected by the Erdbebendienst Bayern*, sonified by Dr. Lindner and then composed into a four-channel audio installation for acoustic and surface transducing speakers with accompanying single channel video.
The original images were photographed at Hochstaufen. These were then reflected and rephotographed oU a mirror with an attached surface transducing speaker. The various seismic signals were broadcast through the speaker and into the reflection, incorporating the unheard vibrations of the mountain directly into the image.
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Geophysical Observatory, University of Munchen. (2001). BayernNetz [Data set]. International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks.
