Can We Still Hear the Ocean? How the Artifact Q4 #101 Translates Shenzhen Underwater Recordings into an Interactive System
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Maritime cities have different relationships with the sea, influenced by geographical, geopolitical, and cultural factors. This project focuses on Shenzhen, exploring this relationship through a sensory interface. We captured underwater soundscapes from a canal in Shenzhen where it meets the sea, using a hydrophone. These recordings were transformed into an interactive artifact called “Q4 #101,” which features audio data rendered as an abstracted spectrogram, 3D-printed in transparent resin, and houses microelectronics and miniature loudspeakers. In an exhibition, Q4 #101 is suspended from the ceiling, emitting raw hydrophone recordings. An ultrasonic sensor triggers sounds from the 3D-printed shell as spectators approach, facilitating a physical interaction with Shenzhen's waters. Q4 #101 makes the urban ocean tangible, challenging traditional boundaries. By bringing the ocean into a lab and an art gallery, we aim to amplify its presence, offering a poetic interpretation and revealing hidden materialities beneath the city's surface.
Authors: Marcel Zaes Sagesser, Enza Migliore
Institution: Southern University of Science and Technology
Language: English
Topic: Sound Studies and Aurality
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4412045149