Peat Quilt

2021, 6’ x 8’

in collaboration with composer Daniel Townsend (University of Florida)

Handmade paper from post-extraction site plants; hand-embroidered with locally-dyed floss with imagery from an aerial map of extracted tracts of land; stereo sound based on hyperspectral camera data comparing restored (right) and unrestored (left) soil samples from site; red marker, guitar tremolo springs, wire, speakers, transducers, pedal-activated sound system.

Re:Peat is a recent EDUFI Fulbright Finland Fellowship research project focusing on peatland extraction and restoration in Finland. Audio for this project combines field recordings from Latvasuo & Pikkusaarisuo extraction sites with hyperspectral imaging of soil core samples. Hyperspectral images are read as graphic music notation.

Our hyperspectral images were made with a Specim FX-17 camera using wavelengths of 900 – 1700 nanometers. These images allow us to see details in soil structure invisible to the naked eye. We hear two sonified core samples, the unrestored sample panned left and restored panned right, moving low to high. Ash, an industrial byproduct from burning peat for power and heat at Toppila station in Oulu, has been used to treat the soil, de-acidifying it and perhaps leading to a viable novel ecosystem for reindeer forage.

Because speakers are attached to the “fabric” of the quilt, we are able to hear the sounds of the landscape we have altered through the materials of the landscape we have altered.

Additional installation views below – photos by Senaida Brown:

See process photos, from how to make and analyze hyperspectral images of soil samples to my super-analog process for making paper in a science lab, here: