20 Hz from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

When you think of radio waves and visual art, you might think of the Constructivist beauty of the Shukov Tower or possibly the logo for RKO Pictures. But what about the waves themselves? Not so arty, right? Let science deal with those. Or at the very least John Cage. But not if you’re visual art duo, Creators Semiconductor. These multidisciplinary conjurers are masters at taking scientific data and turning it into entrancing films and mesmerizing moving images, where space weather becomes fizzing audio and mock-scientific visuals.

Their latest work continues their residency at the crossroads where science and art have for a long time been good neighbors. Called 20 Hz, the film was created using data interpreted as audio, collected by CARISMA from a geomagnetic storm caused by a solar wind (whose rumblings you can hear in the vid), which took place in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. They then used this audio, which was all captured at a frequency of 20 Hz, to generate imagery where “complex patterns emerge to create interference phenomena that probe the limits of our perception.”

This way data that would usually be the reserve of scientific interpretation and analysis, in this case an interplanetary disturbance, comes to your computer screen as dark, slightly creepy video art, something cultured for you to view during your lunch hour. Strange sounds and visions bubble away, “tangible and sculptural forms emerge suggestive of scientific visualisations”, abstract information becomes a glimpse into an imperceptible world.

The piece was made for the Invisible Fields exhibition in Barcelona, Spain on till 4th March 2012.

Images: Semiconductor