Experimentation was conducted using cameras and contact microphone to record the moment of crystallisation and verbal material was gathered to ascertain researchers' relationships with the matter under study.
Sound and audibility will provide focus in both reflecting the varied but convergent aspects of the Group and making the study of matter tangible. This collaboration comprises three overlapping areas for development: sonification; recording change during experimentation and making audible the subjective/ lyrical reflections of researchers (in asking how is matter shaped by the scientist and vice versa).
The first would involve an exploration of the proposition of transposing EXAFS functions into the audible frequency range (since they are superpositions of sine functions, just like sounds). The research here will focus on how to convert a calculated wave with a frequency into actual sound. Since every chemical element has a different frequency and phase shift - an 'instrument' with keys representing the elements, from a bass register (light elements) through a mid-range to the treble range (the heaviest elements) could be produced. Chemical compounds would represent polyphony, with relative loudness amplitudes of each key determined by stoichiometry. Secondly, areas of common denominator of research (in the Group) would be mapped and studied with more enhanced and sophisticated microphones/field recording techniques used to capture shifts in state. Thirdly, interviews will be further conducted and the resultant auditory analogies would be transposed as musical/sonic polyvocal elements.
