Sun and Us

Sun and Us began with memories of sitting in a park with my grandmother: wind moving through the willows, birdsong, conversation, and laughter sounding together. I wanted to carry that attention to place into an encounter someone else could enter. The browser work brings field recordings from distant locations into a spare visual and sonic environment, asking what it means to listen to a place we cannot see.

The position of the International Space Station selects a recording; changing solar data shapes its playback. A visitor can alter the sound directly through the Sun controls or choose Us to let head and wrist movements become controls through the camera. Neither route asks the visitor to master a technical system. Both make listening an active, bodily exchange with an environment beyond the room.

The work was shown at the 2020 NYU ITP Winter Show, One Mile Gallery, and the 2021 Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art Biennial. The current browser version remains playable without camera access; body tracking begins only when a visitor chooses it.

Radio Aporee field recordings carry the voices of particular places. ISS position brings one of those places into the work; solar data, p5.js drawing, and Tone.js playback keep the composition in motion. PoseNet offers a second, optional way to enter through movement. In the current version I repaired the start flow and reduced rendering work so visitors can begin listening before any camera tracking loads.