Meandering River (Nitrate Choir)
​​Live sonification of real-time data streams from 30 nitrate sensors placed throughout the Iowa state watershed
Max/MSP software, mixer, controller, 80 wireless headphones
Part of the collaborative performance project Meandering River
Data collection support from IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering at the University of Iowa
Max/MSP programming support from Nesa Popov
2025​​​
Excerpt from Meandering River tour guide script:
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The Iowa River comes winding in, sun on its back, carrying leaves, twigs, and the occasional bold duck. As it reaches the Hancher Footbridge, it seems almost to introduce it—a bright, 375-foot arc that stretches from the quiet, artsy west side of campus to the busier east. Built in 2018, the bridge lifts its shiny handrails and cheerful overlooks like it’s sure everything’s just fine. And from up top, it can feel that way. The river looks peaceful, steady. But there’s more going on beneath the surface.
[SENSOR 1] What you are hearing is live data. It is coming from a sensor 130 miles upstream, to the northwest. That sensor is measuring the level of nitrates in the water, and those measurements are being translated into sound. Each note you hear corresponds to the nitrate level at that moment. The higher the note, the higher the concentration of nitrates flowing in the river. A rainbow trout at this sensor would swim for 30 hours to reach where we are.
[SENSOR 2] Now you are also hearing the level of nitrates at Old Man’s Creek, 20 miles to the southwest. A human body walking would take 6 ½ hours to get there. In the early 1970s, The Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta immersed herself in mud along this creek as part of an exploration of earth and body... The water she touched flowed into the Iowa River 50 years ago.
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[SENSOR 3] Now you are also hearing the level of nitrates near I-80, close to The World’s Largest Truck Stop, 40 miles to the east. An American white pelican would fly for 2 hours to get from here to there.
[ALL SENSORS] The Iowa River isn’t just the water you see flowing between its banks. It’s part of a much larger system—a living expression of its watershed. A watershed is defined by movement: rain, snow, and runoff all traveling downhill, weaving through creeks, streams, and rivers toward a shared destination. This river gathers from all over—cornfields in Hancock County, prairies in Wright, wetlands in Marshall, hog farms in Benton, wastewater systems in Johnson, meatpacking plants in Louisa, cycles of evaporation and precipitation. It carries the imprint of all these movements.
So pause. Face the river. Breathe in. Breathe out. The river is in you.
​​Funding for this project is provided by:
The Big Field Fund, a Regional Regranting Program of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts administered by Public Space One
The National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority
Public Arts Matching Grant City of Iowa City
Blue-Green Action Platform
UIowa Office of Sustainability and the Environment UIowa Departments of Religious Studies, Communication Studies, and English