Sextet Object
A sound performance with the solar eclipse
The first in the series Andscapes: Instruments for Earthly Survival
Materials: High-altitude weather balloon; hydrogen; SPOT Trace; parachute; cutdown system; sensor module; 3D-printed module casing with 6 integrated pinhole cameras; 2 antenna arrays; ground station with laptop, Max MSP software, Bach algorithmic and computer-aided-composition library, mixer, microcontroller; 30 wireless headphones; Earth; Sun; Moon
Location: 63°51'03.2"N, 21°43'13.8"W (Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland)
Time: 17:30–18:00 GMT (totality: 17:43–17:50 GMT)
Date: 12 August 2026
Ground support from Sudurnes Science and Learning Center in Iceland
Funded by the Old Gold Summer Fellowship, awarded by the Office of the Provost at the University of Iowa
The first in the series Andscapes: Instruments for Earthly Survival, the work Sextet Object was an outdoor sound performance in conversation with the total solar eclipse in Iceland. Below the white balloon hung a module containing sensors, a transceiver, and six pinhole cameras. Six data variables—relaying the balloon’s movement and atmospheric environment—were transmitted from the module to the ground station in real-time. On the ground below, the artist received the continuous live data streams and used a special audio setup—designed in collaboration with programmer Nesa Popov—to translate the data into a woodwind composition that the attending audience listened to via wireless headphones. Each of the six streams were audible as a distinct channel, or ‘instrument’, connecting listeners to the changing environment and experience of the balloon.
The performance was timed around the total solar eclipse, initiated shortly before totality. This way, the sudden changes in the environment when the moment of darkness arrived were audible to the audience in their wireless headphones. When the balloon reached 25,000 meters, the audio shifted into a voice reading a text written from the perspective of the balloon, in the form of a prose sestina. This section lasted about 5 minutes, marking the end of the performance. The balloon was equipped with a GPS tracker and retrieved from its landing site the following day.
This event was meant to augment the eclipse, not distract from it. Audience members were encouraged to adjust the volume on the headphones as they liked, and they could focus on the sound as much or as little as they wanted. Several spheres of different scales were in conversation: the sensor module, weather balloon, Earth, Sun, and Moon. Airspace permissions were arranged through the Icelandic Aviation Authority with support from Óli Jón Arnbjörnsson of GeoCamp Iceland and science educator Kevin Lavigne's HABET team.
This piece is inspired by John Cage’s Number Pieces (1987–1992), which were composed with the element of improvisation. Within the audio software, each of the six data variables in Sextet Object was assigned an instrument whose sound the artist modulated based the nature of the variable—whether acceleration, altitude, temperature, air pressure, and so on. The ‘beat’ of the piece kept pace with the change in altitude, rather than being time-based. Listening as a dialogical and relational practice plays a critical role in this project. How can we listen to nonhuman agents in remote environments, and invite human communities to listen along?
Team: Darrell Currington, Tom Lin, Nesa Popov, Thalassa Raasch, Bennett Sims, Pia Struzzieri
Special thanks to Kevin Lavigne, Ólafur Jón Arnbjörnsson, Anna Líndal, Rick Eason, Daníel Hjálmtýsson, Steve McGuire, Adam Skibbe, and Aaron Kennedy
