„Radio Beacon“ – A live signal from the Mediterranean Sea

I am listening to the sea. What stories does it tell? What does the sea report about climate change and displacement?
News travels faster underwater – acoustically speaking.

“Radio Beacon” is a floating transmitter broadcasting the underwater sound of its surroundings in real-time. If in action,
its human counterpart, the sound artist Grit Lieder, is present.

Since 2018, she has been exploring the underwater sound of the Mediterranean Sea through field recordings and electroacoustic compositions, using the beacon signal as an acoustic element in her sound performances and installations.

So far, the floating transmitter has broadcasted in the coastal regions of Marseille, Barcelona, Menorca, Lampedusa, Malta, Chios, Lesbos.

Radio Beacon is a self-made instrument built from freely available materials and based on open-source models. This approach puts established listening methods in underwater acoustics to the test, questioning what we are hearing, what we don’t, and who is setting the framework for this.

When the beacon is broadcasting, the audio player at the start of this page is red and says: online.

Listening is a performative act. Use headphones if possible. Alert your neighbors by turning the light switches on and off.