Merche Blasco: WHAT HUMS BEYOND

*What Hums Beyond* is a site-specific performance that explores the hidden vibrational topography of the Tieranatomisches Theater.

To create the electronic soundscape for the piece, Merche Blasco moved through the building, including its offices, immersing her body in its electromagnetic activity. Using homemade antenna wands and EMF microphones attached to her fingers, she recorded electromagnetic traces through the movements of her body and hands.

These recordings were woven into a quadraphonic composition: an ever-changing soundscape of drones, pulses and patterns of noise. Within this, Luc Vitk / Lucie Vítková improvise on the accordion and Li-Chin Li on the sheng in dialogue with the electronic sounds. An open score comprising gestures, spatial impulses and listening instructions guides the three performers into a shared process in which they attune themselves to the building and to one another.

*What Hums Beyond* conceives the building’s architecture as a living instrument and makes audible the invisible vibrations that underpin its everyday life.

The event forms part of the programme for Berlin Science Week 2026 under the theme ‘In Touch’ and the exhibition Wavematters. Attending to the Spectral. Bodies, Cities, Devices, which runs from 2 October 2026 to 13 February 2027.

What can you expect?

Tuesday, 10 November 2026

6.00 pm · Exhibition tour

Scientist Brett Mommersteeg (Wavematters team) will lead a tour of the exhibition. The focus is on vibrations, the conversion of energy and signals, and the movement of waves between sound, electromagnetic fields and sensory perception. The tour offers an introduction to the exhibition’s research into heat, noise, light and electromagnetic signals in everyday urban life.

Duration: 30–45 minutes.

7.00 pm · WHAT HUMS BEYOND

A live performance featuring electronics, accordion and sheng, a Chinese mouth organ. Recordings from throughout the building unfold across four loudspeakers, whilst the performers respond to the building’s invisible rhythms and to one another.