Five Sound Questions to Petra Dubach and Mario van Horrik

The five sound questions, answered this time by Petra Dubach and Mario van Horrik. Their work experiments with both movement and sound.

In their research project Waves they experiment with inaudible sounds as a means to create movement. See their website to learn more about their work.

1. What sound from your childhood made the most impression on you? 

Petra: Every Monday at 12.00 all the sirens in Holland are tested. It is an alarm system introduced just before or during the Second World War to warn people for air-attacks. For me as a child the sounds of the sirens were very frightening.

Mario: I come from a big catholic family. As the youngest of 6 brothers, who all slept on the attic of the house, I had to go to bed first. I always wanted to stay awake until my older brothers would come to bed, and I tried by climbing up the end of the bed, so I could look out the small roof window. In some distance of our house ran the railroad track. I was amazed by the fact that sometimes I could see the trains passing by, but could not hear them; and sometimes I could hear them without seeing them.

2. How do you listen to the world around you?

Petra: City noises can be very irritating: planes, cars, motor-bikes are noisy and disturbing very often.

Mario: In the city: from a perspective of safety. In nature: enjoying.

3. Which place in the world do you favor for its sound?

Petra: Any forest, specially when it’s windy: fantastic sound!

Mario: The sound of the Atlantic waves hitting the Long Island beach.

4. How could we make sound improve our lives?

Petra: By choosing the sounds that match our emotions, like the ambient light/sound systems.

Mario: By taking a couple of minutes every day to close your eyes and just listen.

5. What sound would you like to wake up to?

Petra: The everyday, reassuring domestic sounds.

Mario: Rain on the roof.

Also read the answers of other artists in the Five Sound Questions section.