Perikon Smelters investigates the accidental appearance of radiosensitive minerals with specific electrical phenomena to create a sound installation that resonates through and within crystalline formations. The work focuses, through sound, on the path of Zincite (zinc oxide), a ruby-red crystal born in the fiery flames of human intervention, becoming the predecessor of the transistor. From the first accidental mining fire to the first electronically generated sound, Perikon Smelters traces the fascinating history of this mineral’s crystallography, entangled with human errors, giving voice to minerals that “scream” at the careful but unstable touch of a needle. (Ioana Vreme Moser)

Referring to the critique of heteronormativity in the artist’s performative identity, in her installations at Borderline Art Space, Ioana Vreme Moser speaks from a societal perspective about sustainability and autonomy. These archaic technologies often use natural materials that can be easily recovered or processed. In her broader research project, On the peripheries of electronic wastelands, she refers specifically to the recovered objects she uses, which are printed circuits or electronic components donated by other artists.

There is also a similarity with today’s DIY culture, which has become increasingly evident since the first major global health crisis of the new millennium and which draws an interesting historical parallel with post-revolutionary anarchism — an anarchic network of people who worked not for material gain, but to develop something for a common future. 

The artistic typology at the heart of Ioana Vreme Moser’s installations offers valuable insights into the aesthetic applications and social implications of science and technology. She does this in a meta-critical way. In other words, she uses technology in a manner that self-reflexively demonstrates how new media are deeply intrinsic to modes of knowledge production, perception, and interaction.

Ioana Vreme Moser (b. 1994) is a Romanian sound artist involved in hardware electronics, speculative research, and tactile experiments. In her practice, she uses raw electronic processes to obtain different materialities of sound. She places electronic components and control voltages in various situations of interaction with her body, organic materials, lost and found objects, and environmental stimuli. From these collisions, synthesized sounds emerge that contain personal narratives and observations on the history of electronics, production chains, abandoned lands, and the tangles of the natural world. She has performed, lectured, and exhibited at, among others, the National Gallery of Denmark (DK), singuhr (DE), Klang Moore Schopfe (CH), Fonderie Darling (CA), Akademie der Künste Berlin (DE); Vancouver New Music (CA), Manifesta 14 (XK); SFX – Sound Effects Seoul (KR), Ars Electronica (AT), Bunkier Sztuki Gallery Krakow (PL); Simultan Festival (RO); Eigen+Art Lab – Transmediale, Berlin (DE).