As with other aspects of the physical world such as land, water and air, the electromagnetic spectrum is a limited resource. Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons (1968) illustrates the dilemma in which multiple individuals acting independently in her/his own self-interest can ultimately destroy a shared resource even when everyone knows this is in no one’s long-term interest. Hertzian Rain addresses this competition for signal dominance through a participatory scenario for real-time, asymmetrical communication between sound makers (sound artists, DJs, spoken word performers) and sound listeners (an audience) – or hybrids thereof.

Mark Shepard, Heamchand Subryan, Nick Bruscia