Finding original and intriguing sounds for a runway show can be challenging, but not impossible. One approach is to explore unconventional, abstract, and even alien-like sounds (and noises...), such as those inspired by Earth's magnetic field.
Around 41,000 years ago, during what is known as the Laschamp event, Earth's magnetic field briefly reversed and significantly weakened to just 5% of its current strength. This allowed more cosmic rays to reach our atmosphere.
Using data from ESA's Swarm mission (a trio of satellites launched in 2013 to study Earth's magnetic signals stemming not only from Earth's core, but also from the mantle, crust and oceans, as well as from the ionosphere and magnetosphere) scientists from the Technical University of Denmark and the German Research Centre for Geosciences transformed this ancient event into sound. By mapping the movement of Earth's magnetic field lines during the Laschamp event, they created a stereo soundscape, incorporating natural noises like creaking wood and falling rocks. The result is a mix of familiar and eerie, otherworldly tones.
This process of converting scientific data into sound is similar to composing music from a score. It's a fascinating fusion of art and science, demonstrating how data-driven compositions can create unique, immersive experiences that can be inspiring also as an unexpected soundscape for a fashion runway.
But the search for experimental music that may be used as the soundtrack of a fashion runway doesn't stop at planetary sonifications. Tomorrow, at the Munich Kammerspiele, Sharper Than A Needle will take this concept in a different direction. This interdisciplinary project - the world's first "textile machine orchestra" - transforms sewing machines into synthesizer-like instruments, embedding inside them oscillators and sensors to turn stitching into sound.
Created by artists Stephanie Müller and Klaus Erika Dietl, with collaborators including Karen Modrei, Lisa Simpson, and Stefan Wischnewski, the performance is not a typical concert but a sounding textile workshop. Here, a sewing machine choir harmonizes with the silky whirr of a spinning wheel, a knitting machine pulses with electronic rhythms, and an oversized sewing box becomes a beat machine. Accompanied by video projections that magnify the mechanical choreography, the soundscape is translated into movement, merging fashion, music, and performance into a singular, immersive experience.
Initiated by Stephanie Müller and Klaus Erika Dietl, the minds behind projects like SEWICIDE, beißpony, and the international collective ALLIGATOR GOZAIMASU, Sharper Than A Needle is an interdisciplinary event at the crossroads of textile art, experimental pop, and sound art. For years, Müller and Dietl have explored the intersection of craft and music, using textiles as a tool for networking and creative expression, often within queer-feminist contexts. Through their unconventional performances, they challenge production conditions while crafting multi-sensory experiences.
The convention is a collaborative effort, featuring Lisa Simpson (aka Agente Costura), Karen Modrei, and Stefan Wischnewski from the Dressed In Sound ensemble. Together, they will explore the acoustic potential of textile machines, turning sewing machines, scissors, needles, spinning wheels, knitting machines, and haberdashery into musical instruments.
With the support of guest artists, the stage will host around 20 performers, including wheelchair dancer Sema Schäffer, percussionist and dancer Ángela Muñoz Martínez, noise sculptor Max Weisthoff, experimental filmmaker Dafne Narvaez Berlfein, and textile artists from the Beyond Textiles network. Additional technical refinements come from Thomas Mayer (aka residuum) and Fabian Zweck.
One of the most striking elements of the performance is the dynamic transformation of costumes: performers such as Schäffer and Muñoz Martínez will wear garments that evolve throughout the show; some costume elements will even be sewn live on stage, blending dance, movement, and textile creation into a single artistic act, where fashion and sound become one.
Müller and Simpson began creating music with sewing machines around 2004, but it wasn't until ten years later that they finally met and started performing together as a sewing machine duet. Shortly after forming their partnership, Müller invited her frequent collaborator Dietl to join in. Originally a painter, Dietl now uses haberdashery as a tool for sound creation, amplifying for example the sound of threading a needle.
At one of their gigs, some audience members expressed a desire to try out the machines, while others asked for small repairs to their clothes. This shift inspired a new kind of performance, where an extra machine was made available for anyone who wanted to participate, and people could bring their clothes for repairs (something that calls to mind the power of repairing a garment as seen in Lee Mingwei's The Mending Project).
Tomorrow's performance will be their largest project yet, with performers on stage using a variety of machines and devices. According to the artists involved, the project also serves as a response to the male-dominated realm of experimental music, and at the same time offers a critique of the exploitation and homogenization within the fashion industry.
You can bet that sooner or later, we'll see these experimental performers enlisted by fashion houses during a runway show. In the meantime, if you're seeking unconventional sounds for a runway show, consider these sonic landscapes: from the magnetosphere to sewing machines, these experimental sounds redefine what a fashion soundtrack can be, transforming raw data or industrial rhythms into avant-garde compositions fit for a unique runway show.
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