Mark IJzerman

plitsch knaster psssh
(2018)

“plitsch knaster psssh” collects words that imitate sounds unique to the Earth (like “splash”, “chirp” or “bow-wow!”) in different languages of different cultures and beams them out in morse code. In this way, these sounds are preserved for future generations who might not grow up on our planet and might not know the sounds of planet Earth.

How we as humans describe the sounds of our surroundings says a lot about the places that we live, our culture, and what we consider important. The choices we make of what sounds we represent in language, as well as how, tell a lot about how we experience our environment.

“plitsch knaster psssh” collects onomatopoeia and stores them in a 1x1x1cm cube as Morse codes, being transmitted with a flashing light. One is able to read these pulses of light back into text from a great distance, using a smartphone.