LARD

Oliver Lehner
Interactive Installation, 2015
Interface Cultures 

Military and police in numerous countries around the globe use Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) as weapons against agitated crowds. LRADs emit a focussed sound beam with an intensity that is high enough to permanently damage human hearing. Because it is not desirable for a governmental entity to use weapons, even the non-lethal type, against its own citizens, the manufacturer markets these sonic weapons as “hailing devices”, a device that facilitates communication between the authorities and the mob.  

LARD aims to level the playing field on the sonic battleground and uses similar technologic principals in a miniaturized form. Voices of protest from all over the globe are collected and their messages whispered to everyone who would stop and listen. The technology used to silence and disperse crowds is turned around to do the exact opposite.

Exhibition at: IC at ars electronica 2015, Linz, Austria