Fog Harps
Fog Harps (Bicycle Sans-Wheel + A Mile of Guitar String), 2025. Bicycle frames, steel guitar string, PVC pipe, wood planter boxes/stools.
“Fog nets” are used often in and near deserts to extract moisture from the air for clean water in communities in short supply. This low-tech water resourcing has been studied and research shows a specific thickness and density of steel wires strung vertically (as opposed to the more common mesh) captures the maximum amount of moisture. The resulting objects are strung almost like harps, but with hundreds of steel wires in parallel. These fog harps, created using cheap, readily-available materials, are not traditional musical instruments, but viewers are encouraged to produce sound with them as atonal sound machines. The vibrating of the strings helps condensation gathered on the strings to flow down to the ground, providing much-needed water for plants in the increasingly arid forest. An optimal moment for playing was near sunrise, when the most moisture would be gathering most on the strings.
These pieces were designed for and installed on the top of Strawberry Peak, next to the historic (but still active) Strawberry Peak Fire Lookout Tower.
Fog Harps (Bicycle Sans-Wheel + A Mile of Guitar String)(View 2), 2025.
Fog Harps (Bicycle Sans-Wheel + A Mile of Guitar String)(Detail), 2025.
Fog Harp & Demi-Lune, 2024. Steel, PVC, monofilament, tuning pegs, soil, seeds, decomposed granite, lumber. Water collecting system capable of capturing enough pure drinking water from the air to sustain the lives of three people daily. Also functions as a musical instrument.
Fog Harp 003 (Still), 2024. Digital video. Audio track, made from samples of the harp being played: