Bora: Bora

‘Bora: Bora’ offers a sensory whitespace, a pause in the relentless rhythm of the built environment. In this space, technology does not demand to be seen. Instead, it reveals itself through air movements that can be felt and heard, allowing visitors to rediscover their senses beyond the visual plane. The installation carves an untouched zone within a tunnel of aluminum frames, featuring transparent boxes that house 96 speakers. This construction generates a moving wall of sound and air. These forces are turbulent yet tender and reshape the air into a tactile presence.

This transforms the intangible into a physical sensation, resulting in an environment that is both disorienting and grounding, where perception is dictated not by sight, but by sensation. Actively shifting focus from the eyes to the neglected senses of hearing and touch, ‘Bora: Bora’ challenges perceptual norms. An immersive soundscape glides around, while air vortices carve movement into physical space. This instability does not command attention—it invites it, asking visitors to surrender control and embrace flux.

The work functions as a techno-poetic expedition for an alternative sensorial paradigm, one where innovation does not privilege vision but instead deepens our engagement with ephemeral forces. It reaches a destination shrouded in technological systems that are deliberately deconstructed, ignoring the visual spectacle.

Similar to 19th-century researchers pursuing an invisible ‘ether’ through the vortex theory of the atom, the installation acts as a metaphysical continuation of their search. It utilizes technology to materialize this invisible reality. It constructs an etheric space where turbulence itself becomes a material, shaping the void into something just beyond grasp. For a fleeting moment, ‘Bora: Bora’ creates a sensory pause, a whitespace for our bodies to shelter from the visual, while remaining visible.

Concept, Design & Production - Zhao Zhou

Sound design - Mint Park

Embedded programming - Nathan Marcus

Mentorship - Zalán Szakács

Documentation - Riccardo De Vecchi, Ira Grünberger

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Medium - Custom PCB, Teensy microcontrollers, modified subwoofers with 3D-printed cones, plexiglass, aluminum, stainless steel

Dimensions - Variable, approx. 3000 × 4000 × 2200 mm