Project Thunder

Project Thunder is an audiovisual installation from the ongoing series Man Made Nature.

Steel sheets, suspended like metallic curtains, gyrate gently in a dimly lit space. Their mirrored surfaces ripple with each vibration, warping reflections into fluid, shifting forms. As the air thickens with humidity and the scent of rain, the space becomes immersive – an engineered storm that unfolds in waves of sound and movement.

Project Thunder is a modular installation, responsive to its environment. In smaller, square rooms, the sheets may line the interior walls. In larger spaces, they can form a central circle or a corridor through which participants must pass. Driven by individually controlled motors, the steel elements vibrate at varying speeds, generating a surround-soundscape of metallic resonance evocative of thunder. Each oscillating sheet acts as a visual and acoustic note, composing a live, three-dimensional score.

Initially overwhelming, the deep resonant tones take centre stage, silencing internal chatter. The participant becomes still, meditative. Drawn closer, they see themselves reflected in the metal – distorted, vibrating, liquefied. In this moment, the steel becomes a portal, merging sight and sound into a single, visceral sensation. What begins as an artificial construct becomes a place of transportive stillness, where perception blurs and self-awareness heightens.

The intention behind Project Thunder is to transform a simple industrial material into an environment as sensorially rich and affecting as the natural world. It mimics the overwhelming presence of a storm – not through realism, but through resonance. Stripped of rain and wind, the essence remains: energy, reflection, rhythm. Like the hypnotic crash of waves or the echo of thunder across a valley, it speaks to our primal memory of nature’s force.

Yet this storm is entirely man-made. Its materials – steel, motors, controlled light – are industrial, cold, unfeeling. The installation challenges this contradiction, exploring how synthetic objects can evoke natural awe. It reflects the central tension of Man Made Nature: our attempt to recreate what we have distanced ourselves from, to simulate connection in spaces where the wild has been engineered away.

Ultimately, Project Thunder becomes both a celebration and a critique – a reminder that even in our most urbanised states, we crave nature’s chaos. Its harmonics, no matter how artificial, still resonate.