Vorticity in the Eternal Hum is a presentation on the acoustic poesis of the von Kármán vortex street, by way of Alice Coltrane’s aeolian harp. Jackie and Alexander will consider the relationship between the eternal hum of the oceanic beloved and the persistence of vorticity in fluid dynamics.
“We’d like to talk about the Kármán vortex street—a pattern of vortices that is responsible for the ethereal sound produced by aeolian harps, or when the wind blows through telephone wires. I’ve been obsessed with an anecdote about how Alice Coltrane came to play the harp. After John Coltrane died, a harp he had ordered when he was still alive arrived. It sat by a window un-played, and she would listen to the sound made by the wind when it blew through the strings. She decided to learn the harp as an act of bereavement... reading through some of her spiritual writings I’m realising that this little story is connected to her whole sonic philosophy…” - Jackie Wang
