Radio Abyss

Radio Abyss is a sound installation at the intersection of nature and technology. At its core are field recordings transformed into voices via neural-network-based speech synthesis. These voices attempt to mimic the sounds of nature, but they emerge as disjointed, emotional, and ultimately meaningless.

We hear them more clearly than birdsong or the rustle of wind because we are trained to listen for the human voice. Yet these voices are not human—they belong to digital ghosts, born from numbers and algorithms.
The installation raises questions: what do we actually hear, and what do we choose to believe? The clear but empty speech of a machine—or the living, multilayered sounds of nature that it drowns out? What new entities are we releasing into the world with advancing technology? Will they become our companions, our enemies, or merely sources of noise we must learn to live with without losing ourselves?

Here, meaningless imitation collides with the authentic sonic fabric of the world, enriched by an original musical layer that amplifies the emotional experience. In Radio Abyss, the listener enters a space where familiar landmarks dissolve. It is a sonic “threshold” between the real and the artificial, revealing our tendency to project meaning onto everything that resembles us. Why are we so self-focused? Perhaps it is time to shift our perspective, rethink our values, and learn to listen to what truly matters—what is beautiful, grounding, and real.

Radio Abyss draws inspiration from Nietzsche's famous quote: “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” In the installation, this quote becomes a metaphor for the listener’s experience: the deeper we immerse ourselves in the space of artificial voices and natural sounds, the more we begin to see our own reflection in them. The abyss here is not a literal object, but a state where familiar reference points dissolve. By engaging with this space and creating new interpretations, we move past nihilism and bring new values into the world.


About the Artist:
 
Daria Dora Morgacheva is a Torontonian sound artist and experimental musician who explores the intersection of nature, technology, and emotion. In her installation Radio Abyss, field recordings are transformed into AI-generated voices—digital echoes that imitate the natural world, yet remain elusive, fragmented, and uncanny. The project asks listeners to consider what they truly perceive and choose to trust: the machine’s empty speech or the living, layered sounds of nature it both reflects and obscures. Drawing inspiration from the idea that engaging with the unknown changes us, Radio Abyss becomes a sonic threshold where human perception meets artificial creation. Dora’s live performance during the closing will further unfold the emotional textures of the installation, guiding the audience through a space where sound, meaning, and presence blur.


Exhibition Dates: 

Week 1: September 4th (6 - 8pm), 5th (6 - 8pm), 6th (12 - 4pm)

Week 2: September 11th (6 - 8pm), 12th (6 - 8pm), 13th **CLOSING EVENT** (6 - 10pm)

 2025