Moritz Simon Geist | Hard Times - Soft Sounds

Hard Times – Soft Sounds is an intimate sound installation by Moritz Simon Geist that shows oceanic objects as an ecological sound instrument. Found, gifted, and second-hand seashells from all over the world are filled with water and put into slow motion making ASMR-inspired sounds. No loudspeakers or microphones are used - instead, each shell becomes its own acoustic instrument. Until discovered by a friend, this sound was an mostly unknown phenomena: the rotating shell brings air bubbles into motion, resulting in a fragile, repetitive, ever changing tone and invites to deep, close listening. Built during the pandemic as a reflection on slowness, repetition, and the fragile role of beauty in hard times the work unfolds as a post-digital meditation on ecology and technology. 

Moritz Simon Geist is a visual artist, researcher, and music producer whose work centers on the intersection of robotics, physical sound, and algorithmic agency. His practice explores the transition from functional mechanical instruments to autonomous entities, examining the materiality, psychological and aesthetic conditions of human-machine interaction. With a research foundation in semiconductor physics and robotics, Geist deconstructs complex technical systems to investigate material fragility and algorithmic behavior. His artistic evolution has moved from performative kinetic installations towards large-scale autonomous sculptures that utilize artificial intelligence and computer vision to engage with their surroundings.