Suncatcher [Solfångare] are three multi-channel, sunlight-re-sponsive sound installations for three courtyards in a residential block in northern Stockholm. Black objects integrated into the building façades emit soft sounds from endangered, common, and imaginary insects. Cicadas, grasshoppers, and unknown flying creatures form a swarm of beings – “suncatchers” – whose sound character and intensity change with the sunlight: bright sunshine increases the intensity, while darkness quiets them. In this way Suncatcher gives shape to the relationship between sunlight and our fragile ecology, through sound.

 Suncatcher is part of a collaborative project with the architectural office Secretary (Karin Matz, Rutger Sjögrim, and Helen Rix Runting) who contributed with the pavilion Light breaker [Ljusbrytare] commissioned by Stockholm Konst. The project involved developing artistic installations for a residential area in northern Stockholm. It explored the paradoxical influence of sunlight on life – both as a life force and as an element from which we need protection. Many insect species are governed by sunlight, which acts as a driving force for life. Simultaneously, the summer sun has become stronger and hotter during late fossil capitalism. Both humans and animals seek shade. The project aimed to deepen our experience of our living environment in an age of climate change and to explore the intersection between architecture and sound art. Overall, Suncatcher seeks to link sunlight, ecology, sound, and architecture to create a deeper understanding of the connections between humans and their environment. The works seeks to help make otherwise inaudible and invisible relationships between humans, nature, and surroundings more tangible and alive.