Buqs [NL]

‘Buqs’ are electronic lifeforms that invade surfaces within the built environment and use them for the creation of sounds. They explore the city as an instrument through it’s material properties. These little critters autonomously produce noise and sounds based on what their sensors can pick up from the materials and soundscape in the vicinity, bringing out the sounds of objects, surfaces and materials you wouldn’t usually hear.

The Buqs were commissioned by the European Cities of Advanced Sound network (ECAS) within their project Networking Tomorrow’s Art For an Unknown Future. They debuted at TodaysArt in September 2013, where Buqs could be found fixed to various surfaces around and inside the building (as seen on the picture below), picking and ticking away with their little motor-driven hammers and piezo pick-ups. In the coming days, they will be present at Insomnia (Tromsø, Norway, 19 – 26 October 2013) and next year they will be at FutureEverything (Manchester, March 2014)

About the creators:

Teun Verkerk
I have always been intrigued by combining techniques from different fields and applying them for alternative purposes. With a background in Interaction Design and Architecture I seek to take the advances of (new media) technology into the physical world. Recent projects like ledwork and buqs explore the idea of the electronic life form; objects that are not just responsive but seem to be alive.

Joris Hoogeboom
My interests lie in the hybridization of the physical and the virtual. With the organisation of InDeSem, a student-organized renowned international workshop, I was able to pursue this intellectually. On the other hand with projects like cloud9, an interactive inflatable landscape and recently buqs this was applied on an experimental level.