“The research for my recent project, Echoes of Urgencies: Siren, Sound, and Resilience, begins with Opelt's Siren Disks in Harvard's Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments. The disks, created by Rudolph Koenig in Paris around 1865, were designed as scientific instruments to produce controlled and consistent sounds for various experiments and demonstrations in the field of acoustics. The siren disk operates on the fundamental principles of precise interruption of airflow within the system.

Each sound we hear results from delicate movements of air. Our ears are sensitive to variations in air pressure, which are converted into electrical signals that our brains process as sound. A siren disk works by creating fluctuations in air pressure, manipulating sound waves as air passes through its rotating holes. Through its disruptive oscillations, it forces us to confront the very nature of interruption itself-an interruption that echoes our own desire to disrupt inharmonious systems, seeking clarity and purpose in the process. As the disk rotates at high speed, the holes in the disk pass by an air source, creating alternating intervals of airflow and obstruction. When set into motion and activated with pressurized air, siren disks create a discordant sound reminiscent of a siren's call. As a standalone sculptural object and in performances, the siren disk encapsulates a call to action, urging audiences to reflect on the urgent environmental and social challenges.

In the creation of each disk for Echoes of Urgencies: Siren, Sound, and Resilience, collaboration plays a central role. I invite collaborators to identify an urgent issue important to them, which then becomes the conceptual foundation for the design of their disk. Some of the issues my collaborators have raised include ocean pollution, racial injustice, and child deaths in political conflicts, highlighting the importance of collective engagement and response to the multitude of urgent problems we face simultaneously around the globe. The work acts as a reminder of the interconnectedness of these issues and our shared responsibility to address them.

Collaboration in this project doesn't remain only in the performance aspect of the work, where I invited sound artists Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe and Ross Wightman to perform the work with me; it also extends to work with Yale's Wright Laboratory scientists and engineers David Johnson, Craig Miller, and Vincent Bernardo, who mentored me through the process of developing the work. It includes the fabrication of aluminum disks using the sonic cutter at MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, as well as work with aerospace engineer Alfonso Parra Rubio, who helped find a material that is light and rigid enough to spin quickly without bending at high speeds. It encompasses collaboration with graphic designer Junyan Hu, who worked on the custom typography for each disk as well as the book about the project (Figure 4). Additionally, painter and printmaker Adam Amram contributed by helping with custom color mixing and silk printing on the aluminum disks. The project also includes work with Michael Brittenham, who assisted with fabrication at Yale's Architecture Department (Figure 4). These collaborations fostered my multidisciplinary approach to art making, enabling the development of new methodologies and solutions that address the complexities of issues.”

CHAMBER: Ivana Dama
Echoes of Urgencies: Siren, Sound, and Resilience
September 13th - November 2nd 2025

Ivana Dama is an artist and researcher holding an MFA in Sculpture from Yale University. She previously graduated from UCLA’s School of Arts and Architecture with a degree in Media Arts and Digital Humanities. Her multidisciplinary work spans audio-video installations, robotics, web projects, and music performances, with a focus on the nonverbal expression of traumatic experiences through sound studies and sonic memories. Ivana’s practice explores the relationship between sound and vibrations at various scales, from the microscopic to the architectural and satellite. Her work has been featured in over 30 group shows, most recently in the Getty PST exhibition Art and Science Collide. She has also had solo exhibitions in Portland and Los Angeles. In addition to her artistic practice, she recently joined Columbia University’s MFA program in Visual Art as a professor, where she teaches a class titled Critical Issues in Sound.