Jonáš Gruska: Artificial Ultrasonics Research

Jonáš Gruska: Artificial Ultrasonics Research
4 June–4 July 2026
artKIT

You are cordially invited to the opening of Jonáš Gruska’s solo exhibition Artificial Ultrasonics Research, which will take place on Thursday, 4 June 2026, at 6 p.m. at artKIT exhibition space.

A sound installation exploring the near-ultrasonic and ultrasonic layers of our environment, structured as two sections approaching them in contrasting ways. The first is an algorithmic composition of artificial bat echolocation calls and vocalizations, broadcast through a custom-built rotating speaker array. The signals are downshifted in situ by a set of portable heterodyne frequency shifters (bat detectors). The arrangement operates as a variation of the Axis Mundi Sound Distribution System – a temporary sonic pillar bridging celestial and terrestrial, ultrasonic and audible.

The second part is documentary: the sonic weapons, deterrents, and stray emissions that saturate Tokyo's acoustic landscape. The city is unusually dense with ultrasonic emitters built to clear public space – devices marketed against "problematic" youth and their hearing. But the collateral is everyone else who can still hear them – local fauna, and listeners with more sensitive or neurodivergent hearing. A series of field recordings, captured across the 0-96 kHz spectrum with a calibrated measurement microphone, maps this invisible architecture of acoustic control and pollution. They are presented as video spectrograms alongside raw documentation footage from the fieldwork.

Biography

Born in Czechoslovakia. Studied at the Institute of Sonology in The Hague (Netherlands) and at the Music Academy in Cracow (Poland). His main focus is chaotic and polymetric rhythms, unconventional tunings, exploration of psychoacoustic properties of sound and field recording. He has created several site-specific sound installations, based on resonant properties of spaces and materials. He has given workshops on sonification, field recording, electromagnetic listening, and programming for artists. He is the creator of Elektrosluch – an electromagnetic listening device.
In 2011 he started a label and instrument manufacturing company LOM focused on East/Central European experimental art and music. Since 2013 he has been organizing ZVUK, an outdoor festival dedicated to experimental music. In 2018 he opened LOM space, a place for contemporary sound in Bratislava.
In 2019 he established the bioLOM/mykoLOM platform dealing with amateur mycology, lichenology and broader fungal perspectives. He established the mykoLOM lab with professional equipment for mushroom cultivation and culture work. In 2019 he started the mykoLOM festival, intersecting arts, mycology and foraging traditions. In 2021 he published a book about lichens growing in Petržalka district in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2022 he started the first Slovak portal dedicated to lichens – lisajniky.sk. In 2025 he finished the first contemporary introduction guidebook to lichens of Slovakia, "Aha, lišajník!". Since 2019 he has been doing lectures on citizen science, lichens and DIY mycology around Europe.
Performed and exhibited his work in Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States; on festivals such as Sonic Acts (Netherlands), Borealis (Norway), Kraak (Belgium), Unsound (Poland), Norberg (Sweden), Sonic Experiments @ ZKM (Germany), Audio Art (Poland), Mélos-Ethos (Slovakia), Parallel Vienna (Austria), Ultrahang (Hungary) or Next (Slovakia).
In 2012–2015 Jonáš Gruska worked as a mastering engineer at Lunar Mastering studio. In 2014 he ran a podcast called Rozvuk.

https://jonasgru.sk

< Research of the Tokyo's ultrasonics, 2026; photo: Ester Mládenková

artKIT, Glavni trg 14, Maribor
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday from 3 to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.