‘Incantations for the Unseen’ is a community based sound art project that amplifies nature’s hidden voices to underscore the urgency of climate resilience. Rooted in Far Rockaway, New York, a coastal community deeply impacted by rising seas and environmental degradation, the project focuses on often overlooked ecosystems such as soils, waters, and microorganisms, fostering deeper awareness of our interdependence with the natural world.
Through workshops and collective making, residents co-created interactive sound sculptures that transform ecological data into immersive listening experiences. These works will be presented as a talk and a participatory workshop. After the talk, participants will take part in a hands-on workshop where we will build small sound sculptures using natural and found materials. These sculptures will act as vessels for listening and reflection, created as a way to express care and connection to the environments that sustain us.
At Dinacon 2025 in Bali, the project expanded outside of New York, through sound based rituals and collaborative field recordings with Sea Communities. These collaborations explored coral restoration, salt farming, and spiritual ties to the land. Linking Far Rockaway and Les Village, ‘Incantations for the Unseen’ creates sonic bridges between distant coastlines, connecting stories of resilience and conservation while highlighting how community-based agency can ripple outward to foster environmental care.
By engaging residents in under resourced neighborhoods, the project brings climate inequities to light while nurturing community agency through ecological storytelling. Themes such as dune restoration, coastal adaptation, and interspecies connection shape this ongoing body of work. ‘Incantations for the Unseen’ invites communities to listen deeply, remember their entanglement with the earth, and imagine futures rooted in reciprocity and resilience.
Camila A. Morales is a Latinx interdisciplinary artist, designer, and educator working at the intersection of art, architecture, and new media technologies. As a Chilean-Canadian immigrant, her transnational experience shapes a practice rooted in place, belonging, and environmental care. She explores the sensory connections between the built environment, ecological systems, and human experience through immersive installations, soundscapes, and extended reality that advance environmental and social justice.
Based in Far Rockaway, NY, she co-founded the Buena Onda Art Collective, creating public artworks and free workshops that engaged communities in climate literacy and coastal resilience. She now continues this work through Valé, an eco-centered art and design lab that deepens these foundations through new forms of ecological storytelling, community engagement, and sustainable design.
With over 15 years of professional experience in both art and architecture, Morales has contributed to diverse projects including the Obama Presidential Library Sculpture Garden and the Smith College Library. She currently teaches at Parsons School of Design and NYU Tandon School of Engineering in the Integrated Design and Media Department, where her work continues to build interspecies connections and evoke a sense of wonder for the world around us, while imagining a more just and ecological future.
Social Media: @camilamorales (instagram)
PROJECT
Image 1
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Rockaways
Date: April 2025
Material: seashells, projection video, recycled plastic, leds, custom sound module and found wood
Dimensions: 10’x 10 X 8’, Far Rockaways, NY
Description: An interactive installation showcases fieldwork with students from the RISE Shore Corps youth program during the winter and spring of 2025. Through a series of workshops, participants explored the ecology of the Rockaway peninsula, from storytelling with local flora and fauna to field recording, sound editing, and sensing technologies. Together, they created sonic landscapes that amplify the hidden voices of soil, water, and wildlife while addressing the urgency of climate resilience. The work was presented at the RISE Gallery as part of the Earth Day Celebration 2025.
Image 2
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Rockaways
Date: April 2025
Material: seashells, projection video, recycled plastic, leds, custom sound module and found wood
Dimensions: 10’x 10 X 8’, Far Rockaways, NY
Description: An interactive installation showcases fieldwork with students from the RISE Shore Corps youth program during the winter and spring of 2025. Through a series of workshops, participants explored the ecology of the Rockaway peninsula, from storytelling with local flora and fauna to field recording, sound editing, and sensing technologies. Together, they created sonic landscapes that amplify the hidden voices of soil, water, and wildlife while addressing the urgency of climate resilience. The work was presented at the RISE Gallery as part of the Earth Day Celebration 2025.
Image 3
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Rockaways
Date: April 2025
Material: seashells, projection video, recycled plastic, leds, custom sound module and found wood
Dimensions: 10’x 10 X 8’, Far Rockaways, NY
Description: An interactive installation showcases fieldwork with students from the RISE Shore Corps youth program during the winter and spring of 2025. Through a series of workshops, participants explored the ecology of the Rockaway peninsula, from storytelling with local flora and fauna to field recording, sound editing, and sensing technologies. Together, they created sonic landscapes that amplify the hidden voices of soil, water, and wildlife while addressing the urgency of climate resilience. The work was presented at the RISE Gallery as part of the Earth Day Celebration 2025.
Image 4
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Rockaways
Date: April 2025
Material: seashells, projection video, recycled plastic, leds, custom sound module and found wood
Dimensions: 10’x 10 X 8’, Far Rockaways, NY
Description: An interactive installation showcases fieldwork with students from the RISE Shore Corps youth program during the winter and spring of 2025. Through a series of workshops, participants explored the ecology of the Rockaway peninsula, from storytelling with local flora and fauna to field recording, sound editing, and sensing technologies. Together, they created sonic landscapes that amplify the hidden voices of soil, water, and wildlife while addressing the urgency of climate resilience. The work was presented at the RISE Gallery as part of the Earth Day Celebration 2025.
Image 5
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Rockaways
Date: August 2025
Material: clay, projection video, leds, custom sound module and found wood
Dimensions: 10’x 10 X 8’, Far Rockaways, NY
Description: An interactive installation showcases fieldwork with students from the RISE Shore Corps youth program during the summer of 2025. Through a series of workshops, participants explored the ecology of the Rockaway peninsula, from storytelling with local flora and fauna to field recording, sound editing, and sensing technologies. Together, they created sonic landscapes that amplify the hidden voices of soil, water, and wildlife while addressing the urgency of climate resilience. The work was presented at the RISE Gallery as part of the Summer Celebration 2025.
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 7
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Rockaways
Date: August 2025
Material: clay, projection video, leds, custom sound module and found wood
Dimensions: 10’x 10 X 8’, Far Rockaways, NY
Description: An interactive installation showcases fieldwork with students from the RISE Shore Corps youth program during the summer of 2025. Through a series of workshops, participants explored the ecology of the Rockaway peninsula, from storytelling with local flora and fauna to field recording, sound editing, and sensing technologies. Together, they created sonic landscapes that amplify the hidden voices of soil, water, and wildlife while addressing the urgency of climate resilience. The work was presented at the RISE Gallery as part of the Summer Celebration 2025.
Image 6
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Rockaways
Date: August 2025
Material: clay, projection video, leds, custom sound module and found wood
Dimensions: 10’x 10 X 8’, Far Rockaways, NY
Description: An interactive installation showcases fieldwork with students from the RISE Shore Corps youth program during the summer of 2025. Through a series of workshops, participants explored the ecology of the Rockaway peninsula, from storytelling with local flora and fauna to field recording, sound editing, and sensing technologies. Together, they created sonic landscapes that amplify the hidden voices of soil, water, and wildlife while addressing the urgency of climate resilience. The work was presented at the RISE Gallery as part of the Summer Celebration 2025.
Image 7
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Les Village, Bali
Description: This interactive installation was created with the Sea Community of Les Village during Dinacon 2025. Through shared rituals and conversations, stories of salt farming, coral reef restoration, and daily offerings were interwoven with field recordings of tides, crystallizing salt, birdsong, and community voices. These sounds were embedded in an altar-like sculpture with touch-activated zones. Presented on Dinacon’s Open Day and during a new moon ceremony, the work invited deep listening and honored resilience, reciprocity, and cultural continuity across the coastal landscape.
PROJECT
Image 8
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Les Village, Bali
Description: This interactive installation was created with the Sea Community of Les Village during Dinacon 2025. Through shared rituals and conversations, stories of salt farming, coral reef restoration, and daily offerings were interwoven with field recordings of tides, crystallizing salt, birdsong, and community voices. These sounds were embedded in an altar-like sculpture with touch-activated zones. Presented on Dinacon’s Open Day and during a new moon ceremony, the work invited deep listening and honored resilience, reciprocity, and cultural continuity across the coastal landscape.
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 9
Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Les Village, Bali
Description: This interactive installation was created with the Sea Community of Les Village during Dinacon 2025. Through shared rituals and conversations, stories of salt farming, coral reef restoration, and daily offerings were interwoven with field recordings of tides, crystallizing salt, birdsong, and community voices. These sounds were embedded in an altar-like sculpture with touch-activated zones. Presented on Dinacon’s Open Day and during a new moon ceremony, the work invited deep listening and honored resilience, reciprocity, and cultural continuity across the coastal landscape.
