The theme of ecology is perhaps inevitable in Kairós: Listening Under the Weather – an exhibition exploring the concept of environmental attunement by framing listening as an ecological practice. Acknowledging that environmental catastrophe is no longer a hypothetical future, the exhibition attempts to inhabit "climate angst" instead of escaping it. Here, meteorology is treated as an equally poetic and scientific subject – an atmospheric condition that sets the background tone for all life, while being entangled with earth's unpredictable forces.

Drawing on the dual meaning of the ancient Greek notion of Kairós which signifies both “weather” and “the critical moment”, the title is used as a metaphor for climate action. The notion of Kairós feels increasingly relevant as climate crisis emerges as not only environmental but existential. At the same time, the exhibition contemplates weather's sonic materialities and its affective qualities – its ability to influence our mood and psychophysical states.

Conceived as an ephemeral listening space installed at Podium, Kairós: Listening Under the Weather unfolds as a durational sonic fiction composed of weather recordings: wind, thunderstorms and ice thawing, alongside anthropogenic resonances that either directly influence or are associated with global warming such as air conditioning, wind turbines, and severe-weather sirens. Those recordings are juxtaposed, inviting the audience to inhabit a fictitious weather situated between nature and culture.

This work is partly produced at Notam - Norwegian Centre for Technology, Art and Music, and with the generous support of Kunstnernes Hus.