G-Players play the world like record players. They are literally global players. The project is equally a functioning and contradictory metaphor that reflects upon the fascination of technologies, the philosophy of the market place and everyday human megalomania. In this context, it is therefore important that all of the presented procedures are not fictional models, but real and fully functional soft and hardware products.

The G-P4 (Global-Player 4) was developed in 2004. It is an audio interface capable of playing the Earth sonically. The user-friendly G-POD (a hacked iPod) was produced two years later to enlarge product line. The project was completed in 2007 with the establishment of g-turns.com, an online store. The players are presented in the name of the fictitious BRAND Company in an installation resembling a trade fair stand. A persistently friendly salesman eager to discuss the use, purpose and beauty of the presented products with the clients is a part of mise-en-scène.

Sound can be visualized using several methods. Spectral analysis is one possibility; it allows a sound file to appear like a topographical cross section of a landscape (fig. 1). In the case of the G-Player, on the other hand, the topographical files (fig. 2) are interpreted like audio files. Regions with high altitudes such as the Himalaya produce more dynamic structures then the Netherlands or the North Siberian Lowlands, for example. According to this logic, the oceans are regions without sound. As 72 % of the Earth’s surface is composed of water, the G-Player is largely silent. 

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