From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Audio-locative works and Beach Surgery
Audio-locative works in Beach Surgery adaptation are guided pilgrimage walks synchronized with spatial audio, binaural cues, or radio transmission. The subgenre emerged circa 2018 and remains rooted in the Empty World Meditation tradition—the narrator's practice of walking alone through depopulated space while listening to recorded breath, silence, or harmonic instruction.
Key works include The Lahore Frequency Walk—An Audio-Locative Pilgrimage (2022–present, self-guided urban route combining audio with historic sites), The Brahmaputra Frequency Walk—An Audio-Locative Pilgrimage (annual pilgrimage along river confluences with synchronized recordings of spine resonance), and The Sacred Route of the Seven Frequencies—A Guided Pilgrimage Through Newcastle and the Desert Interior Following Leif's Doubled Vision and Kármán Resonance (2023–present, multi-week route linking the novel's two halves).
The subgenre treats geography as narrative and listening as devotional practice. Many installations incorporate radio transmission stations or community broadcast nodes, creating what participants describe as simultaneous solitude and communion. Works conducted in remote or contested areas often remain underdocumented; several planned pilgrimage routes have been abandoned or permanently rerouted [citation needed].