From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Salt Frequency Broadcast—A Radio-Olfactory Installation
For the Dakar iteration, see Salt Frequency Broadcast—A Radio-Olfactory Installation (Dakar, 2022–present).
For related olfactory works in the franchise, see Scent and olfactory art in Beach Surgery adaptation.
Overview
Salt Frequency Broadcast is a collective, multi-site radio-scent installation that emerged from the Dakar Frequency Archive in 2022. Unlike conventional radio drama adaptations, SFB treats the broadcast itself as a Beach Surgery adaptation—not a retelling, but a sensory re-enactment of the novel's preoccupation with the Kármán line and the body's capacity to hear at frequencies flesh cannot process. Each site broadcasts from a hidden antenna and releases a complementary olfactory score, creating a synesthetic effect where radio becomes embodied and sound becomes scent.
Broadcast sites
Dakar, Senegal (2022–present)
Transmits from the Archive's solar-powered mast in the Île de Gorée mangrove reserve. The Dakar cycle has become a site of pilgrimage; local listeners gather at dawn to hear the broadcast in Wolof and inhale the released scent-palette of kelp carbon, iodine crystal, and Atlantic salt. The archive has documented over 400 listener testimonies.
Lagos, Nigeria (2023–present)
Installed in Lekki Lagoon by local collectives. Broadcasts in Yoruba; the scent palette incorporates indigo-dye notes referencing Adire textile traditions alongside salt and seawater.
Cape Town, South Africa (2024–present)
Emerges from collaboration between the Leather Archives and local community broadcast. Transmits in Xhosa with scent including iodine and mineral kelp from the Atlantic shelf.
Manila, Philippines (2024–ongoing)
Installed in partnership with Filipino komiks artist collectives in an abandoned salt warehouse in Navotas. Broadcasts in Tagalog; scent palette includes saltpetre and dried ambergris. Transmission engineers have occasionally detected low-frequency data-stream interference on the broadcast loop, originating from unidentified transmitters in a neighbouring lot. Investigation is pending.
Transmission content
All sites reference core Beach Surgery motifs: subsonic renderings of the Kármán-boundary sound, serial adaptations of the mechanic character, and ambient sequences converting tidal data into audio via data-sonification. When tide is high, broadcast frequency rises; when it retreats, frequency lowers.