Hail Cannon

Hail Cannon is a proposal for a multi-site installation of a sonic intervention in the local physical and psychological environment.

Historically, hail cannons were developed as a form of weather modification. Storm Artillerists, usually farmers, believed that they could divert or disperse weather systems which threatened their crops by firing at approaching storms. Despite scientific scepticism, such systems were widely used across Europe in the 18th - 20th centuries, and continue to be employed in some locations in the present day. In the early 20th centuries, large-scale Anti-hail Consortia were formed in Italy and Germany to address climatic threats.

Most of these cannons did not fire projectiles, but used the sonic power of powder alone to create their effect (although some reports mention that sacred objects, such as wax effigies and icons were also launched).

The Hail Cannon installation consists of an eight-metre high cannon cone, which amplifies an acetylene gas and air explosion to create an extremely loud noise. The Cannon is intended to draw attention to the arrival of new climatic conditions, and the accompanying, novel psychological conditions which they generate and require our urgent attention.