Sound art a path to ecological awareness
Résumé
What does raining thousands of birds sound like ? A dreadful natural soundscape.
A disproportionately loud explosion of fireworks echoed in the natural soundscape of Arkansas on the last day of 2010. That forced about 5000 birds with a poor night vision to fly on a lower altitude and to consequently crash into the city structures such as telecommunication towers and high rises.
But the same technological advances which can have such a disturbing impact on living beings and natural phenomena can be used to preserve natural resources.
Acoustic Ecology and the emergence of the study of Soundscapes as an interdisciplinary discourse was spearheaded by R.Murray Schafer and gave rise to various practices in contemporary sound art (Katie Paterson, Matthew Burtner, Erik Samakh, Bernie Krause among others.)
By placing emphasis on the level of awareness and hearing capacity of acoustic environments, the whole body can be transformed to an auditory receptor, and consequently, the embodiment of a soundscape.
Technology and ecology impact one another in profound ways. While often detrimental and even catastrophic, this impact can be reverted to create disruptive narratives that reflect on, examine and bring to light the relationship between nature, human body, technology and sound art.