Becoming Geologic II: Listening
In part II of a MUTAMUR series exploring intimacy with the geologic, we focus on listening—to the ground, to soil, and to tectonic movement. Recordings of volcanos and sounds translated from seismic activity suggest that the earth is an instrument performing on a different temporality from humans. I share some text from Jacquetta Lewis, who wrote about the production of geologic knowledge in her 1951 book At Land.
I am joined by sound artist Lisa Schonberg to discuss her work using soil field recordings in experimental compositions. Her incredible electronic works feature the sounds from mineral and soil habitats, and their nonhuman worlds. They are often performed with live percussion—human musicians respond to the music of micro-ecologies. For MUTAMR, she shares Tashi (a composition from the project Auralizing Insects, Systems of EcoAcoustic Music, 7:12), the score from the film Sensory Kinship of the Third Kind (6:26), and HVAC (4:45).
