Superorganism: Listening to the Anthropocene

YEAR

SERVICES

Sound Research
Art Direction & Curation
Installation

2021

CLIENT

N/A

DESCRIPTION

A bespoke sound and light installation Superorganism invites audiences to consider their place within complex ecosystems of life, spanning human and more-than-human life forms in a space of shared listening.

Lie back, look up, and listen in to past, present and imagined future sounds of our fragile planetary ecosystems.

Informed by the ideas of James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia hypothesis and author of Novacene, Superorganism resonates with different soundings of complex ecosystems; from natural to artificial, from historical bird songs to electro-synthesis and machine intelligence.

It offers a space of meditation on the nature of grief, of hope, and of collective intelligence being forged through shared recording, augmenting and digitising our spaces of shared communication.

Taking place at a pivotal point in the history of our planet, during an era of mass extinction and loss of biodiversity, Superorganism invites audiences to reflect, under the canopy of the tree, on what we are losing, what we gain by paying attention, and what uncertain futures lie ahead.

With thanks to the following field recordists for permission to use recordings in this piece: Andrew Skeoch, Vicky Powys, George Vlad (UK). Acknowledgement to the State Library of Western Australia for use of John Hutchinson's 1980 field recordings of the Daintree Rainforest.

LISTEN TO THE FULL SUPERORGANISM IMMERSIVE SOUND RECORDING
(BARNS AND CRUICKSHANK, 2021)

Team

DR. SARAH BARNS: Lead Artist, Sound Curation, Concept Design
MICHAEL KILLALEA: Audio-visual Design
NIGEL CRUIKSHANK: Music Composition
ROSIE GRAYSON: Vocals
PETE HIRD: Sound Design and Installation
LEIF WILSON: Technical Design and Installation
RAN STANTON, TORTUGA STUDIOS: Steel Production
MINLEON LIGHTING: Lighting Supplies

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