The Compositor/Composing (45rpm)The Compositor/Composing
audio file, 45rpm, mp3, 04'00", 2020
Image sonification of spruce bark beetle traces, left in tree bark on the terrain of our family's former forest. In 2019, a European spruce bark beetle outbreak (Ips typographus, or 'letterzetter' in Dutch) ravaged hundreds of sixty-year old spruce on our family's land, transforming the dense conifer forest into a desolate clear-cut.
Using software, one of these traces was turned into sound, producing an eerie lament that suites the escalating ecological crises of our biosphere.
The Compositor/Composing process imageCover image for The Compositor/Composing audio file (see also the minted NFT at https://objkt.com/tokens/hicetnunc/512914 )
1. GPS coordinates and outline of The Plot
2. Fragment of bark, taken from The Plot
3. Traced image of spruce bark beetle gallery in bark
4. Audio waveform of the resulting sonification
The Compositor / Composing
12″ 180 grams black vinyl record, recto: 33rpm/45rpm audio, verso: engraving.
Sewn felt sleeve, 60×60 folded poster, 30×30 inlay, 2020.
The Compositor / Composing sound file was produced using an image sonification process, which translates images into audio.
I traced a fragment of spruce bark bearing beetle tracks onto paper. The drawing was then digitally processed, resulting in a melodic lament.
In the early 1960s, my grandfather acquired a plot of land filled with young Norway spruces. The trees were left alone for decades, growing tall and transforming the land into a small family forest, which my mother then inherited. By September 2019, all the trees had died and the forest had to be cleared. This became known as 'The Plot', a gateway for ecological grief.
The preceding springs and summers were marked by extreme drought, while the winters were unusually mild with barely any frost. This prolonged drought weakened the trees and the warm winters caused an unstoppable infestation of spruce bark beetles. The beetle lays its eggs in tree bark. The larvae then eat their way out, leaving behind intricate tunnel patterns that resemble alien alphabets or hieroglyphs, giving the engraver's beetle its name: Ips typographus in Latin, or Letterzetter in Dutch, which translates as 'composer' in English.
This is the compositor, composing.
