Excerpts from automatic writing
-I felt the ego of... I'm a hero because I do fasting for the environment.
-Should we wait until the size of natural disasters and disbalance hit the near communities on their face to change the path we are following, means extraction without limit?
-Should we be almost asfixied to then be thankful with the oxygen we can breath? and how do we feel about the beings that are cleaning the air for us?
-What does it mean to be satisfied?
-Do you have enough food in your body?
-Do you have a toxic relation with food?
-Who did you pay lately for killing some being?
Who did you pay recently for exploting children in developping countries?
Reflection on this Period of experiments
Thinking on the feedback given by my coach about the experiment No 7, if I could repeat the performance in the same way. It can be repeated the structure and performative intentions. I can create bowing, leaning and giving thanks to the tree, birds and other non-human participating into the bio/geophonic orchestra. However, the music will be always different, fresh, and live in the present. If I do filming or audio recordings from the performance we are co-creating with the non-humans, is only for documenting the process. As I do more experiments, I can gather and find more tools for co-create, and the context of the composition we are doing can be called instant composition. This term has been used widely by many artists in dance, music and theater, however until this point I have been explored mostly from my musical background, personal practices and experiences.
The focus on this composition is more in the skills that the performer have or develop for doing it. Instant composition.
Experiment No 11 Tasting the soundscape
In this experiment, we focus on observing the listening practice. I propose a score for following 5 steps,
some repetitions and variations, to trigger the attention and perception of the soundscape. While you follow
the score, I'll be co-creating music with the bio/geophonic orchestra adding some position changes when I
play, the human and non-human audiences to listen to a variety of sound nuances and timbres.
My experience:
I can feel a very long fade out of the train's sound and it vanished in to the landscape
sounds, but it is a long fade out, also a bicicle passing by, but of course it's less
long.
I couldn't find a spiral pattern on the ground or trees ... Except the wave that I can
start throwing a seed or a branch into the small lake. Looking at that after filming
I realized the water is also a mirror, and it makes me think about the example of
heterotopia that Foucault illustrated in his speech.
Reflections:
I was thinking about what is the best way to contribute to society with my research,
and the idea of how this landscape influences the mind comes to my thoughts. The noise in
our no controlled thoughts, represented by the train sound passing by. It could be a
multisensorial experience of a intern process as well...
My goal is not to please the human esthetic. How to question the "human supremacy" is.
Change them? No. Help them to feel more sensitive about non-humans, yes.
My experiments should help me to gather info, ideas, and points of view among others
about the important questions of my research.
Experiment No 6
I intend building a communication through music with the non-human agents in there. There is a juxtaposition of realities, music as an abstract language for non-humans, also for humans, the sound produced in the park by non-humans.
Also, there is an active interaction between me and the space because I am looking for communication with the agents there.
finding artistic strategies to re-imagine this so-called supremacy of human being over other species, the paradox about control of natural resources. I am using as in experiment No 5 the device Plantsplay which you can hear in the fragment.
Experiment No 10 Musical tools for co-creation with non-humans
On this one, I do a performance for non-human audience including the findings from the previous experiments 8 and 9. I focus on find a balance between the non-humans leading musically and me doing some proposals, and I explore my research sub ques Later, I will listen again for observing the balance of sounds of the performers.
Because it was raining I could not filmed it, but I managed to record the audio.
Experiment No 7 Anti-anthropocentric Performance
My artistic vision for this experiment is exploring co-creation with non-humans as an artistic
practice of an “intra- action”, the term that Karen Barad proposes. It opens the possibility that non-human agency has their own value, relations, complexity of forces and interactions where the human should not feel an inherent feel of property on them. Creating a metaphorical and artistic space where I co-create with non-human agencies without leading them but accompanying and celebrating their life is for me an interesting starting point for questioning.
I work on the question, how could be the esthetics on music for an anti-anthropocentric
practice? I would like to focus on this question because I need to do something closer to a real
performance with human audience, and I would learn from their thoughts for further improvement of the performance.
Video (only for documenting) of the experiment No 7 Anti-anthropocentric performance.
Experiment No 9 Participant observation with non-humans
The aim with this experiment is to observe the reactions of the living non-humans, listening to their music. I record this session in the park Oude Warende, in Tilburg, for later doing an analysis of the results. Firstly, I listen to the birds singing and do some imitation whistling, in order to feel how do the birds react to that. Then, I listen to the birds and play high notes on the saxophone. On the next recording I repeat the dynamic but playing low notes, to explore the reactions of the birds. Afterwards, I played some motives, and imitations listening to the birds and at some point it was very rhytmic than I felt to do some variation.
I will repeat the experience with lower notes and after higher ones communicating with a tree, with the help of the device Plantsplay and a speaker for hearing better the music produced by the tree. Later, I will analyze the results.
I reflect on the recordings and realize: There are sounds with undertemined pitch as the rain sound, or the wind touching the leaves of the trees (Geophonic, term by Kreuse). Also, I noticed that the birds sings with trend to have a tonal center close to the note A, for some reason.
Tools for co-create with non-humans:
-Listening first.
-Imitations of melodies
-Accompainment or counter chant of their melodies. Like long notes, descending in a similar proportion of intervals that they are using
-Create rhythmic textures when they repeat an insistent motive.
Experiment No 12 Agape
This is a composition co-created with some extracts from singing birds in two public parks of Tilburg, De Oude Dijk and Oude Warande. I recorded them and transcribed into music score. “Agape” is a word from the ancient Greek which refers to a kind of love for the family. I named this piece as an invitation to develop our empathy toward other interspecies. This work is intended to be perform live in a public park of Tilburg. The main performers will be the birds and the geophony (sound of wind, rain, crack of a branch, among others). I join their performance as anobserver participant with the saxophone as my clean voice because my deep connection with the instrument made by hours of practice, shared emotions and energy spends with it.
Musical piece Composed by David Bello A for Tenor saxophone in co-creation with the bio/geophonic orchestra in Tilburg, June 2023. (click to Video only for documentation)
Experiment No 8 Sound mapping in Oude Warande
In this experiment I do sound mapping in the park, I recorded 10 minutes of ambience sound, and I listen afterwards lookiing for patterns, what birds do I recognize with help of a website that has sound of the birds seen in the park in Tilburg. I would like to transcribe some bird singing patterns and to have those references written in score. The intention with this experiment is not to transcribed all the songs from every bird, which indeed there are already recordings of the sound from a wide range of species, but to approach them from a experiencial practice.
How embodied listening to non-humans influence my relationship with them?
The term "embodied listening" as explained by David Rome and Hope Martin’s in their website: “It is a transformative, multi-modal approach to bringing life-enhancing awareness, insight, empathy and energy to ourselves and to our relationships with others and the world around us”.
Reflections:
From the answers of my colleagues to the questions:
1. Memories:
Moments of connection with the elements of nature, in the forest, mountains.
2. Scores, sensibility:
The score made her more sensitive, she heard more intense. It made her more aware of the sound of the street in the background.
After she closed her eyes, she looks the colours of the leaves more intense. The connection between moving leaves and sounds got recognizable.
3. Identify anthropophony, bio and geophony. In the beginning it was mixed for her. After some time she could differentiate the sounds from the several sources, and she also enjoyed very much when the rain started to make sounds.
4. The last score that indicates listening with one ear, then with the other one, after with a different position of the hand close to the ears and being positioned in several places made her more sensitive to the sounds. Sometimes a soundscape, sometimes specific sounds.
5, Comments. At some point she felt bored and without any way to go, but this made her explore more the micro-cosmos of the plants
In the audio:
The sing of a wood peugeon.
A small bird with high and fast sounds.
A Crowd singing a companion call. in the end.
Parameters
The rhythm of the tree
I listen and follow the rhythm of the tree through sound, with the help of plantsplay.
How to analyse something that will be always different?
I think the interesting is listen and resonate, not analyse.
For me it is more important the atitude I have toward the tree, respect? thankful? worship?
Note
This chart shows the electric activity in the vertical Ω (Ohm) and the time in the horizontal (t)
This screenshoot from 12:13 shows clearly how the plant No. 1 was reacting and had higher electric impulses than in the beginning of our session.
This screenshoot from the app was made at 14:00 after we took a lunch break I just registered without playing music the electric activity of the plant No. 1.
Reflection
The electric response of the plants seems to be affected by our musical presence, and that affects me emotionally in a positive way. I think that this can be considered as a practice that in oriented to amplify the beauty of non-human agents without having the supremacy of human because we were not imposing what music to make, but Vera and me were first listening and following the rhythms, melodies and fluctuations of the plants, more from a place of harmonizing and acompaying but not leading them.
Description
With this experiment I am looking for physical and acoustic conditions of the space in the Park Oude Warande from several perspectives. This is a starting step to the exploratory part of the elements available. Since my project has to do with the relation between human and nature, it can be linked to the article Reconnecting with nature the artist Dabra Solomon refers to a study (University of Exeter) that shows the more people are exposed to nature the more they value the natural world and think about greener choices.
Reflections
Performance of silence and observation
I feel after this experience that I am more aware about what I need during the day. Feeling my body in an alternative way made me experience a lighter body not only in relation with weight, but also in relation with emotions. Definitevely my perception of the reality was influenced, I could be more sensitive looking to the colors of objets around, and when I went to the park, the action of smeling some plants was more intense than in previous experiences. I also could evidence how the idea of eating again some hours later gave me a lot of hope and comforting sensation.
Then this experiment made me question how I process my emotions, for instance, sometimes that I feel mentally tired, the reflect I have is going to eat something, but instead of that I just closed my eyes and take a rest, then I felt better. In what extend our emotions are interwined with our physical needs and thoughts and influence each other?
This experience showed me in first person a comment on that question.
Reflections
Am I reading? how I can interpret the landscape? How I react to the sounds?
I tryed to find ways to translate into music the landscape I saw, sometimes I did rhythms that matched the number of trees inside the frame at the moment I watched.
I also changed the side from where I saw the frame and through the frame. I saw this frame as a window of new possibilities, window of new associations of meanings.
After I re wached the video, I thought this idea: close my eyes and hold the breath for some seconds, when I open my eyes I take deep a breath again and give thanks for the oxygen available. I open a window for poetic analogies where is implicit the total dependence on elements, and then just to give thanks to the universe for being able to take it.
Description
With the help of a device called Plantsplay which translates the electric impulses from plants into sound, we were co-creating together with Vera Hofman, a versatile musician, composer, conductor and flutist, who also is engaged with the topic of how music can influence our relationship with nature.
We started first listening, observing and feeling the mood of the plants, No. 1 (in the left of the video) and No. 2 (right). We use two devices connected via Bluetooth each to our phones respectively, and from the audio out of our phones to the speakers.
We set the apps in similar parameters as tunning (440 Hz) and scale (D major) but the timber of the plant No 1 we set as Brass instrument and the plant No. 2 as Marimba for being able to differenciate the sounds between them. After listening about 10 minutes we (Vera and me) started to play with them (plants).
In Audio No. 1 can be listen how the plants had low frecuencies, particularly the plant No. 1. Then after 10 minutes of listening, Vera and me started to try our first sounds, she played tenor flute and I played saxophone soprano (Audio No. 2). We had interesting moments of sinchronicity among each other, and I experienced more sensitivity about the melodies that the plants were playing. Afterwards we changed the tunning from the app into 432Hz. We also had to adjust our instruments and we felt some deeper atmosphere, some kind of stronger relaxation and connection among us. This can be listened in audio No. 3.
Description
I create the idea of framing the landscape as a score for co-create with the non-human agents in the park Oude Warande. The frame is a rectangle made of recycled carton. There I stick some papers with music ideas that I found that fit with the landscape sound there. This is a metaphor which I pursue to continue developing. Among the musical ideas I wrote on this papers are some multiphonics that I found they tune with the landscape sound very good.
Description
Fasting from eating, being in silence, as a way of creating a space for the possibility of disrupting the idea of human supremacy over non-humans. Sharing with non-human agents, just giving not taking from them as much as possible, I would try to just take oxygen and water during this experiment. It is important also to be the most part of the time in contact with the non-humans of the area, then I will spend around 8 hours per day there. And I will be just giving some food for the animals around. This idea of fasting I took from the organization Scientist Rebellion which they have documented and share a document with very handy instructions.
This is a transcription of the singing of a small bird, but (I still don't recognize which exactly is)
This screenshoot is from plant No. 2 that was already from the beginning giving high electric impulses.
(Also from 12:13)
Storyline from experiments
Sensing.
E 1 starting point - physical properties and conditions of the space
E 2 sensing the space through sound.
Co-creating
E 3 Transforming rolls, landscape as score, co-creation with non-humans.
E 4 Fasting, no-taking, co-creation being a silent performer.
E 5 Plantsplay experience
E 6 Performance including previous elements, frame, Plantsplay, extended techniques.
E7 Anti-anthropocentric performance, making the message clear for human audience. Embodied listening.
E8 Sound mapping and scores of bird songs. Embodied listening.
E9 Participant observation with non-humans. Testing reactions of birds to my sounds.
E10 Toolkit for co-creating,
E11 Listening to the indeterminacy
E12 Agape, composition using findings from previous exp.
For this experiment I use a device called Plantsplay which translates the electric impulses from plants into sound (previously presented in Experiment 5). Also I used pre-recorded a audio to be able to have some sentences and a ritualistic atmosphere into the performance.
Other participant:
1.This experience reminds me of myself walking in a natural area near to my home everyday in quarantine. I was walking and i was trying to imitate the song of the birds with my voice
2.Yes, i felt that my whole body becomes a vibrant speaker and the scores also gave me the opportunity to experience different qualities of sound
3. Many times in the experiment i wasn't able to identify which sounds were coming from the saxophone and which from the nature. However the sounds coming from the device were creating a totally different experience since they were creating already a background music.
4. It made me realise how rich is the soundscape, how alive it is at the same time and i felt very calm and a part of it during the experiment. I think that learning how to listen through the scores made me rethink my relationship with the nature as a human.
