Sonic Geographies of Hope: How can Song become an Act of Restoration for a Damaged Planet? by Angela Valenzuela (Loica)

I dedicate this work to Robin Wall Kimmerer’s call for acts of restoration for our damaged planet. I choose song composition and performance as a way to find pathways for personal and collective restoration. Through the methods of artistic research I write Songs inspired by my experience of ecological grief, academic reading, interviews to song composers, and journaling. As a contribution from my work, I present a new compositional methodology, Sonic Geographies of Hope. This methodology calls for song composers to write songs grounded in personal and collective grief of our damaged planet. I suggest that this type of songs can become an act of restoration and create collective resonance for more hopeful ways of existing and experiencing the world. This methodology is heavily influenced by the work of A. Hazelwood and her methodology Geographies of Hope in Praxis. While it is inspired by it, it focuses mainly on emotional geographies. This work represents a starting point to explore Song methodologies to nurture immaterial geographies for concrete, structural ecological restoration. It is an exploration to find ways to restore yourself to continue to fight for the dignity of the places, more-than human life and people we love.

My results are divided into 3 main themes:

1) A Journey of Self-restoration: it circles around the creative and Song composition process. For this I will look into my journal entries especially when I self-reflect on my songwriting process as a personal journey for restoration.

2) Songs to explore Grief and the Grammar of Animacy: I analyze two of my Songs, Al Jardin (To the garden), and Asters and Goldenrods.

3) Sonic Geographies of Hope: Compositional methodology for Song as an act of restoration.

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5. Results and findings