[spectre] Soundworms Ecology Gathering: A Call for Participation

[Lloyd Dunn]

Soundworms Ecology Gathering

A Call for Participation
Location: Mariánské Radčice, Czech Republic
22 — 24 September 2017

Mariánské Radčice/Maria Ratschitz is an old village near Most, about
80 km from Prague. The town and its surroundings, which include a
recently reconstructed Baroque church, are suffused with the ceaseless
noise that emanates from the strange earthworks which lay just beyond
the trees — the Bílina open pit lignite coal mines.

The sound environment of this monotonous industrial soundscape
consists therefore mainly of the legato drone of the machines and the
staccato counterpoint of stones tumbling onto the conveyor belts. This
deep rumble can be heard from many kilometres away. How far it is
carried depends on the atmospheric conditions, including the humidity
and wind direction. From afar, the stripping and removal of coal and
its transformation into energy appear uneventful, but the sound
vibrations cast off by this industrial activity are sublime. But how
much of this sublimity can the environment and its inhabitants endure
before the mechanical process of extracting raw material becomes just
a source of tedious, deadening noise?

The Soundworm Ecology Gathering is a three-day meeting of minds which
will bring together persons involved in ecology, theory and acoustics
to discuss and exchange ideas concerning such questions as:

● How can our acoustic perception of soundscapes, the technical
methods of field recording, and the platforms for their subsequent
distribution help to increase public awareness of environmental and
political issues? How effectively can such a practice expand both a
subjective and a wider socio-cultural understanding of biological,
social, technological and psychological ecologies?

● What methods and strategies can we review, reuse, invent or
appropriate to effectively and responsibly influence the future of
environmental and geopolitical transformations, both on the local and
global scales?

● Is it possible to foster a network through which artists, scholars,
scientists and social activists can make use of a common language in
order to act and communicate more effectively, allowing them to
further explore fields such as acoustic ecology, ecopolitics, cultural
cartography, the earth sciences, and critical theory?

The intent of the gathering is to extend already existing professional
and institutional networks, and make them more durable and sustainable
in a dynamically changing world.

Sound and soundscapes deeply influence the processes of the human
psyche and the biosphere, and are thus determinative in our
relationship to people, animals, vegetation, and the environment
around us. Technological equipment allows users to harvest and
document more and more information from their surroundings. However,
we still understand very little about the complex relationships
between landscapes and soundscapes, and about how acoustics influence
living organisms, including people. Spanning the fields of physics,
biology, geography, politics, psychology, and art, perhaps the medium
of sound should be understood as an encapsulating medium which
connects various discourses, and thus works against any form of
determinative bias, opening new ground for novel forms of both theory
and practice.

“Worms do not possess any sense of hearing,” Darwin wrote. “They took
not the least notice of the shrill notes from a metal whistle, which
was repeatedly sounded near them; nor did they of the deepest and
loudest notes of a bassoon.” Earthworms have no ears, because they
detect the sonic energy of their environment with their entire body.
They are sensitive to vibrations, telluric currents and fugitive radio
waves. Earthworms can sense changes in temperature, moisture and pH,
and “read” the salt content, texture and aeration of the soil. This is
how they select the pH-neutral or slightly acidic soil in which they
prefer to live. Because the physical properties of soil are so
important, earthworm populations are devastated when chemicals,
insecticides and fertilizers are introduced, and they can be killed by
heavy vibrations caused by machinery. Dead soil, lacking bacteria,
earthworms, and other small life forms, is the final stage of entropy
for all ecosystems.

Apart from academic institutions and their networks, there exists in
the countries of Central Europe (Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Germany,
Austria, and Hungary) a rather limited number of civic and cultural
platforms for such modes of cooperation and information exchange in
the field of acoustic ecology. We believe that there is a need for
more interdisciplinary initiatives to facilitate a networked and
productive dialogue.

The Soundworm Ecology Gathering aims to nurture collaborations,
especially in the region of Central Europe, between those individuals
engaged in tackling issues concerning the environment, ecology,
ethnography, sound art, soundscapes, and their impact on society and
the biosphere. The goal of this informal gathering is to foster
connections across disciplines and language barriers. The initiative
thus aims to cultivate an interdisciplinary space for mutual sharing.
The programme will feature: discussions, soundwalks, excursions, and
other activities.

If you are interested in participating or would like further
information, please contact:

Miloš Vojtěchovský — sound at agosto-foundation.org

Organisation: Miloš Vojtěchovský, Vít Bohal / Agosto Foundation

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The project is being organized by the Agosto Foundation which supports
a broad range of initiatives which aim to raise social awareness and
bring about cultural transformation. Our goal is to strengthen and
sustain socially and environmentally engaged cultural practices,
initiatives, knowledge-sharing networks and communities focusing on
those active in the field of inventing, discovering, testing and
implementing new approaches that address meaningful social and
environmental issues and bring them to the awareness of their
communities and beyond.

The gathering is organized as an echo of the recent research project
Frontiers of Solitude 2015 -2016 which focused on current
transformations of the landscape and the close connections between our
post-industrial civilization and nature. These themes were elaborated
in terms of the cultural geography and morphology of three specific
areas of central and northern Europe. The project included
expeditions, workshops and exhibitions in selected areas of the Czech
Republic, Iceland and Norway.

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sound at agosto-foundation.org
lloyd.dunn at gmail.com
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