Texts and images by a rawlings Š 2019, unless other noted in the photo credits on pages 122-125. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner without prior written permission from the copyright holders. Published by Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology. Cover photo of air currents over the North Atlantic Ocean, screenshot by the artist from the website of Cameron Beccario, earth.nullschool.net, used with permission. Typeset in Freight and Freight Sans. First edition, limited to 300 copies. ISBN: 978-87-999834-6-9
foreword 6
ยง
table of contents ยง
inner sound scores for performing geochronology 9 ~ sound 10 ~ sund 11 ( 12 ~ ( ) 13 ~ deep time listening 14 performula anthropotempos 16 performula anthroposeen-and-heard 22 performula geochronology 29 how to perform geochronology in the anthropocene 30 ~ attack, sustain, decay 32 sound of sand in-situ foreshore scores 35 in time 36 ~ intime 37 ~ dopplergangur 43 violinouflage 44 ~ foreshore, in c 50 foreshore, ey(r) 54 foreshore, ribbed for pleasure 56 ยง
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water sound scores for sonic and movement composition 61 ~ sustain decay 62 sea level 64 ~ vibrato, ebb, flood 65 echolocation 66 ~ choral reefing 68 melody waves / memory waves 69 hocket barnacles 70 ~ sæ / sigh 71 rising sea level 81 sound of mull scores of place-markers for place-makers 83 ~ ö or ø 84 ~ rising 85 ( sund ) 86 ~ sound sund 88 ~ météophor 95 knots 103 ~ knot 106 ~ ) 107 appendix 109 ~ co-conducting gestures 110 acknowledgements 118 list of works with photo credits 122 references 126 ~ bio 127
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foreword
Sound of Mull is a series of performance scores developed through artistic practice-as-research into how to perform geochronology in the Anthropocene along North Atlantic foreshores. This research was undertaken through PhD study at the University of Glasgow from 2015 to 2019. As a branch of geomorphology, geochronology determines the ages of sediment, fossils, and rocks, thereby assembling a geologic planetary history. As a geochronological dénouement, the proposed geological epoch of the Anthropocene may indicate the figural moment in geologic time when human activity inscribed itself into sediment across the planet. Geochronologists partly comprising a working group to give the Anthropocene its formal designation note that “[t]he expression of the Anthropocene in the environmentally sensitive coastal systems [including beaches, tidal flats, and deltas]… represents a diverse patchwork of deposits and lacunae that reflect local interplays of natural and anthropogenic forces” (Zalasiewicz, Williams, and Waters 2014). Climate change also places foreshores as central players impacted by storminess, glacial melt, rising sea levels, and ocean acidification. The performance scores offer strategies for experiential knowledge acquisition through direct or imagined engagement with the multiple temporalities and more-than-human co-constituents of North Atlantic foreshores. Participatory, experiential engagement may sensitize people to the hidden geochronologies of everyday life. The title Sound of Mull refers to both a Scottish body of water as well as the potential audibility of contemplation. Each subsection (including Inner Sound, Sound of Sand, Water Sound) adapts the name of a Scottish body of water to refract through the geomorphic or metaphysical property it lists. The words ‘score’ and ‘composition’ are frequently and intentionally left without reference to artistic medium, so as to allow for their imaginings and applications within, between, and beyond arts practices. The scores emphasize sensorial engagement through listening, movement, response-ability (Haraway 2007, 89), and sustain-ability (García Zarranz 2018). All scores are intended for personal experiment, social experience, and/or compositional exploration.
foreword ~ 7
( (
parentheses shores oars ears
inner sound scores for performing geochronology
sound Pronunciation: /saĘŠnd/ Etymology: sund (Old English), sundaz (Proto-Germanic), sund (Danish), sund (Swedish), soner (Old French), sonare (Latin). Adjective
~ Healthy ~ Complete ~ Good ~ Quiet and deep ~ Heavy Noun
~ Aural sensation perceived through vibration ~ Musical style Verb
~ To produce sound ~ To convey impression via sound ~ To pronounce
SOUND OF MULL
sund Pronunciation: /sĘ?nt/ Etymology: sund (Old Norse), sundÄ… (Proto-Germanic). Noun (Icelandic)
~ Swimming ~ Strait ~ Alley
inner sound ~ 11
( Sound or mull. Mull a sound. To mull is to consider something deeply and at length. A sound is an ocean channel between two bodies of land. To mull is to warm, sweeten, and spice. A sound is a vibration that travels through the air. Sound is waves. A sound can be heard or felt. A mull is non-acidic soil. A mull joins the spine of a book to its cover. Sound of Mull connects Scottish mainland and island. To sound is to express. To sound is to pronounce.
SOUND OF MULL
(
)
Go outside and listen for what cannot be heard.
inner sound ~ 13
deep time listening¹ Go outside and listen for what cannot be heard. Go to a foreshore and listen for the benthic community beneath the sand, rock, or mud. Listen for the ocean’s youth, whose story may echo in a moon-snail shell. Go to a mountain and listen for orogeny². Listen for the thoughts3 of a once-thriving ecosystem, of current ecosystem struggle, of future ecosystem resilience. Go to a young forest and listen for the unfurling of Devonian4 ferns in early morning sun. Go to a coniferous forest and listen for the first Permian5 pine cones to drop from tree to floor. Go to the winter and listen for Ice Ages past, melting glaciers’ present, and the ghosts of glaciers future.
SOUND OF MULL
1
In geologic time, the term deep time refers to a planetary timeline that spans the Earth’s existence
over c. 4.5 billion years (McPhee 1981, 20). In sound education, Pauline Oliveros coined deep listening as multi-faceted transformative action (Oliveros 2005, xxiii). This title combines deep time and deep listening to propose a method for performing geochronology. 2 Orogeny
is the formation of mountains. It may be of use to reference geologic time guides to
determine the orogeny’s onset, duration, and phases or the physical manifestations of height, area coverage, and geologic materials associated with the mountain range you visit, to focus your listening across millennia. 3
Aldo Leopold’s Thinking like a Mountain argues for ecosystem sentience (Leopold 1987, 129-32).
4
The Devonian period of geologic time ranged from 419 to 372 million years ago. During this period,
the first young forests appeared, populated by clubmosses, horsetails, and ferns. 5
The Permian period of geologic time lasted from 299 to 254 million years ago. During this period,
the first coniferous forests appeared.
inner sound ~ 15
performula anthropotempos Devise a performance that relates an experience of human time to the vast expanse of geologic time. This formula translates a relatable human experience of time through the conversion of geologic-time years into human-time seconds, focussing on the estimated point when each geologic period began. In this example, 70 years ago (the proposed nuclear commencement of the Anthropocene) is equated with 7 seconds.
GEOLOGIC TIME
HUMAN TIME
HADEAN (Precambrian) 4,600,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 5,324 days ago, 01:46:40 (460,000,000 seconds)
ARCHEAN (Precambrian) 4,000,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 4,629 days ago, 15:06:40 (400,000,000 seconds)
PROTEROZOIC (Precambrian) 2,500,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 2,893 days ago, 12:26:40 (250,000,000 seconds)
CAMBRIAN (Paleozoic) 542,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 627 days ago, 07:33:20 (54,200,000 seconds)
ORDOVICIAN (Paleozoic) 488,300,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 565 days ago, 03:53:20 (48,830,000 seconds)
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SILURIAN (Paleozoic) 443,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 512 days ago, 17:33:20 (44,300,000 seconds)
DEVONIAN (Paleozoic) 416,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 481 days ago, 11:33:20 (41,600,000 seconds)
CARBONIFEROUS (Paleozoic) 359,200,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 415 days ago, 17:46:40 (35,920,000 seconds)
PERMIAN (Paleozoic) 299,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 346 days ago, 01:33:20 (29,900,000 seconds)
TRIASSIC (Mesozoic) 252,200,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 291 days ago, 21:33:20 (25,220,000 seconds)
JURASSIC (Mesozoic) 199,600,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 231 days ago, 00:26:40 (19,960,000 seconds)
CRETACEOUS (Mesozoic) 145,500,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 168 days ago, 09:40:00 (14,550,000 seconds)
inner sound ~ 17
PALEOCENE (Cenozoic) 65,500,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 75 days ago, 19:26:40 (6,550,000 seconds)
EOCENE (Cenozoic) 55,800,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 64 days ago, 14:00:00 (5,580,000 seconds)
OLIGOCENE (Cenozoic) 33,900,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 39 days ago, 05:40:00 (3,390,000 seconds)
MIOCENE (Cenozoic) 23,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 26 days ago, 14:53:20 (2,300,000 seconds)
PLIOCENE (Cenozoic) 5,300,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 6 days ago, 03:13:20 (530,000 seconds)
PLEISTOCENE (Cenozoic) 2,580,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 2 days ago, 23:40:00 (258,000 seconds)
HOLOCENE (Cenozoic) 11,700 years ago
HUMAN TIME 00:19:30 (1,170 seconds)
ANTHROPOCENE (Cenozoic) 70 years ago
HUMAN TIME 00:00:07 (7 seconds)
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By these temporal conversions, a performance denoting deep and modern times within a human-time equivalent would last roughly 14 years, if performed constantly—as 14 years equates to 460,000,000 seconds, a conversion of the 4.6 billion years that is the estimated age of the Earth. Because a 14-year performance is both ambitious and unwieldy, all human-time is divided by seconds by 7 (imagining that the final Anthropocene section would last for only 1 second).
HADEAN (Precambrian) 4,600,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 760 days ago, 13:58:06 (65,714,286 seconds)
ARCHEAN (Precambrian) 4,000,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 661 days ago, 09:00:57 (57,142,857 seconds)
PROTEROZOIC (Precambrian) 2,500,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 413 days ago, 08:38:06 (35,714,286 seconds)
CAMBRIAN (Paleozoic) 542,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 89 days ago, 14:47:37 (7,742,857 seconds)
ORDOVICIAN (Paleozoic) 488,300,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 80 days ago, 17:41:54 (6,975,714 seconds)
SILURIAN (Paleozoic) 443,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 73 days ago, 05:56:11 (6,328,571 seconds)
inner sound ~ 19
DEVONIAN (Paleozoic) 416,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 68 days ago, 18:47:37 (5,942,857 seconds)
CARBONIFEROUS (Paleozoic) 359,200,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 59 days ago, 09:23:48 (5,131,428 seconds)
PERMIAN (Paleozoic) 299,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 49 days ago, 10:30:29 (4,271,429 seconds)
TRIASSIC (Mesozoic) 252,200,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 41 days ago, 16:47:37 (3,602,857 seconds)
JURASSIC (Mesozoic) 199,600,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 33 days ago, 00:03:49 (2,851,429 seconds)
CRETACEOUS (Mesozoic) 145,500,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 24 days ago, 01:22:51 (2,078,571 seconds)
PALEOCENE (Cenozoic) 65,500,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 10 days ago, 19:55:14 (935,714 seconds)
EOCENE (Cenozoic) 55,800,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 9 days ago, 05:25:43 (797,143 seconds)
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OLIGOCENE (Cenozoic) 33,900,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 5 days ago, 14:31:26 (484,286 seconds)
MIOCENE (Cenozoic) 23,000,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 3 days ago, 19:16:11 (328,571 seconds)
PLIOCENE (Cenozoic) 5,300,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 21:01:54 (75,714 seconds)
PLEISTOCENE (Cenozoic) 2,580,000 years ago
HUMAN TIME 10:14:17 (36,857 seconds)
HOLOCENE (Cenozoic) 11,700 years ago
HUMAN TIME 00:02:47 (167 seconds)
ANTHROPOCENE (Cenozoic) 70 years ago
HUMAN TIME 00:00:01 (1 second)
The second conversion would be performed non-stop for a total of 2 years and 30 days to give a full sense of the Earth’s age in a relatable human time. The event remains both ambitious and unwieldy, but within the scope of durational performance. The point is not necessarily to perform this durational score, but to provide a thought-experiment that renders geologic time easier to grasp.
inner sound ~ 21
performula anthroposeen-and-heard The following guideline offers notes for devising a sound composition based on geologic time translated into relatable human time. Each section’s duration is derived from the temporal chart in “Performula Anthropotempos.”
Precambrian Supereon: 3 eons HADEAN first eon duration 99 days, 04:57:09 (8,571,429 seconds)
ARCHEAN second eon duration 248 days, 00:22:51 (21,428,571 seconds)
SOUND OF MULL
As plate tectonics, asteroid impacts, and both mineral and rock are the evidential material confirming the planet’s age during this period, the composition would be made entirely of percussive elements derived from geologic entities. This may include using surround or contact microphones to activate the sonic properties of rocks through tapping, touch, or impact. Field recordings of geothermal areas may also be of use. One option would be to dedicate audio from a geothermal power plant as the sonic event for this eon. An alternative could be to make infrasonics audible for the human ear.
The percussive (produced through impacting rocks) and liquid (field recordings of hot springs, mud pools, fumaroles) geologic sounds of the first movement continue, enhanced by the inclusion of water recordings and sonification of microbial data. Running percussion mallets over fossils may produce interesting sonic embellishments, alluding to the emergence of microfossils during this period. Hydrophonic recordings may be of use.
PROTEROZOIC third eon duration 323 days, 17:50:29 (27,971,429 seconds)
Major orogenous and glaciation events mark this period. Green algae colonizes the ocean, and multi-celled animals flourish. Hydrophones may capture water freezing into ice, or the sounds of sea worms, sponges, and soft-jellied ocean dwellers. Percussed fossils and heavy stone will continue sonic exploration as in ARCHEAN.
Paleozoic Era : 6 Periods CAMBRIAN first period duration 8 days, 21:05:43 (767,143 seconds)
ORDOVICIAN second period duration 7 days, 11:45:43 (647,143 seconds)
The emergence of supercontinent Gondwana invites field recording tidal ebbs and floods, emphasizing rocky and muddy foreshores. With the first appearance of chordates, the fine bones of tiny fish may be assembled into organic marimba, xylophone, drumsticks, or wind chimes. Continue the sonic exploration of sea worms and sponges introduced in PROTEROZOIC.
The emergence of land-based green plants and fungi during this period will invite sonic exploration of these biotic entities; think percussion, contact mic, biorhythm amplification. Hydrophones and contact mics may listen to cephalopods (eg. the tentacular6), corals, bivalves (eg. Mytilus edulis), and echinoderms (eg. starfish). The final moments of this period should sonically recall an Ice Age through experimental amplification of water freezing and ice crack-
inner sound ~ 23
ing; any hydrophone recordings of ice from PROTEROZOIC may be repurposed here via sound transducers placed within buckets of ice.
SILURIAN third period duration 4 days, 11:08:34 (385,714 seconds)
DEVONIAN fourth period duration 9 days, 09:23:49 (811,429 seconds)
CARBONIFEROUS fifth period duration 9 days, 22:53:19 (859,999 seconds)
SOUND OF MULL
Caledonian, Scandinavian, and Arcadian orogenies invite reverb experiments in echoic valleys, impacting large rocks together to produce sound. Counterpoint this with intimate recordings of millipedes running throughout a patch of vascular plants. As a through-line, continue previous ORDOVICIAN hydrophone recordings of corals.
The first appearance of trees, ferns, and crawling insects situates our composition within a young forest. Audio-record rain massaging the forest. Record the skittering of insects beneath a fallen tree. SILURIAN recordings within echoic valleys may punctuate this composition, denoting the rise of Appalachian, Antler, Variscan, and Tuhua orogenies. ORDOVICIAN coral recordings continue as a quiet, persistent through-line.
With the highest levels of atmospheric oxygen ever recorded, Aeolian sounds dominate this composition. Produce sound by blowing across the leaves of large trees. The sudden radiation of winged insects suggests soundscape recordings of large-sized odonta may be appropriate, to approximate flight sounds of extinct protodonta. To note abundant reef life, flourishing forests, and glaciation, recur DEVONIAN forest-rain recordings, ORDOVICIAN coral recordings, and PROTEROZOIC ice recordings.
PERMIAN sixth period duration 7 days, 17:42:52 (668,572 seconds)
The appearance of moss and conifers invites soundscape recordings in a different kind of forest. With audio recorded in summer months, the forest life of beetles and flies will take especial sonic focus. These will meet DEVONIAN forest recordings, ORDOVICIAN coral and bivalve recordings, and SILURIAN echoic valley recordings. The emergence of supercontinent Pangaea invites a return to the CAMBRIAN foreshore soundscape recordings, leading to a crescendo of layered soundscapes.
MESOZOIC ERA: 3 PERIODS TRIASSIC first period duration 8 days, 16:43:48 (751,428 seconds)
JURASSIC second period duration 8 days, 22:40:58 (772,858 seconds)
95% of life on Earth becomes extinct and, with this, the multiple soundscape recordings used in the PERMIAN composition are now silenced. Still, archosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and pterosaurs dominate land, sea, and air; mark their presence with an extended percussive exploration of large mammal bones. SILURIAN echoic valley recordings may be of use to mark the multiple orogenies forming throughout Pangaea.
Explore the sonic expressions of pine cones and bivalve shells. With the abundance of dinosaurs, sound-record large bodies moving through fields and forests. Sonify the harmonic tremors affiliated with earthquakes to signify the break-up of Pangaea into Gondwana and Laurasia.
inner sound ~ 25
CRETACEOUS third period duration 13 days, 05:27:37 (1,142,857 seconds)
CRETACEOUS, third period. The proliferation of flowering plants parallels the rise in insect abundance. Also known as the “Insect Aria,� this composition focuses on the skitter and buzz of pollinators. Dinosaur evolution may be explored through remixing TRIASSIC recordings of mammal-bone percussion. Played in reverse, SILURIAN echoic valley recordings mark the break-up of Gondwana.
CENOZOIC ERA: 8 EPOCHS PALEOCENE first epoch duration 1 day, 14:29:31 (138,571 seconds)
EOCENE second epoch duration 3 days, 14:54:17 (312,857 seconds)
SOUND OF MULL
Dominated by a tropical climate, immersion within a tropical rainforest bioregion will net a soundscape imaginary for this epoch. Speed up the CRETACEOUS remix of TRIASSIC bone recordings to signal the extinction of dinosaurs. Alpine and Himalayan orogenies may prompt recurrence of SILURIAN echoic valley recordings within the middle hours of this composition.
EOCENE, second epoch. A moderate, cooling climate recommends soundscape recordings in a temperate rainforest bioregion. SOSUS hydrophone recordings of whales may be sourced as sound imaginary of diversifying primitive cetaceans. Antarctica is reglaciated, so play backwards PROTEROZOIC ice recordings. Alps and Hellenic orogenies may prompt punctuated recurrence of SILURIAN echoic valley recordings.
OLIGOCENE third epoch duration 1 day, 19:15:15 (155,715 seconds)
MIOCENE fourth epoch duration 2 days, 22:14:17 (252,857 seconds)
PLIOCENE fifth epoch duration 10:47:37 (38,857 seconds)
PLEISTOCENE sixth epoch duration 10:11:30 (36,690 seconds)
As the climate continues to cool, soundscape recording in a tundra bioregion is encouraged. The rapid evolution, diversification, and dispersal of flowering flora and mammalian fauna also invites contact-mic recording of plant biorhythms and animal heartbeats.
Soundscape recording in a savannah bioregion may capture synonymous diversification of grasses and birds. Appearance of the first apes invites audio recording of primate communication. Activity within Kaikoura, Carpathian, and Hellenic orogenies prompts revisitation of SILURIAN echoic valley recordings.
The cool and dry climate, correlated with a Quaternary Ice Age, recommends soundscape recording within a subarctic desert bioregion. The presence of australopithecines invites an exploration of vocable shifts between primates and humans; this may be performed through editing audio samples of various species, or through attempted vocal acrobatics by a sound poet. A chorus of mammal vocalizations can also become focal for this composition. Minimalist employment of PROTEROZOIC ice recordings is encouraged.
Slow down the CRETACEOUS remix of TRIASSIC bone recordings to signal the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna. Proto-semantic utterances by a chorus of sound poets explore the evolution of anatomically modern humans during this period; utterance may commence with unvoiced phonemes (eg. s, t), and move near its end to
inner sound ~ 27
voiced phonemes (eg. vowel sounds). Two-thirds of the way through this composition, audio recording of a volcanic eruption should eclipse all other sounds to signify the near-extinction of humanity by the eruption of Lake Toba supervolcano and subsequent volcanic winter.
HOLOCENE seventh epoch duration 00:02:46 (166 seconds)
ANTHROPOCENE current epoch duration 00:00:01 (1 second)
6
The impact of Homo sapiens on Earth would be evident in the Holocene. This section is comprised of human voices who explore ‘O’ (from ‘ooh’ to ‘oh’ to ‘awe’ to ‘ahh’ to ‘ow’). Soundscape recordings from agricultural and industrial zones are encouraged.
The current moment of the so-called Anthropocene, proposed as some 70 years young, would make up the final one second of composition with the shush or hiss of a wick set aflame. Either that, or the sped-up sonic boom of nuclear detonation.
Acknowledging Donna Haraway’s enthusiasm for multispecies becoming-with through engagements
with “the tentacular ones” (Haraway 2016, 31). See her book Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene for more on tentacularity.
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performula geochronology Acquire a geochronology report for a specific location, and then develop a score that corresponds with the report’s chronology. Refer to “Performula Anthropotempos” for recommended time length of geologic strata indicated within the report. Refer to “Performula Anthroposeen-and-Heard” for a correlation of sounds to chronology.
inner sound ~ 29
how to perform geochronology in the anthropocene Visit a site. At this site, move in counter-clockwise circles or spirals. This may be performed seated, crawling, walking, or in another way. While moving, focus attention on the present soundscape. Listen to what can be heard in front of you. Extend your listening to what is audible behind you. Bring your attention to sounds on your left, and your right. Listen for sounds above you. Listen for what you can hear below. Extend your listening as far as you can in each direction, building the soundscape around you. As you move, build the envisioned world in your mind’s eye. Close your eyes and imagine what you recall is inside of you. Extend this imagination to reconstruct where you are situated for what is in front, behind, to both sides, above, and below you. Now, build deep time onto your envisioned and heard worlds. From where you sit, imagine the site around you twelve hours earlier. Yesterday. Last week. Last year. A decade ago. Hear and envision the world around you one hundred years ago. Imagine the site one thousand years ago. Extend your imagining to the inception of the Holocene—twelve thousand years ago. Megafauna extinction and most recent glaciation, 126,000 years ago. Rise of Homo sapiens, 781,000 years ago. Cooling climate and spread of Homo erectus, 1.8 million years ago. Quaternary glaciations, 2.5 million years ago. Imagine the development of the Greenland ice sheet, 3 million years ago. Cooling climate, 5 million years ago. Warming and extinctions, 15 million years ago. Appearance of Iceland, 17 million years ago. Horses, 23 million years ago. Antarctic glaciation,
SOUND OF MULL
33 million years ago. Global warming, 56 million years ago. Dinosaur extinction, 66 million years ago. Primitive birds, 145 million years ago. Dinosaurs, 250 million years ago. Moss, 298 million years ago. Appearance of amphibians and winged insects, 323 million years ago. Imagine sound and sight of the first trees and wingless insects, 419 million years ago. First vascular plants on land, 443 million years ago. Diversification of cephalopods, corals, bivalves, and echinoderms, 485 million years ago. Green algae colonies in the seas, 1.4 billion years ago. Much orogeny, 2.5 billion years ago. Appearance of single-cell life, 4 billion years ago. Formation of the Earth, 4.6 billion years ago. Hold in your mind two moments in time. Hold in your mind Quaternary glaciations, 2.5 million years ago and much orogeny, 2.5 billion years ago. Hold in mind megafauna extinction, 126,000 years ago and dinosaur extinction, 66 million years ago. Hold horses, 23 million years ago and primitive birds, 56 million years ago. Moss, 298 million years ago and green algae colonies in the seas, 1.4 billion years ago. Hold in your mind the formation of the Earth, 4.6 billion years ago and the detonation of the first nuclear weapon in 1945. Now, extend your built worlds into a speculative future. Where you currently circulate, what soundscape might you sense twelve hours from now? Tomorrow? Next week. Next year. A decade from now. Hear the world one hundred years from now. Imagine this site one thousand years from now. Dig through soil 10,000 years from now, and rebuild past soundscapes from the material you unearth. Extend your imagining to the end of a so-called Anthropocene, and listen for what sustains and decays there.
inner sound ~ 31
attack, sustain, decay Devise a composition of a speculative future, extending from the “Performula Anthroposeen-and-heard” score. The composition will foreground a speculative tuning-in to a future that extends from the nuclear moment of the Anthropocene’s proposed inception—the Trinity detonation in 1945—exploring the speculative soundmarks of half-life and radiological decay.
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( some ways to perform ways to perform geochronology some perform geochronology ways as waves form geochronology to perform to perform to some some form
(
ways to form waves to some
a chronology
sound of sand in-situ foreshore scores
in time Pronunciation: /ɪn/ /taɪm/, ĭn tīm Etymology: in tīma (Old English), in tīmô (Proto-Germanic), i time (Danish), í tíma (Icelandic). Prepositional phrase
~ When or before due ~ Immediately ~ Eventually ~ Successive continuum of past, present, future ~ Rhythmically synchronous
Intime Pronunciation: /ɛ̃.tim/ Etymology: intimus (Latin). Adjective (French)
~ Intimate ~ Inner
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intime Prepare to visit a foreshore during low tide. It may be helpful to consult sunrise and sunset times, moonrise and moonset times, meteorological predictions, and a tide chart to assess the conditions you may experience during your visit. Go to the foreshore and move in a large counter-clockwise circle. This may be performed through running, walking, crawling, or in another way. To establish the perimeter of your circle, start by angling the left side of your body as you move. Maintain this angle for three or more counter-clockwise circles in order to mark the path you will continue for the remainder of your circulation. Familiarize yourself with the more-than-human residents of the site. Sand-worm mounds and stranded jellyfish may be abundant. Eelgrass may have washed ashore in curls of sea. Dried kelp may be caught in rooted succulents, tracing circles when moved by wind on sand. Plastic refuse may be lodged between sand and stone. Go to a foreshore frequently passed by half-submerged Vanguard-class submarines carrying sixteen nuclear warheads. Run in a counter-clockwise circle as submarines patrol the GIUK gap. Familiarize yourself with the geopolitics of the region by touring its industripark or learning its link to oil-rig production and maintenance. Translate a poem from French to Morse code. Assign Morse code a correlated movement vocabulary, where a long dash equates to a flat-foot step and a short dot is a tiptoe step. Translate the poem from Morse code to movement. Walk the poem. Familiarize yourself with the emotional weather of friends during your circulation. Conduct a grief ritual by moving in counter-clockwise circles. Walk or run the same path repeatedly on wet sand to form a temporary tattoo on the land when the tide is low. As the tide rises, your imprint will be erased by the ocean. In time, all will be relieved. sound of sand ~ 37
dopplergangur The Doppler effect gives the impression of an increase or decrease of sound waves due to the passing movement of a sounding object. The German loanword doppelgänger refers to an apparition or double of living person. Gangur is Icelandic for walk. By combining these three disparate signifiers, we arrive at the possibility of devising a soundwalk designed to enact the Doppler effect so that it produces apparition of person, place, or thing. Maintaining fidelity to the counter-clockwise foreshore walk, this movement provides the foundation for the performative experimentation of “Dopplergangur.” Humans involved in the walk will produce sound while they move. As an example, the monotone drone produced by human voices may ascend or descend in pitch depending on the perspective of a stationary listener. Conversely, the listener may walk a circle while the sounders remain stationary, so that the Doppler effect is created by the position of the listener’s body rather than the sounders’ bodies.
sound of sand ~ 43
violinouflage Take three violins and place them for longer-term dwelling/immersion in foreshore environments. DROWN MY VIOLIN: The first violin is in the water, only visible at low tide. BURY MY VIOLIN: The second violin is buried in the sand at the mid-tide mark. EXPOSE MY VIOLENCE: The third violin is left exposed on a very windy beach prone to erosion, only touched by water at high tide. Each violin should be left to interdepend with its foreshore environment, with occasional monitoring to extract measurements of storminess, sedimentation, deposition, and erosion.
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foreshore, in c Sonify this archival documentation of eelgrass. Sonification may incorporate improvised sound using voice or an instrument (eg. violin) to convey perceived attributes of this visual data.
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foreshore, ey(r) There was sand. They were there. Sea-snails. Pick empty shells of moon snails from sand. Shells whorl counter-clockwise, islanded by a retreating tide. Ey. Any ey may be an island in Iceland. And eyr in Middle English was air or ear. The cochlear spiral of the human’s inner ear becomes-with the whorls of sea-snail shells. Hear an ocean of air inside a shell. Exhale. In. Again. Now, exhale through this archival documentation of moon-snail shells. Listen to your breath in an imagined interior of any shell. Hear your breath break as waves on a rising-tide foreshore at midnight. Sand and sound inform.
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foreshore, ribbed for pleasure Sonify this archival documentation of rippling sand.
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( Attends. Un temps. Tourner en rond.
(
Un temps. Attends.
water sound
scores for sonic and movement composition
sustain Pronunciation: /sə’steɪn/ Etymology: sustenir (Old French), sustinere (Latin). Noun
~ The steady state of sound at its maximum intensity ~ A mechanism that enables a sound to be held Verb
~ To maintain ~ To nourish ~ To experience ~ To suffer ~ To uphold ~ To bear
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decay Pronunciation: /dɪ’keɪ/ Etymology: decayen (Middle English), decäir (Anglo-Norman), dēcadere (Medieval Latin). Noun
~ Deterioration of condition ~ Process or result of decomposition ~ The rate at which sound fades to silence Verb
~ To deteriorate ~ To rot ~ To change by emitting radiation
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sea level Sound your voice or violin as a long tone for the duration of one exhale or pull of the bow across string(s). Down-tune your long tone by a semi-tone slowly during this sound. Waterfall. Glacial melt. Tide ebb. Sound again but, this time, up-tune. Rising sea level. Increased storminess. Tide flood. Global warming is the gradual up-or-down-tuning of the familiar.
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vibrato, ebb, flood Using voice or violin, sound the slow change between what would be the higher/lower pitches within a vibrato. Explore the space between the highest pitch and the closest lower semi-tone, navigating the sound like waves flood in a tide. The lower semitone moves microtonally closer to the stable higher pitch, exposing the difference in pitches as the microtones flood closer. Once the pitches meet, sustain for a period of time. Then, reverse the technique to ebb microtonally from the stable pitch towards the lower semi-tone. This may occur over the length of one tide’s ebb or flood period (roughly six hours), or it may be performed faster.
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echolocation As described in “Vibrato, Ebb, Flood,� the higher and lower pitches of a vibrato are selected and sounded slowly by voice or violin. A second voice or violin sounds the same pitches, but at opposite moments as the initial voice. The voices move like two people swinging jump-rope in the game of Double Dutch. To approach the two pitches, the following exercises may cultivate intimacy in sounders. The following should be attempted first as sounded at the same time on the same pitches, and then inverted as we move closer to the Double Dutch effect. FUNDAMENTAL, LEAP, ASCEND: Establish fundamental pitch as a long, sung tone. Leap to a semi-tone or whole tone higher, continuing long tones. Leap to the fundamental. FUNDAMENTAL, SLIDE, ASCEND: Establish fundamental pitch as a long, sung tone. Slide to a semi-tone or whole tone higher, continuing long tones. Slide to the fundamental. Each slide is performed quickly, so the fundamental and higher pitches maintain expression as long, sung tones. FUNDAMENTAL, SLIDE EQUALITY: Establish fundamental, slide to higher tone, return, and continue this cycle with a slower ascent and descent of the slides. The amount of time spent on fundamental or higher tone should be equal, and the slides should also be equal to the stable pitches. SLIDE: Establish fundamental and higher tone. Slide between fundamental and higher tone, but maintaining constant temporal emphasis on the slides with the fundamental and higher pitch only fleeting moments visited during the apex or bottom of the slide.
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For singers, it may be helpful to adopt gesture as guides when navigating these exercises. For the “Slide” exercise, consider moving eyes like a clock’s hand, where the fundamental pitch sits at the bottom (6 o’clock) and the higher tone sits at the top (12 o’clock). It can also be helpful to work with drawing a circle with one’s finger in front of the body, either to follow the sound or to trace the passing sound as a remnant of the action.
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choral reefing Form two groups, with each group having two or more persons in it. The groups face in different directions and turn counter-clockwise in their own speeds. One group chooses a note and sings the same note as a long tone. The other group selects a semi-tone above or below the first group’s note that produces a choral beating (an inferred or interfering audible pattern) when the two groups sing their tones simultaneously. As the groups turn, their sounds occasionally lighthouse directly at each other. The beating experiences volume and directional shifts from the movement.
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melody waves / memory waves A group of people sits in a circle. One person offers a short melody phrase. A second person offers a different melody phrase after the first person has finished. Additional players offer their phrases consecutively. Each person repeats their own offered phrase when it is their turn in the circle. Eventually, one person attempts to sing all offered melody phrases as a continuous melody wave. The length of the melody wave is determined by the combination of all melody phrases. The next person will repeat the complete melody wave, and each subsequent player will sing the wave. After establishing the melody wave, all players may attempt to sing the complete wave simultaneously. They will sing the wave chorally in repetition adapting the wave as they attempt to find unison as the wave adapts from solo to choral enunciation. With practice, a group may choose to commence with fewer rounds of melody phrases or repeated melody waves. Variations may include skipping solo repetition of a melody wave in favour of the entire group moving from solo melody phrases immediately to the choral melody wave. Singers may also choose to sing partial or complete melody waves as a round, or as partial repetition. Co-conducting gestures may be established to signal when to move into singing solo complete song lines, choral complete song lines, partial loops for solo or group, and additional variations (such as incorporating “Hocket Barnacles” or “Echolocation” composition components as part of the larger co-conducted composition). See “Co-conducting Gestures” in the Appendix for examples and possibilities.
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hocket barnacles Hocket is a medieval rhythmic technique where two or more people alternate notes, pitches or chords; while one produces sound, the other rests. Hocket barnacles interdepend sound and semantics within the soundscapes where they are uttered. To experiment with the hocket technique using words, a group of two or more players should start first by uttering “here.” Each player pronounces “here” as a soloist, followed immediately by the player to their right pronouncing “here” as a call and response. Proceed to each additional player to the right until everyone has uttered “here” and then continue pronunciation with the first player. Explore vocal dynamics (intonation, pitch, speed, volume) as the passed word continues to be passed between players. In this way, hocketed words cluster between multiple players. Hocketing proceeds until one person stops the flow of utterance. To truly ‘cluster’ hocket barnacles, it may be preferred to keep the hockets rapid and to limit the time spent sounding them. SINGLE: Each person utters one word. This could be the same word or a different word. TRIPLET: Each person utters three words. Each subsequent pass could be a semantic extension of the prior three words, creating sentence clauses or complete sentences. For single hocket barnacles, the following words may prove enlivening to cluster: and, drown, ebb, edge, flood, grief, more, move, mull, oh, or, reef, shore, sigh, tide, time. For triplet hocket barnacles, the following three-word utterances may prove useful starting points: ebb then flood, go to the, sound of mull, the deep time, the tide flood, tide and time.
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sæ / sigh Flying from Iceland to Scotland, from Norway to Denmark, the sand beaches of north-western bays form open parentheses. These shores are shaped by millennia of waves. Sound. In Icelandic, the letter æ is pronounced like the English-language pronoun I. As in high. The Icelandic word sæ, which means sea, is pronounced like the English sigh. So. Sonify this archival documentation of parenthetic bights through action-oriented and/or pronunciative experimentations with the word(s) sæ and sigh. There are six basic variants for your sonic palette: ACTION, UNVOICED: Explore the sonic properties of sighing using audible breath only, without engaging your voice. ACTION, VOICED: Explore sighing by allowing your voice to emerge through part or all of the audible breath. PRONOUNCED, UNVOICED SÆ: Explore the pronunciation possibilities of the word sæ. Mull over the semantics of this word (translating to English as ‘sea’) while pronouncing it. PRONOUNCED, VOICED SÆ: Explore the pronunciation possibilities of the word sæ. Mull over the semantics of this word (translating to English as ‘sea’) while pronouncing it.
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PRONOUNCED, UNVOICED SIGH: Explore the pronunciation possibilities of the word sigh. Mull over the semantics of this word while pronouncing it. PRONOUNCED, VOICED SIGH: Explore the pronunciation possibilities of the word sigh. Mull over the semantics of this word while pronouncing it. For action variants, consider how speed, volume, pitch, and affect provide dynamism in your explorations. For pronounced variants, you may consider and explore the dynamics of your utterances. Dynamics may include the subtle details of inflection, speed, volume, pitch, and affect. You may approach composition as pre-structured, impulsive, or co-conducted: PRE-STRUCTURED: In this composition approach, agree upon a structure for performance. You may select and order palette variants (voiced, unvoiced, etc.) or bight photographs. You might determine periods of time to dwell in each, or otherwise agree upon signals to advance to subsequent structural components. You might consider how many voices are sounding, when, and for how long. IMPULSIVE: You might approach your composition as a free-form, intuitive performance where you make compositional choices in the moment, rather than relying on a pre-set structure. CO-CONDUCTED: Relying on alternative conduction techniques, you may choose to co-devise your composition with your fellow sound-makers during the performance. One or more participants may be assigned the role to conduct, with or without also sounding herself. A method developed in collaboration with Rebecca Bruton and Laureen Burlat is to invite all sounding participants to co-conduct using hand signals that shift collective action while the composition is built in live performance. See “Co-conducting Gestures� in Appendix for examples.
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rising sea level Using any instrument (eg. violin, Aeolian guitar, or Geiger counter), measure your current of nervousness.
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(
(
A body which is essentially the same body bends around itself to bring into relation parts of itself that otherwise do not contact. Two bodies which may be of the same body bend around themselves to form connection. A few bodies contact, curve, blend. Age. Bond.
sound of mull scores of place-markers for place-makers
ö or ø Here is the room. Here you are. Shoes. Remove your shoes before entering the room because of the floor. The floor is soft, sprung, and each footstep resounds its bass into the room. Without shoes, enter the room and feel the soft shush of the floor beneath your feet. Spring. Land. The room is a map. There are corners. Corners align with directions. This manifest is a direction. Ö. An Ö may be an island in Sweden like an Ø may be an island in Denmark. Or Öre or Øre may be ears. Listen. The room may be an island or Ø. Through your feet, listen to the room become an island. Or a strait. Sound. Sund. The room performs. Öresund. Either side of the sound: ears. Either side of the sund: sand. Sund. Sand. Land.
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rising The room is dry. Over the course of the performance, the room fills two-thirds full with water. People seem oblivious or passingly interested, but do nothing. One may become panic-stricken. One might try to find a plug. They discuss many things, most of which are not about the room filling with water.
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( sund ) Track the most recent or upcoming storm path to traverse the North Atlantic. Draw a diagram of wind speed and direction using the meteorological symbols known as wind barbs. In a room, locate cardinal directions. Determine how to map the North Atlantic on the room’s floor, with fidelity to these directions. Reconstruct the wind diagram on the floor using pieces of gaffer tape to mark wind barbs. Walk the map in the counter-clockwise circle indicated by the wind barbs’ directions.
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sound sund Pronounce these sunds and sounds in Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and English as incantation, as litany. Each name is cradled by parentheses of foreshores that were, reinscribed by foreshores that will be. DANSK Abensund, Aggerssund, Aggersund, Aggersund, Aggersundbroen, Allelevsund, Alrøsund, Als Sund, Alssundbroen, Bosundbæk, Bredesund, Det sundske Fed, Egernsund, Egernsund Kirke, Egernsundbroen, Feggesund, Feggesund Færgegård, Feggesund Mølle, Feggesund Nord, Feggesund Syd, Femø Sund, Frederikssund, Frederikssund Kirke, Fur Sund, Fur Sund, Fursundparken, Fænø Sund, Gammel Sunds, Grønsund, Grønsund, Grønsund, Grønsund Færgebro, Grønsund Færgegård, Guldborg Sund, Guldborgsundbroen, Hadsund, Hadsund, Hadsund Huse, Hadsund Kirke, Hadsund Syd, Hadsundbroen, Hjarnø Sund, Hvalpsund, Hvalpsund, Hvalpsund Færgested, Iholm Sund, Kalvebodsund, Kasund Sande, Katsund, Katsund, Kattesund, Kattesund, Kattesund, Kattesund, Kattesund, Kattesund, Kattesund, Kattesund, Kattesund, Kattesundet, Kattesundet, Kattesundet, Kattesundet, Kattesundet, Kattesundsdel, Kirkesund, Kolindsund, Kolindsund, Kolindsund, Lille Sundbjerggård, Lille Sundbøl, Lille Sundbølgård, Lille Sundsted, Masnedsund, Masnedsund, Masnedsundbroen, Misundebjerg, Misundelse, Misundelse, Misundelse, Misundelsen, Misundelst, Neder Aggersund, Nees Sund Bakkegård, Nessund, Nørresundby, Nørresundby Kirke, Oddesund, Oddesund, Oddesund Drag, Oddesund Nord, Oddesund Syd, Oddesundbroen, Omø Sund, Omøsundgård, Oppe Sundby, Oppe Sundby Kirke, Oppe Sundby Mose, Opsund, Over Aggersund, Romsø Sund, Rågø Sund, Sallingsund, Sallingsund, Sallingsund Plantage, Sallingsundbroen, Sebbersund, Sebbersund, Siø Sund, Siøsundbroen, Skårupøre Sund, Smallesund, Snapsund, Spangsund Plantage, Stafsclenorsund, Stenballe Sund, Stralsund, Sundballe, Sundbjerg, Sundby, Sundby, Sundby, Sundby, Sundby, Sundby Færge, Sundby Hage, Sundby Overdrev, Sundby Remise, Sundby Stengrund, Sundby Søbad, Sundbyerne, Sundbygård, Sundbygård, Sundbygård, Sundbylille, Sundbyvester, Sundbyvester Fælled, Sundbyvester Remise, Sundbyøster, Sundbøl, Sundbøl, Sundbøl Bjerg, Sundbøl Dal, Sundbøl Hede, Sundbøl Sig, Sunddraget, Sundebakken, Sundeeng, Sundehave, Sundekildegård, Sundekær, Sundernys, Sundet, Sundet,
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Sundet, Sundet, Sundeved, Sundevedforte, Sundgab, Sundgade, Sundgård, Sundgårde, Sundhave, Sundholm, Sundhusene, Sundhøj, Sundhøjene, Sundkilde Skift, Sundkrog, Sundkrog, Sundkær, Sundmose, Sundmøllen, Sundparken, Sundquistgade, Sunds, Sunds Herred, Sunds Nørreå, Sunds Præstergård, Sunds Sø, Sundsagergård, Sundsdal, Sundsgård, Sundsgårdsvejen, Sundshave, Sundshave, Sundsholm, Sundshøj, Sundshøj Mølle, Sundsig, Sundskov, Sundskrogs Stykker, Sundsled, Sundsmark, Sundsmark Ende, Sundsmark Løkke, Sundsmark Mark, Sundsmarken, Sundsmarkforte, Sundsskelsmarken, Sundsted, Sundsted, Sundstrup, Sundsøre, Sundsøre, Sundsår, Sundvedgård, Sundvejen, Svendborg Sund, Svendborgsundbroen, Sønder Aggersund, Sønderborg Sund, Søndre Sundby, Søvig Sund, Tambosund, Thugsund, Thurø Sund, Ude Sundby, Ulvsund, Ulvsund, Ulvsund Hede, Ulvsundby, Vemmenæs Sund, Vilsund Vest, Vilsund Vest, Vilsund Øst, Vilsundbroen, Vindeby Sund, Virksund, Virksund, Virksund, Virksundbroen, Øresund, Øresundsbroen, Øresundshøj, Øster Sundby, Årø Sund, Årøsund, Årøsundgyde, Årøsundvej, Årøsundvej ÍSLENSK Afgirtasund, Agnúastaðasund, Alda-Reiðsund, Andrasund, Arnarbælissund, Arnavörðusund, Arneyjarsund, Austara-Breiðusund, Austara-Sundahró, Austari-Sunpollur, Austastasund, Austursund, Axlarsund, Axlasund, Balasund, Baltarsund, Banasund, Beitarhússund, Bergssnasarsund, Beringssund, Bessastaðasund, Bingjasund, Bjallasund, Bjallasund, Bjargasund, Bjarnareyjarsund, Blautasund, Blautasund, Blautasund, Blesumýrarsund, Bleytulágarsund, Blásundarhólmi, Bogasund, Bollamelssund, Borgarsund, Borgarsund, Borgarsund, Borgarsund, Borgarássund, Botnasund, Boðalseyjarsund, Boðasund, Boðasund, Brandssund, Brandssundssker, Brattaskerssund, Brautarklifsundirlendi, Brautarsund, Brautarsundsbrúnir, Brautarsundsás, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasund, Breiðasundsblettur, Breiðasundsboðar, Breiðasundshall, Breiðasundshallar, Breiðasundssker, Breiðasundssker, Breiðasundsstallar, Breiðasundsás, Breiðusund, Breiðusundsbakki, Breiðuvörðusund, Brekkusund, Brendasund, Brennusund, Brennusund, Brákarsund, Djúpadalssund, Djúpasund, Djúpasund, Djúpasund, Dragasund, Drangasund, Draugasund, Draughólasund, Drullusund, Dritssund, Durnissund, Dyngjusund, Dýjareitssund, Dýjasund, Efra-Borgarsund, Efra-
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Breiðhólasund, Efra-Halasund, Efra-Hádegishólssund, Efra-Hádegissund, Efra-Háuklettasund, Efra-Hólmasund, Efra-Jámundarsund, Efra-Leirtjarnarsund, Efra-Loppusund, Efra-Silungalækjarsund, Efra-Sláttusund, Efra-Snoppusund, Efra-Stekkjarsund, Efrasund, Efrasund, Efri-Sund, Efri-Sund, Efri-Sundey, Efri-Tjarnarsundsás, Efrihæðarsund, Efrisund, Efrisundabrekkur, Efstasund, Efstasund, Efstasund, Efstasund, Efstasund, Egilssund, Einbúasund, Einbúasund, Eiríkssund, Eiríkssund, Eiðssund, Ekrusund, Erfingjasund, Eyjarendasund, Eyjasund, Eyjasund, Eyjasund, Eyjasund, Eyjasundsmelur, Eyrarsund, Eyrarsund, Eyrarsund, Eyrarsund, Eyrasund, Eystra-Kýrmúlasund, Eystra-Þórsássund, Eystrasund, Eystri-Lambasundshnaus, Efstasund, Engeyjarsund, Fagrasund, Fagureyjarsund, Fagurhólssund, Faxasund, Faxasund, Fellssund, Fellssund, Fellsássund, Fendýjabotnasund, Finnasund, Finnuklettssund, Fischersund, Fiskinaggasund, Fjarðarsundsás, Fjárhússund, Fjárhússund, Flateyjarsund, Flateyjarsund, Flesjarsund, Flöskusund, Folaldasund, Forarsund, Fosssund, Fossundirlendi, Fremra-Hólmasund, Fremrasund, Freyjusund, Fróðasund, Fífusund, Fífusund, Fífusund, Fífusund, Fífusund, Fífusundslækur, Fífutjarnarsund, Fótbaldurssund, Fögruhlíðarsund, Fúasund, Fúasund, Galtasund, Garnarsund, Garðssund, Geldingseyjarsund, Gerðissund, Geysandasund, Gildruholtsund, Gilssund, Gimbrarsund, Grafarsund, Grafarsund, Grafarsund, Grafarsund, Grafarsund, Grafasund, Grasasund, Grasasundsás, Graseyjarsund, Grenhæðarsund, Grenivíkursundlaug, Grensássund, Grettistak í Vatnsárssundum, Grímseyjarsund, Grjótársund, Grunnasund, Grunnasundsey, Grunnasundsnes, Grynnstasund, Grynnstasundsvarða, Gránusund, Grásteinssund, Grænasund, Grænasund, Grænasund, Grænlandssund, Grænsund, Grímseyjarsund, Grímseyjarsund, Grímseyjarsund, Grímusund, Gufunessund, Gunnarssund, Gálgasund, Góðasund, Góðasund, Góðasund, Góðasund, Gufunessund, Hafnarsund, Hafragilsundirlendi, Hageyjarsund, Halasund, Halldórusund, Hallsteinssund, Hamarssund, Hamrasund, Heimarasund, Heimastasund, Heimra-Stekkjarsund, Heimrasund, Heimrisund, Heiðarsund, Heiðarsund, Heiðarsund, Helgasund, Helgasundshryggur, Hellisdalssund, Hellrasund, Helluholtssund, Helluhólssund, Hellusund, Hellusund, Helluássund, Herbjarnareyjarsund, Hestabrekkusund, Hestasund, Hestasundslækur, Hesthússund, Hesthússund, Hesthússundsklettar, Hestklettssund, Heysund, Heysund, Heysundssker, Hjallasund, Hlésund, Hlílðarsund, Hlíðarsund, Hnattarsund, Hnattarsund, Hnattarsund, Hnausasund, Hnjúkasund, Hnjúksund, Hnúkasund, Holtasund, Holtasund, Holtasund, Holtasund, Hol-
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tasund, Holusund, Horsund, Hrafnaklettssund, Hrafnatjarnarsund, Hrafnsvörðusund, Hraukasund, Hraunasund, Hraunfjallasund, Hringasund, Hrossadalssund, Hrossbeinasund, Hryggjasund, Hræðuklettasund, Hrísholtssund, Hríshólssund, Hrísstekkssund, Hríssund, Hróarseyjarsund, Hróasund, Hrútasund, Hrúteyjarsund, Hrúteyjarsund, Hundasund, Hvaleyjarsund, Hvalnessund, Hvanneyjarsund, Hvanneyjarsund, Hverasund, Háagerðissund, Háasund, Háeyjarsund, Háholtssund, Háholtssund, Háholtsundirlendi, Háisundhólmi, Hákarlasund, Hæðarklettasund, Hæðarsund, Hæðarsundslækur, Hæðarvörðusund, Hólasund, Hólmasund, Illasund, Illasund, Illasund, Illasund, Illasund, Illasund, Illasundslækur, Illukeldusund, Innra-Hólmasund, Innra-Mjósundahraun, Jónssund, Jósepshvítarsund, Kambasund, Kambhamrasund, Kambsund, Kaplasund, Kastalasund, Katlasund, Kaupafólkssund, Keldusund, Keldusund, Kelduvaðshæðarsund, Kerlingarsund, Kerlingarsund, Kersund, Kindagötusund, Kinnarsund, Kirkjuholtssund, Kirkjusteinasund, Kirkjusund, Kirkjusundshryggur, Kistusund, Kiðhólmasund, Kiðusund, Kjóasund, Kjóasund, Klakkssund, Klapparsund, Kleifarsund, Kleifasund, Klettasund, Klifsund, Klofasteinasund, Klofasund, Klömbrusund, Knararsundsfles, Kofamýrarsund, Kolleyjasund, Kolássund, Kolássund, Kotabotnasund, Kristjánssund, Kritarsund, Krosshólasund, Krosssund, Krosssund, Krosssundseyjar, Krummatjarnarsund, Kræklingahólmasund, Krókasund, Krókasund, Krókasund, Krókasund, Króksstaðasund, Kverkasund, Kvíasund, Kvíasund, Kvíhússund, Kálfhólmasund, Kópstaðasund, Kötlueyjarsund, Kúamóasund, Kúasund, Kúasund, Kýreyjarsund, Lambadalssund, Lambasund, Lambasund, Lambasund, Lambhúsasund, Landamerkjasund, Langamýrarsund, Langaskerssund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasund, Langasundsás, Langeyjasund, Langholtssund, Langhraunssund, Langhólasund, Langhólmasund, Langhússund, Langstaðasund, Laufsund, Laugasund, Laxavogsundirlendi, Leirtjarnarsund, Leiðarsund, Leiðarsund, Letisund, Leynisund, Lindasund, Litla-Selsund, Litlasund, Litlasund, Litlasund, Litluskálarsund, Ljósoddasund, Loftssund, Lokaskerssund, Lummusundshólmi, Lundeyjarsund, Lyklasund, Lyngeyjarsund, Lyngássund, Lágasund, Látrasund, Lómatjarnarsund, Lómatjarnarsund, Lónsund, Lónsundsboði, Lögmannssund, Löngubrekkusund, Löngumýrarsund, Lúkasund, Lambakrókssund, Lundeyjarsund, Magnúsarsund, Mannflóasund, Markasund, Markhólssund, Marsund, Maríusund, Melhólmasund, Melhúsasund, Merkissund, Merkjasund, Merkjasund,
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Merkjasund, Miðaftanshólssund, Miðeyjarsund, Miðfellssund, Miðhólmasund, Miðhólssund, Miðklettasund, Miðmorgunshólasund, Miðmundasund, Miðsund, Miðsund, Miðsund, Miðsund, Miðsund, Miðássund, Miðássund, Mjóasund, Mjóasund, Mjóasund, Mjóasund, Mjóasund, Mjóasund, Mjóatangasund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósund, Mjósundafjall, Mjósundagil, Mjósundagljúfur, Mjósundaholt, Mjósundaholt, Mjósundalækur, Mjósundalækur, Mjósundaá, Mjósundsbotn, Mjósundsholt, Narfastaðasund, Neðra-Borgarsund, NeðraBreiðhólasund, Neðra-Halasund, Neðra-Hádegissund, Neðra-Háuklettasund, Neðra-Jámundarsund, Neðra-Leirtjarnarsund, Neðra-Loppusund, Neðra-Sláttusund, Neðra-Snoppusund, Neðrasund, Neðrasund, Neðrasund, Neðri-Leirtjarnarsundsás, Neðri-Sund, Neðrisund, Neðstasund, Neðstássund, Nibbusund, Njarðarsund, Njörvasund, Norðlingasund, Norðureyjasund, Norðureyjasund, Norðursund, Norðursund, Náttmálasund, Náttmálasund, Næstystasund, Nónborgarsund, Nónholtssund, Nónhólssund, Nónsund, Nýjabæjarskerssund, Nýjastekkssund, Oddasund, Ólafseyjarsund, Pyttarsundshæðir, Pyttasund, Pálssund, Péturssund, Raftholtsmýrarsund, Raftholtssund, Ranasund, Rauðalækjarsund, Rauðamýrarsund, Rauðhólssund, Reiðingasund, Reiðingssund, Reiðsund, Reiðsund, Reiðsund, Ribbusund, Rifsund, Rimmusund, Rjúpnasund, Réttarhraunssund, Réttarsund, Réttarsund, Sandeyjarsund, Sauðeyjasund, Sauðholtssund, Selasund, Selasund, Seldalasund, Seleyjarsund, Selfellssund, Selhólasund, Seljasund, Sellónssund, Selssund, Selsund, Selsund, Selsund, Selsund, Selsundsfjall, Selsundslækur, Selsundstjörn, Selássund, Sigandasund, Siggusund, Siggusund, Silungalækjarsund, Sinuhólmasund, Sjómannasund, Sjónarholtssund, Sjónarhólssund, Sjónarhólssund, Sjónarhólssund, Skakkanefssund, Skakkasund, Skakkasund, Skarfeyjarsund, Skeifnabrjótssund, Skeleyjarsund, Skerjasund, Skerjasundsfjall, Skerjasundsmúli, Skessusund, Skipagarðasund, Skipasund, Skipasund, Skjaldareyjarsund, Skjaldareyjarsund, Skjólasund, Skjólgarðsklettasund, Skjólhamarssund, Skollasund, Skothúsklettasund, Skrauthólasund, Skreflusund, Skroppusund, Skuggasund, Skutulseyjarsund, Skyrgerðissund, Skytjusund, Skálholtssund, Skálholtssundslækur, Skálseyjarsund, Skítasund, Skítasund, Skófnasund, Skúlasund, Skútamýrarsund, Skútasund, Skútusund, Sleggjusund, Sláttusund, Sláttusundshóll, Sláttusundslækur, Smáeyjasund, Smáhólasund, Smáhöfðasund, Smérhólasund, Snasasund, Stapaklet-
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tasund, Stapasund, Stararsund, Startjarnarsund, Staðarhússund, Staðarréttarsund, Staðarsund, Steinasund, Steinasund, Steinssund, Steinssund, Steinsundshólmi, Stekkatúnssund, Stekkatúnssund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sundabakki, Sundabakki, Sundabakki, Sundaborg, Sundabrekka, Sundabrekkumýri, Sundabrún, Sundabrún, Sundabrún, Sundabúð, Sundaflögur, Sundafoss, Sundagarðar, Sundagötur, Sundahöfn, Sundaklakkur, Sundaklettar, Sundakrókar, Sundalengja, Sundalækur, Sundareitur, Sundasker, Sundastykki, Sundastykkisbakki, Sundatún, Sundavað, Sundavað, Sundavaðshóll, Sundavaðshólmi, Sundbakki, Sunddæl, Sundey, Sundeyrar, Sundflaga, Sundflögur, Sundhamar, Sundhanapollar, Sundhnúkur, Sundholt, Tangasund, Tangasund, Teigasund, Templarasund, Tjarnarsund, Tjarnarsund, Tjarnarsund, Tjarnarsund, Tjarnasund, Tjarnasund, Tjarnstæðissund, Torfaborgarsund, Torfaskarðasund, Torfasund, Torfholtssund, Torfholtssund, Torfsund, Torfsund, Torfsund, Torfsund, Torfsund, Traðarkotssund, Tréseyjarsund, Tröllasund, Tröllhöfðasund, Tungnasund, Tvígarðasund, Tvígarðasundslækur, Tvívörðusund, Tófusundshryggur, Tómasarsund, Tóttarsund, Tófusund, Ullarborgarsund, Ullarskarðssund, Ullarsund, Uppsalasund, Urðasund, Útsund, Útsund, Ullarskarðssund, Valahnjúkasund, Valbakssund, Valhnúkasund, Vallnasund, Vatnasund, Vatnsskógssund, Vatnssund, Vatnsársund, Vaðássund, Vegasund, Vegasund, Vegasund, Veggjasund, Veltusund, Vestara-Sundahró, Vestari-Sundpollur, Vestra-Grensássund, Vestra-Kýrmúlasund, Vestra-Þórsássund, Vestrasund, Vestrasund, Vestri-Lambasundshnaus, Vestursund, Vestursund, Viðarssund, Viðeyjarsund, Viðeyjarsund, Votasund, Votasund, Votasund, Véleyjarsund, Víðirsund, Vörðhólmasund, Vörðueyjasund, Vörðuholtssund, Vörðuholtssund, Vörðuhólssund, Vörðusteinsmelasund, Vörðusund, Vörðusund, Vörðusund, Valhnjúkasund, Yfirsetusund, Ysta-Sund, Ystasund, Ystasundsdý, Ystasundslækur, Ysteyjarsund, Ystsund, Ytra-Hryggjasund, Ytra-Hólmasund, Ytra-Mjósundahraun, Ytra-Stekkjarsund, Ytrasund, Þerneyjarsund, Þorkelseyjarsund, Þrælasund, Þrætusund, Þrívörðusund, Þunnholtasund, Þvermelssund, Þvermelssund, Þversund, Þversund, Þversund, Þvottasund, Þæsusund, Þóriseyjarsund, Þórishamarssund, Þórusund, Þórðarsund, Þórðarsund, Þúsundkrónalautin, Þýfðasund, Þerneyjarsund, Þerneyjarsund NORSK Bakkasund, Bangsund, Brandasund, Brønnøysund, Burøysund, Egersund, Eigersund, Eiksund, Farsund, Fjågesund, Godøysund, Haugesund, Haugsjåsund, Havøysund (Northern Sami: Ávanuorri), Helgøysund, Herøysund,
sound of mull ~ 93
Hidrasund, Hillesund, Hokksund, Hol i Tjeldsund, Holmsund, Homborsund, Jåsund, Jøssund, Jøssund, Kalvøysund, Kilsund, Knarrlagsund, Kvalsund (Northern Sami: Ráhkkerávju), Kvalsund, Krabbesund, Kristiansund, Kroksund, Kvitsund, Langesund, Lysøysundet, Mausund, Midsund, Minnesund, Noresund, Norheimsund, Ny Hellesund, Nyksund, Ramsund, Randesund, Rugsund, Sagasund, Skjernøysund, Stamsund, Stokksund, Sund, Sund, Sund, Sund i Lofoten, Sundal, Sundbyfoss, Sunde, Sunde i Matre, Sunde i Sunnhordland, Sundebru, Sundene, Sundlia, Sundnes, Sundsbø, Sundve, Sundvollen, Sundøya, Svinesund, Trongsundet, Tveitsund, Ulvøysund, Vallersund, Vennesund, Vikersund, Ålesund, Årøysund ENSK Auskerry Sound, Balta Sound, Bluemull Sound, Burra Sound, Clachan Sound, Clestrain Sound, Colgrave Sound, Cuan Sound, Cuillin Sound, Easter Sound, Eynhallow Sound, Gairsay Sound, Gutter Sound, Holm Sound, Hoy Sound, Inner Sound, Kilbrannan Sound, Linga Sound, Sanday Sound, Shapinsay Sound, Shuna Sound, Soay Sound, Sound of Arisaig, Sound of Barra, Sound of Berneray, Sound of Bute, Sound of Canna, Sound of Gigha, Sound of Harris, Sound of Hoxa, Sound of Iona, Sound of Islay, Sound of Jura, Sound of Luing, Sound of Mull, Sound of Papa, Sound of Raasay, Sound of Rum, Sound of Sandray, Sound of Shiant, Sound of Sleat, Switha Sound, The North Sound, Uyea Sound, Vaila Sound, Water Sound, Weddell Sound, Wester Sound, Yell Sound
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mĂŠtĂŠophor Embody this archival documentation of surface-level wind speed over the North Atlantic. Embodiment may incorporate improvised sound (eg. with voice, violin) or movement (eg. through circulation, knitting) to convey perceived attributes of this visual data.
knots The following performance score was co-devised by Laureen Burlat and angela rawlings. Laureen actualized the score to create her visual artwork called Trash Strata, with the photos herein depicting Laureen’s in-progress work. From a shoreline, collect plastic bags, rope, and other flexible refuse. Cut the refuse into long thread-like pieces, knotting together ends where necessary. Roll the plastic-and-garbage yarn into a large ball. Knit.
sound of mull ~ 103
knot pl. knots7 Pronunciation: /nɒt/, nŏt Etymology: cnotta (Old English), knútr (Old Norse), knude (Danish), knut (Swedish), knute (Norwegian), knútur (Faroese), hnútur (Icelandic). Noun
~ Nautical unit of speed ~ Flexible material, looped ~ Maze ~ Closed curve ~ Challenge ~ Whorl ~ Swelling in skin or muscle ~ Protuberant joint in flora ~ Node ~ Group ~ Bond
7
“It matters what matters we use to think other matters with; it matters what stories we tell to tell
other stories with; it matters what knots knot knots, what thoughts think thoughts, what ties tie ties. It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories” (Haraway 2016, 12).
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)
unnur8
unna9 un10
un11
8
In Icelandic, a wave.
9
In Norwegian Nynorsk and Bokmål, away. In Swedish and Faroese, to allow. In Icelandic, to love.
10
Morpheme sourced from ‘sound.’
11
Not, one.
sound of mull ~ 107
appendix
co-conducting gestures Co-conduction gestures may be developed to signal distinct compositional components or dynamics (volume, tempo, etc.) with which a group of players may want to co-compose. Co-conduction requires trust that any participant can shape the composition, and that we share responsibility for the composition in our simultaneous roles as performers, conductors, and composers. During score experimentation for Sound of Mull, the following gestures were developed by Rebecca Bruton, Laureen Burlat, and angela rawlings in support of compositional components derived from “Hocket Barnacles,” “Melody / Memory Waves,” and “Sæ / Sigh.” The gestures depicted here are offered as examples of how this working method developed. They may be adopted in part or whole by conducting groups, though there is benefit in group members determining both compositional components of interest as well as gestures unique to the group’s non-verbal needs.
“Hocket Barnacles,” HOCKET BARNACLE: Wrap hand around fist for a single-word barnacle, or tap fist into hand three times to form sentence-length barnacles.
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“Melody Waves / Memory Waves,” MELODY WAVE: Move arm in front of body like a horizontal wave.
“Melody Waves / Memory Waves,” START A NEW MELODY WAVE: With palm facing up and fingers point to the sky, wiggle your fingers as though they are flames in a fire (taken from Element Choir). appendix ~ 111
“Melody Waves / Memory Waves,” COMBINE 3 MELODIES TOGETHER: Perform one counter-clockwise circle of index finger.
“Melody Waves / Memory Waves,” EVERYONE SINGS MELODIES TOGETHER: Intertwine fingers to sing chorally.
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“Melody Waves / Memory Waves,” SECTION-EXCERPT: With index finger, point to the ground below the person who originated the particular melody wave you want to have sounded.
“Sæ / Sigh,” ACTION: Punch fist forward.
appendix ~ 113
“Sæ / Sigh,” VOICED: Explode fist open to expose all fingers.
“Sæ / Sigh,” PRONOUNCED: Point to mouth.
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“Sæ / Sigh,” SIGH: Hold hand and arm (from elbow) vertical in front of body.
“Sæ / Sigh,” SÆ: Hold hand horizontal in front of body.
appendix ~ 115
“Sæ / Sigh,” UNVOICED: Cover mouth with hand.
SOLO: One participant is conducted to perform an improvised solo of her choosing to complement or counterpoint the current moment of the composition. All other performers otherwise continue their composition as previously conducted (taken from Element Choir).
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DIRECT WHO PERFORMS ACTION: Point at one or more people.
EXCERPT: Position fingers like scissors and perform cutting action to indicate part of a composition you want performed as a loop.
appendix ~ 117
acknowledgements Gratitude to my supervisory team at University of Glasgow: Carl Lavery, Deborah Dixon, Philippa Ascough, Kenny Brophy, and Paul Bishop. Thank you to everyone in the departments and administration who provided me with support, especially Rebekah Derrett, Jeanette Berrie, and Lisa Gallagher. Thank you for entrusting me with the Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Scholarship. Gratitude to Laureen Burlat, my chosen family and submarine stalker, fellow castle inhabitant and knitting instructor. Your collaboration, contributions, dedication, and celebrations brought this work to life. Gratitude to my most intimate reader Rebecca Bruton for ‘lovingness,’ hidden folk, Moss Moss Not Moss, just intonation, hocketing, and badassery. Gratitude to Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir for rigour and pleasure, allowing our practices to enmesh as we explore contact and conduct in more-than-human compositions. Gratitude to Anika Marschall and Robert Giegerich for home, heart, and secret supervision. Gratitude to Libe García Zarranz for killjoys, all things counter-, and who encouraged impromptu “Intime” circulation by attendees of the Canada and Beyond V: Bodies of Water Conference on the foreshore in Huelva, Spain. Gratitude to Sachiko Murakami for ) and all that is revealed, relived, and relieved. Gratitude to Jordan Scott for encouragement, integrity, and a lifetime of mutual fandom. Gratitude to Adam Dickinson for touchstones and for shining light, always.
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Gratitude to John Rogers for violin drowning, daily magic, and déjà vu. Gratitude to Peter Jaeger for walking shared creative paths, for prompting my engagement with John Cage’s ASLSP, and for thinking-with pedagogical value. Gratitude to Veronika Schuchter for goddess response. Gratitude to derek beaulieu for entangled lives of reading. Gratitude to Sam Hertz for feedback and discussions of infrasound, harmonic tremors, and future collusion. Gratitude to Rike Scheffler, Mette Moestrup, and Miriam Karpantschof who commingled our watery ways. Gratitude to Alasdair Campbell for spirited conversation on music and poetry, production and presentation, and welcoming me wholeheartedly. Gratitude to Áki Ásgeirsson for weight and buoy advice. Volcanic sand, clinopyroxene, olivine, pyrite, dune, basaltic sand, silicious glass, crest, trough, surf, sky, violin, buoy. Gratitude to my secret designer for deconstructing the photographed landscapes into their constituent materials as represented through colour. All of my love to dear hearts who sustained me while this work was in progress: Ciara Adams, Steinar Bragi, Matt Ceolin, Juan Camilo Román Estrada, Davíð Brynjar Franzson, Veronika Janatková, Maja Jantar, Michael Knox, Maria Flawia Litwin, Ewa Marcinek, Katja Mlinar, Elías Portela, Stu Rawlings, John Rogers, Carolynn Seaton, and Lexi Suppes.
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Gratitude to Steinar Bragi for Hjörseyjarsandur. Gratitude to Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Stefan Östersjö, Katt Hernandez, Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, and Kent Olofsson for inviting me to workshop with them at the Inter Arts Centre in Malmö. The Aeolian guitar in “Rising Sea Level” pays homage to its inventor, Stefan Östersjö. Stefan’s demonstration of the Aeolian guitar at Lomma Bay, Sweden guided my tuning-in to foreshore collaboration and set the tone for our “Intime” circulation in February 2017. Gratitude to all performers in “Intime,” including: Rebecca Bruton and Laureen Burlat (Scotland); Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Stefan Östersjö, Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, Lan Yến, Kent Olofsson, and Gina the Toy Poodle (Sweden); Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Sachiko Murakami, and Steinar Bragi (Iceland); Cissi Hultman, Baby Alvin, Heli Aaltonen, Dea Antonsen, Ida Bencke, Rosemary Lee, Kim Ménage, Elena Lundquist Ortíz, and Libe García Zarranz (Norway); and the Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology plus Felicia Konrad with many other lovely unidentified guests (Denmark). Thank you to Amalia Fonfara for assistance filming the Trondheim “Intime” performance. Gratitude to curators and collaborators who included this work in their programming: Dea Antonsen, Ida Bencke, Elena Ortíz Lundquist, Andrea Pontopiddan for Laboratory of Aesthetics and Ecology; Christine Fentz for Earthbound; Silvija Stipanov for Ganz Novi Festival; Miriam Haile for Mondo Books and Lofoten International Art Fair; Jon Ståle Ritland, Michiel Koelink, and David Jonas for 3D Poetry Editor; Mette Moestrup and Miriam Karpantschof for She’s a Show; Christina Werner and Rike Scheffler for SOE Kitchen 101; and Mette Moestrup, Robert Skovmose Christensen, and Kasper Marius Nørmark for Lyd+Litteratur Festival. Gratitude to John De Simone and Emily Doolittle at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; Rie Hovmann Rasmussen and Louise Lassen Iversen at meter; and Jeffrey Pethybridge at Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics Symposium for inviting my artist talk on “Ecopoethics in Action,” important spaces
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to think through Sound of Mull’s development through presentation to and feedback from audience. Gratitude to Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology for trusting my tests and curating “Intime” and “( SUND )” at crucial points in the work’s development in both Trondheim, Norway and Helsingør, Denmark. The work lives because of you. Gratitude to Silvija Stipanov for programming my “Activating the Geopoetic” workshop for Ganz Novi Festival in Zagreb, Croatia, and bounteous love for workshop participants. This was such a significant opportunity to explore experiential knowledge acquisition and transformative action embedded within Sound of Mull’s methodology with a gifted group of local artists. Gratitude to Elizabeth Ogilvie at Sea Loft and Lateral Labs for providing residency space to create this work while in progress, and for launching Sound of Mull upon its conclusion. Thank you to Philippa Ascough, Chris Taylor, and the staff at Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre for providing me with access to and demonstration of the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer and radiocarbon dating labs. Gratitude to Kenny Brophy, Gavin MacGregor, Peta Glew, Northlight Heritage, and the archaeological teams at Castle Qua and Black Hill for teaching me your ways. Gratitude to Cameron Beccario and earth.nullschool.net for the data visualization of wind maps, and his permission to use screenshots for the score “Météophor.” Dedicated to the mudlarkers and beachcombers.
appendix ~ 121
list of works with photo credits All performances and works by a rawlings except as noted. Titles and credits below listed by page number. 38: “Intime” performance, Kinghorn, Scotland, 2017 featuring Rebecca Bruton and the artist. Still from video by the artist.
38: “Intime” performance, Herøya Industripark, Norway, 2017 featuring Cecilia Hultman and the artist. Still from video by the artist.
39: “Intime” performance, Trondheim, Norway, 2017 featuring the Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology, Libe García Zarranz, Heli Aaltonen, Kim Ménage, and the artist. Still from video by Amalia Fonfara and the artist. 39: “Intime” performance, Kinghorn, Scotland, 2016 featuring Laureen Burlat and the artist. Still from video by the artist.
40: “Intime” performance, Skarðsvík, Iceland, 2019 featuring the artist. Photo by John Rogers.
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40: “Intime” performance, Helsingør, Denmark, 2018 featuring the Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology with many guests. Photo by David Stjernholm.
41: “Intime” performance, Lomma Bay, Sweden, 2017 featuring Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Stefan Östersjö, Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, Lan Yến, and the artist. Still from video by the artist. 41: “Intime” performance, Hjörseyjarsandur, Iceland, 2016 featuring the artist. Still from video by the artist.
42: “Intime” performance, Hjörseyjarsandur, Iceland, 2017 featuring the tracework of Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir and the artist. Photo by the artist.
48: “Violinouflage,” Skarðsvík, Iceland, 2019. Photo by the artist.
appendix ~ 123
45-49, 127: “Violinouflage” performance, Skarðsvík, Iceland, 2019 featuring the artist. Photos by John Rogers.
51-53: “Foreshore, in C,” Lomma Bay, Sweden, 2017. Photos by the artist.
55: “Foreshore, Ey(r),” Iceland, 2019. Photo by the artist.
57-59: “Foreshore, Ribbed for Pleasure,” Hjörseyjarsandur, Iceland, 2016 and 2017. Photos by the artist.
73-80: “Sæ/Sigh,” 2018. Imagery © Landsat / Copernicus, IBCAO, DigitalGlobe, Aerodata International Surveys, CNES / Airbus, Data SIO, NGA, NOAA, U.S. Navy, GEBCO, Getmapping plc, Google, Terrametrics, Map data ©2018 Google.
87: “( SUND )” exhibition, Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway, 2017. Photos by the artist.
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95-102: “Météophor.” Photos screenshot by the artist from the website of Cameron Beccario, earth.nullschool.net, used with permission.
104-105: “Knots” performance devised by Laureen Burlat and the artist, featuring Laureen Burlat in Loch Long, Scotland. Photos by the artist.
110-117: “Co-Conducting Gestures” devised by Rebecca Bruton, Laureen Burlat, and the artist, depicting all three collaborators. Photos by the artist. 129: Detail of an emergency button on the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer, used for radiocarbon dating in the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre in East Kilbride, Scotland. Photo by the artist.
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references García Zarranz, Libe. 2018. “A Trans Ecopoethics of Sustain-Ability: Kai Cheng Thom’s Watery Worldings.” Huelva, Spain: Canada and Beyond V: Bodies of Water. Haraway, Donna J. 2007. When Species Meet. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ———. 2016. Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. London: Duke University Press. Leopold, Aldo. 1987. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. Oxford University Press. McPhee, John. 1981. Basin and Range. Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Oliveros, Pauline. 2005. Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice. iUniverse, Inc. Wiktionary. 2019. “Intime.” Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intime. Zalasiewicz, Jan, Mark Williams, and Colin N. Waters. 2014. “Can an Anthropocene Series Be Defined and Recognized?” Geological Society, London, Special Publications 395 (1). Geological Society of London: 39–53. doi:10.1144/SP395.16. Dictionary entries for “Sound,” “In Time,” “Sustain Decay,” and “Knot” are excerpted and modified from Wiktionary. Map images from Google (Satellite view) appear according to fair-use copyright clause.
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bio a rawlings is a Canadian-Icelandic interdisciplinary artist whose books include Wide slumber for lepidopterists (Coach House Books, 2006), Gibber (online, 2012), o w n (CUE BOOKS, 2015), and si tu (MaMa Multimedijalni Institut, 2017). Her book Wide slumber was adapted to music theatre by Valgeir Sigurðsson and VaVaVoom (2014). Her libretti include Bodiless (for composer Gabrielle Herbst, 2014) and Longitude (for Davíð Brynjar Franzson, 2014). rawlings’ Áfall / Trauma was shortlisted for the Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Playwrights (2013). She is one-half of the performance duo Völva with Maja Jantar and one-half of the new music duo Moss Moss Not Moss with Rebecca Bruton. rawlings is the recipient of a Chalmers Arts Fellowship (2009-10) and held the position of Queensland Poet-in-Residence (2012). rawlings loves in Iceland. www.arawlings.is
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