Sound Matters Issue 06
Sound Matters Issue 06
After The Big Bang /Aya Sato's Rituals of the Anthropocene
Welcome To The Anthropocene Over the past 4.543 billion years (or so) our home planet has been through many changes. But even inside that blip of cosmic time our collective actions have grown to directly impact our ecosystems. Whether in the form of our ever-proliferating and mobile gadgets, our vast network of global travel, or the massive server complexes that power our hyper-connectedness – what we all buy, eat, watch and listen to has an effect on our environment. So much so that many scientists and theorists have proposed a new epoch – the Anthropocene. This Mortal Coil But it is nothing new to worry that the end is nigh: numerous religions and philosophies have pondered the end of humankind. But those who theorise the Anthropocene also propose that it is not about bunkering down and awaiting the end of days, but rather that we should rise to the occasion and create a new way of living. And it’s with this future-facing spirit and resolve we collaborated with Aya Sato on imagining this new existence, balancing the dark with light.
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Creative Director & Photographer — Lasse Kusk / Performer & Makeup — Aya Sato / Dancers — Norihito Ishii & Makoto Takase / Production & Styling — Taka Arakawa (Babylon) / Hair — Nori / Photo Assistant — Andreas Bastiansen / Assistant — Hikaru Takata / Conduits of cosmic sounds from beyond — Beoplay A1 & Beoplay H7
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We live in an era where human activity defines our world – for better or worse, our actions have a direct impact on the planet we live. But are we really headed for complete disaster? We collaborated with dancer and artist Aya Sato, travelling to the unseen industrial hinterlands of Tokyo to create a new ritual for these times.
“The first time I visited the Kawasaki area I felt I had arrived on another planet. If Tokyo is Disney World, then Kawasaki is reality. There is an indescribable chemical smell, steam everywhere, and thousands of small lightbulbs dotted all over the factories.” — Lasse
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