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- Convenor:
-
Rupert Cox
(Manchester University)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Sessions:
- Friday 29 October, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
This panel invites proposals that engage critically and creatively with the bioacoustic monitoring of biodiversity. Issues include the social, scientific and political implications of devices, practices and collaborations involved in such projects and the potential and limits of public engagement.
Long Abstract:
The panel will present the work of Cucusonic, a collective of Colombian biological scientists, anthropologists and musicians who in partnership with the University of Manchester's Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology and the charity In Place of War https://www.inplaceofwar.net have invited a team of high profile electronic music producers to use a bank of rainforest sounds (lizards, bats, frogs, birds etc) to create new music. The sounds were collected through a network of scientists working with various local communities from situations of lockdown. The outcome we will present is a collaborative music album inspired by the sounds and frequencies of the rainforest, designed to raise awareness of its biodiversity to national and international audiences. Artists involved include Brian Eno, Martyn Ware, Matt Black (Coldcut), Laima Leyton, Iggor Cavalera, Camilo Lara, Fer Isella, Matthew Dear, Osunlade, Blanco Regina, Buddy, bræv and Darper. The compilation album will be released in the summer of 2021 via the Vinyl Factory https://thevinylfactory.com
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 29 October, 2021, -Max Ritts (Univ. of Cambridge)
Paper short abstract:
This paper reviews some of the general trends exhibited in the "sonic eco-surveillant" turn in conservation, drawing on examples from around the world. We exmaine some emerging social and political tensions, whilst noting important benefits of acoustical approaches to conservation.
Paper long abstract:
In forests around the world, acoustically mediated processes of datafication are creating vast amounts of data out of diverse ecosystemic and biologic processes. The observatories, arrays, and portable sensing tools now proliferating as flexible, accurate and affordable tools of conservation monitoring posit “datafied sound” as a solution to a range of social and technical challenges in conservation landscapes. This paper reviews some of the general trends exhibited in the "sonic eco-surveillant" turn in conservation. I pay special attention to the capacious nature of the data being generated: not simply intentional signals (e.g., chirps, calls, trills), but a host of indirect, accidental, and incidental sonic traces too (e.g., whispers, breaking branches, gunshots, human voices). As vast domains of life are becoming susceptible to being processed via forms of analysis that can be automated on a large-scale, new social and political questions are arising, demanding new forms of attention to the environment-making nature of digital operations.
Rupert Cox (Manchester University) Alejandro Valencia Tobon (Cucusonic)
Paper short abstract:
The film will present the work of Cucusonic, https://cucusonic.net/cucusonic a collective of Colombian biological scientists, anthropologists and musicians who created a network with local communities and invited electronic music producers to use forest sounds they recorded to create new music.
Paper long abstract:
Cucusonic https://cucusonic.net/cucusonic is a collective of Colombian biological scientists, anthropologists and musicians who in partnership with the University of Manchester’s Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology and the charity In Place of War https://www.inplaceofwar.net have invited a team of high profile electronic music producers to use a bank of rainforest sounds (lizards, bats, frogs, birds etc) to create new music. The sounds were collected through a network of scientists working with various local communities from situations of lockdown in 2020-21. The film aims to draw attention to issues of biodiversity monitoring and loss by turning recordings of natural sounds and bio-acoustic data into musical compositions. The project itself is supported by the UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund. The outcome which the film describes is a collaborative music album inspired by the sounds and frequencies of the rainforest, designed to raise awareness of its biodiversity to national and international audiences. Artists involved include Brian Eno, Martyn Ware, Matt Black (Coldcut), Laima Leyton, Iggor Cavalera, Camilo Lara, Fer Isella, Matthew Dear, Osunlade, Blanco Regina, Buddy, bræv and Darper. The compilation album will be released in the summer of 2021 via the Vinyl Factory https://www.inplaceofwar.net/current-projects-blog/sounds-of-the-colombia-rainforest.
Ana Maria Gomez Aguirre (Universidad de Antioquia)
Paper short abstract:
Jorge and his wife protect four hectares of forest in Colombia. They share this forest with other ‘people’, as he refers to animals living there. They use sound recordings to learn more about them and to invite other local communities to protect the forests and different species that inhabit there.
Paper long abstract:
The Andean forest at San Pedro municipality in which Cucusonic members have been working is the result of a 44-year natural regeneration process. Don Jorge and his wife, Beatriz, who consider this land part of their home, have been taking care of a forest in an area that historically has been used for cattle raising and agricultural activities. With the protection of four hectares of forest, they have favoured ecological connectivity, the conservation of water sources and the existence and transit of different species. Jorge has also been collecting weather data (precipitation and temperature) for about 15 years, as a way of making evident climate change. Jorge and his wife have been also working not only to promote environmental but also social changes among local communities near the land they protect. So, while allowing forest recovery, they have also promoted the development of economic activities that seek to generate less environmental impact, by reducing the use of pesticides in agriculture, or showing that crop diversification might actually help to soil recovery and the arrival of new animal species. Jorge and Beatriz want the all the knowledge Cucusonic collective is generating about species of frogs, birds and bats get to be transmitted to different audiences so that they also promote biodiversity protection.