about biosphere soundscapes
The global ecological crisis has become a catalyst for interdisciplinary collaborations at a time when a shift in thinking is urgently required. World leaders are now looking towards the validity and possibilities of creative methodologies as tools for change. This presents both a challenge and an unprecedented opportunity for creative practitioners to gain a critical understanding of the situation, and devise new processes for a sustainable future. There is an urgent need to listen to the state of our environment and facilitate a sense of interconnection within communities globally. ‘Sound’ as a catalyst and creative medium is undoubtedly one of the most powerful means to stimulate this shift in consciousness.
Biosphere Soundscapes (Bioscapes) is a large-scale interdisciplinary project underpinned by the creative possibilities of soundscape ecology. This project is a key outcome from Australian composer Leah Barclay’s practice-led doctoral research that involved conceiving and delivering a series of original compositions for dissemination in multi-platform environments. The divergent projects were created in cultural immersion, spanning from ambitious sonic explorations in the center of the Amazon Jungle to sounding the rivers of the world through India, Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand. The delivery and dissemination of each project was underpinned by a rich methodology that pivots on a site-specific project embedded in community cultural engagement. The discoveries and observations from each individual project showed a clear trajectory towards a definitive set of tools to initiate cultural change through environmental electroacoustic music. As a result, the Sonic Ecologies Framework was developed as a means to create an accessible methodology for composers’ interested in implementing similar projects.
The Sonic Ecologies Framework pivots on a site-specific soundscape project embedded in a multi-layered community cultural engagement process developed in response to a specific community. The site specificity requires that this methodology be intrinsically flexible in order to be adaptable within a diversity of environments and communities. It is in essence a practice-led creative research process, taking an ecological approach to contextualising a project within an environment. While there is an essential degree of freedom and adaptability, the process is grounded within the theoretical contexts generated by the artists who experiment and innovate within a continual spiraling between theory and practice.
The Biosphere Soundscapes project, currently in its first phase of research and investigation, illustrates the design of a major international project highlighting the future possibilities of the Sonic Ecologies Framework. Biosphere Soundscapes pivots on a network of site-specific creative projects embedded in multi-layered community engagement processes within global Biosphere Reserves. This evolving process is implemented by sound artists, acting as agents of change spiraling between contextualised theory and practice. The content generated is embedded in a virtual network of global Biosphere Reserves via google earth technology and shared though the Bioscapes community on this website. The process and creative outcomes are delivered by a core team of artists and advisors who are ultimately acting as catalysts for a global participatory environmental project accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
Composed of 610 sites in 117 countries, Biosphere Reserves are sites recognised under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science [1]. As places that seek to reunite the conservation of biological and cultural diversity and nurture the relationship between people and nature, they are ideal to test and demonstrate innovative approaches to sustainability. Biosphere Reserves also represent a fascinating tool for international collaborations through sharing knowledge, exchanging experiences and building capacity for interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships. This will be the first major international project connecting the soundscapes of global Biosphere Reserves.
The methodological grounding for Biosphere Soundscapes revolves around the creative possibilities of Soundscape Ecology, a rapidly evolving field of biology where scientists record a given habitat and listen for patterns and changes to form an analysis of the health of the environment. The process of working with each Biosphere will modify depending on the collaborating artists and accessibility of the local community, but in any case it will be grounded in the Sonic Ecologies Framework. In some instances the process will involve sound labs, artist residencies and extensive community engagement, while in other cases the key community stakeholders of the Biosphere Reserve can generate content independently and engage via the website.
The virtual platform, developed in collaboration with cultural development agency Feral Arts, will be built with three key systems in mind. The first is the Bioscapes Residencies, the core activity in implementing this global project. All of the sound, text and imagery from the Bioscapes Residencies will be geo-located in the interactive Biosphere map and also available through a timeline feature to trace the history of the project and compare the soundscapes. The second system is the Bioscapes Lab, which is a more specific structure with research questions revolving around an environmental issue within the proposed Biosphere Reserve. The final system is the Bioscapes Community, an accessible platform for anyone to generate content, download educational resources and engage in the global possibilities of the project.
The first two systems are curated platforms, while the accessibility of the Bioscapes Community provides real-time interaction and engagement for anyone with internet access. The three systems combine in the Biosphere Soundscapes map, which is a constantly evolving interface that will call attention to our changing sonic environments. The digital platforms will ultimately enable Biosphere networked performance, live streaming tools and the ability to mix soundscapes in real time, allowing the Bioscapes Community access to a world beyond what they see. This will also provide access to soundscapes currently at risk, allowing virtual collaborators infinite possibilities to explore the sounds of central Australia, the Amazon Jungle or Kenya’s Mount Elgon all within an accessible interface.
The first stage of delivering this project is focused on two Australian Biospheres; the Noosa Biosphere and the Great Sandy Biosphere, both situated in Queensland. The first research lab for Biosphere Soundscapes launches on World Listening Day 2012 (July 18) with an interactive field recording lab in the Noosa Everglades and a forum of international sound artists participating in the project.
This project, although still in the early stages of creative development, highlights the potential role composers and sound artists could play in ecological crisis. Biosphere Soundscapes is designed to inspire communities across the world to listen to the environment and re-imagine the potential of Biospheres as learning laboratories for a sustainable future. This project combines art, science, technology and community to give Biosphere Reserves across the world a voice and a global audience to listen.
REFERENCES
[1] Biosphere Reserves – Learning Sites for Sustainable Development:
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/
Biosphere Soundscapes (Bioscapes) is a large-scale interdisciplinary project underpinned by the creative possibilities of soundscape ecology. This project is a key outcome from Australian composer Leah Barclay’s practice-led doctoral research that involved conceiving and delivering a series of original compositions for dissemination in multi-platform environments. The divergent projects were created in cultural immersion, spanning from ambitious sonic explorations in the center of the Amazon Jungle to sounding the rivers of the world through India, Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand. The delivery and dissemination of each project was underpinned by a rich methodology that pivots on a site-specific project embedded in community cultural engagement. The discoveries and observations from each individual project showed a clear trajectory towards a definitive set of tools to initiate cultural change through environmental electroacoustic music. As a result, the Sonic Ecologies Framework was developed as a means to create an accessible methodology for composers’ interested in implementing similar projects.
The Sonic Ecologies Framework pivots on a site-specific soundscape project embedded in a multi-layered community cultural engagement process developed in response to a specific community. The site specificity requires that this methodology be intrinsically flexible in order to be adaptable within a diversity of environments and communities. It is in essence a practice-led creative research process, taking an ecological approach to contextualising a project within an environment. While there is an essential degree of freedom and adaptability, the process is grounded within the theoretical contexts generated by the artists who experiment and innovate within a continual spiraling between theory and practice.
The Biosphere Soundscapes project, currently in its first phase of research and investigation, illustrates the design of a major international project highlighting the future possibilities of the Sonic Ecologies Framework. Biosphere Soundscapes pivots on a network of site-specific creative projects embedded in multi-layered community engagement processes within global Biosphere Reserves. This evolving process is implemented by sound artists, acting as agents of change spiraling between contextualised theory and practice. The content generated is embedded in a virtual network of global Biosphere Reserves via google earth technology and shared though the Bioscapes community on this website. The process and creative outcomes are delivered by a core team of artists and advisors who are ultimately acting as catalysts for a global participatory environmental project accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
Composed of 610 sites in 117 countries, Biosphere Reserves are sites recognised under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science [1]. As places that seek to reunite the conservation of biological and cultural diversity and nurture the relationship between people and nature, they are ideal to test and demonstrate innovative approaches to sustainability. Biosphere Reserves also represent a fascinating tool for international collaborations through sharing knowledge, exchanging experiences and building capacity for interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships. This will be the first major international project connecting the soundscapes of global Biosphere Reserves.
The methodological grounding for Biosphere Soundscapes revolves around the creative possibilities of Soundscape Ecology, a rapidly evolving field of biology where scientists record a given habitat and listen for patterns and changes to form an analysis of the health of the environment. The process of working with each Biosphere will modify depending on the collaborating artists and accessibility of the local community, but in any case it will be grounded in the Sonic Ecologies Framework. In some instances the process will involve sound labs, artist residencies and extensive community engagement, while in other cases the key community stakeholders of the Biosphere Reserve can generate content independently and engage via the website.
The virtual platform, developed in collaboration with cultural development agency Feral Arts, will be built with three key systems in mind. The first is the Bioscapes Residencies, the core activity in implementing this global project. All of the sound, text and imagery from the Bioscapes Residencies will be geo-located in the interactive Biosphere map and also available through a timeline feature to trace the history of the project and compare the soundscapes. The second system is the Bioscapes Lab, which is a more specific structure with research questions revolving around an environmental issue within the proposed Biosphere Reserve. The final system is the Bioscapes Community, an accessible platform for anyone to generate content, download educational resources and engage in the global possibilities of the project.
The first two systems are curated platforms, while the accessibility of the Bioscapes Community provides real-time interaction and engagement for anyone with internet access. The three systems combine in the Biosphere Soundscapes map, which is a constantly evolving interface that will call attention to our changing sonic environments. The digital platforms will ultimately enable Biosphere networked performance, live streaming tools and the ability to mix soundscapes in real time, allowing the Bioscapes Community access to a world beyond what they see. This will also provide access to soundscapes currently at risk, allowing virtual collaborators infinite possibilities to explore the sounds of central Australia, the Amazon Jungle or Kenya’s Mount Elgon all within an accessible interface.
The first stage of delivering this project is focused on two Australian Biospheres; the Noosa Biosphere and the Great Sandy Biosphere, both situated in Queensland. The first research lab for Biosphere Soundscapes launches on World Listening Day 2012 (July 18) with an interactive field recording lab in the Noosa Everglades and a forum of international sound artists participating in the project.
This project, although still in the early stages of creative development, highlights the potential role composers and sound artists could play in ecological crisis. Biosphere Soundscapes is designed to inspire communities across the world to listen to the environment and re-imagine the potential of Biospheres as learning laboratories for a sustainable future. This project combines art, science, technology and community to give Biosphere Reserves across the world a voice and a global audience to listen.
REFERENCES
[1] Biosphere Reserves – Learning Sites for Sustainable Development:
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/
