Recently I developed a soundtrack for a collaborative exhibition with Irene Cruz called Waldeinsamkeit, curated by Ana Sanfrutos of Circular Culture. Waldeinsamkeit is a German word that roughly translates as “the feeling of being alone in the woods”. Not in a negative sense but by taking pleasure in being immersed in nature and its power. As part of the exhibition Irene Cruz present a series of photographs and a number of videos exploring this theme. For the videos I created a number of soundscapes and as part of the installation I created an immersive soundscape. Presented in surround sound it attempts on some small level to create a synesthetic experience while viewing these images and videos.
For me this was a great opportunity to explore some of my favourite themes surrounding deep listening, acoustic ecology, and the scenic beauty of nature. Everyone has experienced the stillness and calm of being deep in a forest, and also the imagery such experiences and thoughts can conjure from mythology. You can feel quite small when surrounded my such dense foliage and a multitude of creatures small (and possibly large).
Like most situations when you pause, close your eyes, and take a moment to let you ears wander and probe your environment, layers of unnoticed sounds start to unfold. The forest is particularly rewarding in this sense with both the geophony and biophony revealing itself as you dive through the surface and on to your horizon of hearing. Some sounds you will recognise, others will take some time to reveal their origin, some will always remain a mystery. Like the wind in the trees or the rolling sound of waves, this soundscape is forever unfolding, forever engaging, forever rewarding.
The exhibition was already presented in Berlin, and will be on show in Madrid during summer 2015.
Here you can listen to a stereo version of the audio from the installation
Alan Gleeson 