Field recording by Mendel Kaelen
Our sensory receptors are experts at filtering. Without realising it we sift the aural landscape around us for that which seems most relevant to us. We are adept at focusing on the conversation of the person in front of us rather than the hubbub of all others in the room. We zone out from background music, laughter outside our windows, the hum of traffic, and often we succeed in entering a space of consciousness occupied by just ourself and the object of our attention alone. But what if we suspended that act of filtering for a moment and listened to the full diversity of sound we are enveloped in? What surprises might we find? How might the sounds caught in the net of our subconscious be affecting us in ways both good and bad? What might we learn in listening to ALL we can hear and how might this change the river flow of our attention?
This recording captures a myriad of conversations in the forest. In the foreground, the insistent call of a bird. In the middle distance the sporadic call and response of its feathered neighbours. Constant and subtle and all around the song of insects. Enquiry. Announcement. Dialogue. As you listen what layers can you discover beyond the principal soloist? How far and wide can your listening reach?
Can you step out of the room of immediate attention and into the wide open horizons of the forest sea of sound?
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