ruby crowned kinglet
photo by adam brandemihl, yellow bellied flycatcher
Realign with Nature
through Sound + Ritual
Highly dense city environments, such as Brooklyn, are filled with noise pollution, from jet streams to car horns to construction sites. Naturally we become desensitized to sounds, each person must tune out these sounds as they go about their daily lives as best as they can, to function in society that demands productivity and efficiency. But we become isolated in this process of tuning out, we start to dissociate from our environment, and eventually disconnect from each other and ourselves. We forget how to listen and we forget how to be in relationship with the land, as well as forgetting our inherent sacredness through that land-creature relationship.
How can we reconnect to our earth and ourselves?
Through sound and deep listening. The seasonal sounds of natural world, from the dawn chorus of starlings to the crisp rustling leaves in the autumnal air to the echoes of spring peepers in the deep woods of the Catskills, are all powerful portals that reconnect us to the land. They remind of us of our own inner wildness and the beauty of being a creature of this world. In this way we each are sacred, from the wild geese that calls across the lake to the men arguing on the street corner outside the deli.
The Sacred Seasons project is this process of remembrance and reconnection. Through a series of three live solo performances taking place on the summer solstice, fall equinox, and winter solstice, participants will be guided in a deep listening and interactive ritual experience that weaves environmental field recordings, sound art, electronics, percussion, singing, and spoken word with ritual to explore nature's seasonal rhythms and remember ourselves as sacred interconnected beings of this earth.
The field recordings incorporated in this project were gathered throughout the Catskills and Adirondacks and evoke the elemental energies of summer, fall, and winter through recording natural ambient sounds, such as animals, insects, wind through the pines, waterways, and other natural occurrences. Through these field recordings and guided listening, this project essentially brings natural environments to participants in the city and helps participants cultivate greater connection to the environment through sonic awareness.