Anthology for Listening Vol. I. EXPANDED LISTENING

EXPANDED LISTENING

By NANA FRANCISCA SCHOTTLÄNDER

 

 

I will try to write of resonance

                 as it is a compass by which I navigate the world

         a language by which I understand it

 

 

                        resonance shapes my being                 as an ever-malleable configuration

of reactive sense-and-respond mechanisms

 

 

resonance becomes flesh, language, movement, expression and sound

to resonate back into the world and its beings

woven together in vibrant, vibrating webs

humming and shifting with each other’s chords

seamlessly connected

 

 

how to enter still deeper into this

connective

resonant

fibre

?

 

 

 

 

EXPANDED LISTENING

an evolving and expanding everyday (art/activistic) practice on the go

a potential portal into other states (of being in/with the world)

a malleable set of scores for performative listening

 

 

 

 

put your body

 

in an unusual position

within the space/place where you are

close your eyes and listen to the world from this position

what does the position of your body within the space

and what you hear from here

tell you about the place?

and of you?

listen for surprises

 

if people ask what you are doing

invite them to join you

 

 

 

 

take a walk

 

listen to the sounds of your steps mixing with the sounds of the world

tell yourself about the sounds along the way

describe them with as many adjectives, nuances and details as possible

and describe their interrelation

write some of it down while you are still on the walk

 

read it back to yourself (and maybe to others)

the next day

 

 

 

 

set an alarm for 7 or 10 or 15 or 30 or 99 minutes

 

close your eyes

what you hear until the alarm goes off is a unique concert

composed and performed just for you by the participants

who have rehearsed for this exact occasion for aeons

 

when the concert is finished, make sure to show your

appreciation in an appropriate manner

 

 

 

 

when on the bus

 

while vacuum cleaning

drilling

running the washing machine

passing a construction site

find the chords or drone within the sound

experiment with letting your voice resonate with it

let your voice merge with the sound and blend in

let it grow big and the resonance fill your entire body

shift the tone ever so slightly

let the ripple of the dissonance massage your ears

your brain

and travel onwards through your system

 

enjoy

 

 

 

 

find an object

 

it can be anything

 

hold it gently

touch it loving to establish an intimate connection

close your eyes, and receive the resonance of the object in your body

how does it resonate

what does the resonance translate into?

 

image

sound

movement

something else

 

does this shift your perception of the object?

 

 

 

 

ask the object

 

who/what it is

and receive the answer as it comes

 

ask the object who/what you are

and receive the answer as it comes

 

(the mass-produced cup I’m holding says: OOOOOOOOO I am the one

Stuck in this shape, and you are the one who can break it to release me…)

 

Do what the dialogue asks of you