HORT/CULTURE: Andrew Farnsworth + claire rousay
Soundscape ecology is the study of the acoustic relationships between living organisms and their environment. Researchers divide sound material into three registers: biophony (the sounds made by living creatures), geophony (the sounds of wind, water, and earth), and anthrophony (the sounds of human activity). For most of Earth's history, the first two dominated, but in our industrialized world, anthrophonic noise now defines most environments.
What are we even hearing when we really listen to the world around us and what sounds have we consigned to the rapacious pursuit of human progress? Join us for an evening dedicated to the art of deep listening with ornithologist Andrew Farnsworth and experimental musician claire rousay. A field-recording-vinyl-only DJ set will follow, by our dear friend, the gentlest of giants, who will continue to remain unnamed.
Andrew Farnsworth is a visiting scientist at the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He has studied migration using many methods including weather surveillance radar, thermal imagers, and acoustic monitoring. He and his collaborators use science to educate and engage audiences and to promote conservation, notably regarding reducing light pollution's impacts on nocturnally migrating birds. Claire rousay is a Canadian-American musician, composer, and artist currently based in Los Angeles. She is known for her emotive, delicate compositions that employ musique concrète techniques and detailed sound design alongside strings, piano, and experimental electronics.
HORT/CULTURE is brought to you by Nonhuman Teachers, a nonprofit organization that takes a new approach to ecological storytelling, blending science, art, and the imagination to help deepen the relationship between humans and the natural world.
Make A Night of It
Start with dinner at Corner Bar then head upstairs for the program — or join us for a nightcap in the Swan Room after the performance.
