Anthro.Noise
More Than Sense was initially launched to chart and explore what visual ecologists call ‘anthropogenic noise’ and how it impacts multi-species habitats. Anthropogenic noise refers to all human made forms of pollution that impacts other living species, from birds to insects or whales, that we cannot detect due to our limited sensory perception.
The scientific term Anthropogenic (Human) Noise (interference in the sensory systems of other species) , that we refer to as Anthro.Noise, was developed by ecological scientists in relation to sound, light & chemical toxins. Anthro.noise can therefore be used to describe a wide-array of impacts on more than human species that whilst imperceptible to humans, can be detected through technological sensing, the sensitivity of optical cameras to different wave forms of light, or field microphones, able to detect infrasonic or acoustic interference well beyond our own hearing or sight.
For example, in terms of visual.noise, blinding spectrums of human made artificial light (Artificial Light at Night is called ALAN) floods into the eyes and sensory organs of many living species that share our nocturnal urban habitats. And audio noise in sub aquatic environments includes infrasonic sounds (inaudible to human) emitted from drilling or shipping that interferes in the delicate hearing of marine species that live in the oceanic deep. We all know that humans are polluting in many ways, however, we think science working alone faces too many social and cultural challenges in changing the behaviour of humans.
Our own research (fieldwork, reading, making) focuses mainly on visual.noise, a form of pollution that is also framed by a temporal rather than a spatial interest in habitats or ecology. We are foremost interested in what was referred to by researchers as the ‘anthropause’, highlighted vividly for so many during the Covid pandemic. During this period, the grounding of flights, lack of traffic, or activity of noisy humans, created a space for other species to emerge in many environments. Post-pandemic, this pause becomes more temporal than spatial, it is a time, the night, where the nocturnal life worlds of other species are forced to find a sanctuary of peace (anthropause), whilst humans sleep.
The sensory artistic research we will feature here focuses on our own research into the sites, areas, and times where our work with light both as an artistic material, and as artificial immaterial presence, gives us a visual and temporal insight into the visual.noise reshaping other life worlds.
For more on this, please follow the link to Visual.Noise in the menu.
Our framework for exploring the life worlds of other living species is rich territory in academic world and beyond. From the invaluable work of indigenous scholars and elders, through to ecological scientists, a critical conversation that is International in scope has emerged that speaks to the human imagination and its potential to attune through our human imaginary with changing ecologies. This work is seasonal, sensory and immersed in an understanding from those living closer to nature, paying attention to new and emerging scientific insights, challenging existing, social, cultural and political frameworks.
Tiny Ghosts Collection (Biodiversity Series) – The World Biodiversity Forum, Davos 2024. Please contact us if you wish to use any images or have further interests.