Hearing Humus is a workshop that allows participants to connect with soil using bioacoustics, meditation, and soil handling techniques taken from soil science.
The workshop will take place twice: on May 18, from 10am-12.30pm. If the workshop fills up, a secondary workshop will take place in the afternoon from 2 until 4.30.
Sophia Dacy-Cole is conducting Fine Arts research about connecting with soil. "I use a combination of field ecology techniques and historic live art techniques. I am interested in the qualitative effects communing has on participants. I am inviting participants to come to my property in Wamboin, to meet and touch the soil I am researching, and to listen to live amplification of soil and/or to view soil under a microscope in a curated workshop setting. I will record your experience with: photos of you participating, your handwritten or handdrawn notes from the session, and a short group audio interview (20-30 minutes) about your experience."
In Hearing Humus, you will experience:
- A tour of the site, and the soils on the site.
- a short body-based meditation experience (5-10 minutes) to prepare you for meeting the soil. This meditation will focus on breathing while paying attention to certain parts of your body, and to certain sounds in the landscape.
- A 20-minute experience of listening live to the soil onsite.
- A short exercise by yourself, in which you will identify a micro-ecosystem whose soil you are interested in, and use simple manual field ecology techniques (such as rolling into a ball) to identify the soil type present.
- A 10-30 minute recorded group discussion on the experience.
All aspects of the experience are adjustable to suit your needs and comfort. Upon arrival, we will talk through the experience together, and ensure you have what you need to remain comfortable. You can take a break at any point in the workshop.
Further information can be found here:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/172NaRJtN-539B7A49HssVZY8T1KEjaf_
This includes:
- Directions to the location (a 30 minutes drive from ANU.)
- The Participant Information Sheet.
- The consent forms I will be sharing on the day.
Sophia Dacy-Cole is a Higher Degree by Research Candidate, and the results from this workshop, including video and sound footage will be used to create artworks. The ethical aspects of this research have been approved by the ANU Human Research Ethics Committee (Protocol 2023/1179).