Decomposing Landscape

The concept of landscape has been dominated by certain discourses, and when it comes to sound, what we call landscape,  transcends the visual realm but also gets exposed to a perspective that is not necessarily only apart of what we see, but also present in a dialogue, connected to it. This invites to a critical dimension of sound in which processes such as field recording, composition, and listening, act as deconstructive devices in which reality can be refunded, proposed in new ways and experiences that take place in a cross-modal sensory contract, where visual, sonic and conceptual realms can be intertwined.

The emergence of such meeting approaches the aesthetic procedures to reflect different contexts and situations happening in the environment, such as the way in which we tend to dominate an experience, a territory or just a conception of certain process. Such disturbances of our presence in the whole ecosystem, creates a so called Anthropocene, as Indian sound artist and scholar Budhaditya Chattopadhyay explores, arguing that in the mentioned environmental issues, “climatic integrity of natural, pastoral landscapes in emerging economies like India is endangered”.

“Contemporary India is going through intensifying process of land development to facilitate rapid urbanisation. As a result of this speedy development, many of the greener pastures in the rural hinterlands of Indian subcontinent are developing into post-industrial zones deeply affecting the corporal as well as socio-cultural climate. Consequently, these areas are decaying as sylvan landscapes to become homogenized sites making the transitions complex to grasp on the background of their traditionally rich culture and history.”

That’s how Decomposing Landscape arises, as a media art project which aims to create awareness towards these circumstances, aiming to facilitate in-depth and contemplative observation of such transitive landscapes.

“With a media anthropological approach, the project frames the slow decay of these sites with the help of digital convergence, staging augmented environments for site-specific interpenetration between sound, video and still images. Diffusing the sonic elements in the spatial practice of multi-channel moving image projection the final outcome of the project includes an Ambisonics sound composition and a multi-channel sound/video installation. The works have been developed through a meticulous collection of materials from various locations at India in extensive fieldworks (2009-2011) supported by Prince Claus Fund Amsterdam. This collection has been forming a digital archive to be used for realizing the work(s).  The project aims to delineate gradual transfiguration of the developing societies in the wider public, using digital technology to mediate engendered sites in contemporary art.”

More info at artist’s website