By the stream [ 63° 53’ 54.9” N  19° 9’ 56.13” W ]

“The CHANS (Coupled Human and Natural Systems) approach builds on a long tradition of scholarship on human–nature interactions, (…). What distinguishes the CHANS approach is an explicit acknowledgement that human and natural systems are coupled via reciprocal interactions, understood as flows (e.g., of material, energy, and information). Of particular interest in studying these interactions is the understanding of feedbacks, surprises, nonlinearities, thresholds, time lags, legacy effects, path dependence and emergence (Liu et al. 2007a) across multiple spatial, temporal and organizational scales.(…)”  

In: Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS): Approach, Challenges, and Strategies by Marina Alberti, Heidi Asbjornsen, Durham Lawrence A. Baker, Nicholas Brozović, Laurie E. Drinkwater.

The project By the stream [63° 53’ 54.9” N  19° 9’ 56.13” W] is a reflection on the concept of coupled human and natural systems, and a wondering about the course of CHANS events within the local interactions. 

It is based on field recordings captured at a mountain streaming the area of Landmannalaugar, Iceland. In this land, the processes and cycles of nature deeply impact the lives of its residents. By adapting their activities and work to the changes in the environment, they stay in tune with nature. 

Sounds from the stream were captured in the late Springtime when the water flow intensifies as the snow cover begins to melt. Thinking of water not merely as a substance but as energy, a still largely unexplored compound whose circulation and melting patterns are altered by human-initiated processes, I search for sonic traces that could refer to such local interdependencies. 

Using tools and filters specifically designed to clean recordings from unwanted sounds, whether directly or indirectly generated by human activities, I aim to identify potential interactions. This involves identifying speech characteristics or mains hum harmonics — energy waves and information networks planted in the landscape.

The installation is a sonic exploration of possible local feedback loops and interplays between nature- and human-related flows. It is a structure where individual sound traces, once revealed, embark on a journey from one side of the stream to the other, occasionally provoking a central flow.

set:
2023 – diskurs Berlin – as a part of  Your Tails on Your Heads group exhibition curated by Hara Shin

photo:
Miłosz Szczęsny