A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Deep listening the animal other: trash-foraging gulls at Ämmässuo waste treatment centre
Authors: Tanja Tiekso, Karoliina Lummaa
Publisher: TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Publication year: 2022
Journal: Sound Studies
Journal name in source: SOUND STUDIES
Journal acronym: SOUND STUD
Volume: 8
Issue: 2
First page : 235
Last page: 251
Number of pages: 17
ISSN: 2055-1940
eISSN: 2055-1959
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20551940.2022.2062564
Web address : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20551940.2022.2062564
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://taju.uniarts.fi/handle/10024/7757
Abstract
For centuries, seeing has dominated other senses in Western thought. To a certain extent, this has also been the case in animal philosophy. In this article, animal otherness is examined through listening. We explore otherness in animals that share urban environments and utilise material surplus discarded by humans: gulls. Our fieldwork takes place at ammassuo, a waste treatment centre located in Espoo, Southern Finland. The method of listening is Deep Listening, a composer's sound practice developed by American composer Pauline Oliveros. In Deep Listening, listeners are connected with their environment and all its inhabitants through listening. What is heard is always changed by listening, and in turn, listening changes the listener. The article utilises the concept of sonosphere also created by Oliveros, as well as the concept of atmosphere as it has been described by Andrew Whitehouse. It proposes a method of listening-with gulls which acknowledges the diverse differences and similarities between species while also taking into account the agencies of infrastructures and machines affecting both human and nonhuman lives.
For centuries, seeing has dominated other senses in Western thought. To a certain extent, this has also been the case in animal philosophy. In this article, animal otherness is examined through listening. We explore otherness in animals that share urban environments and utilise material surplus discarded by humans: gulls. Our fieldwork takes place at ammassuo, a waste treatment centre located in Espoo, Southern Finland. The method of listening is Deep Listening, a composer's sound practice developed by American composer Pauline Oliveros. In Deep Listening, listeners are connected with their environment and all its inhabitants through listening. What is heard is always changed by listening, and in turn, listening changes the listener. The article utilises the concept of sonosphere also created by Oliveros, as well as the concept of atmosphere as it has been described by Andrew Whitehouse. It proposes a method of listening-with gulls which acknowledges the diverse differences and similarities between species while also taking into account the agencies of infrastructures and machines affecting both human and nonhuman lives.
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