Sound of the Underground

Container Series

Opening Activation:
Wednesday 19th Feb: 8.30pm-9.30pm
 

Soil life eludes our sensory capacity within the modern world, and therefore our current processes and relationships with soil are to treat it like 'dirt': a dead, dark, and quiet place. This is not how our relationship with soil has always been. A quarter of all species are found in soils, including bacteria, fungi, nematodes, mites, and earthworms. In one teaspoon of soil, we can find more microorganisms than humans on earth—forming a complex, interconnected, and interdependent web that stretches across our land. As a consequence of this diversity of life, information exchange within soil is all-pervading. As anthropogenic (human) noise traverses the biophilic sound of soil webs, these two worlds are more reliant on each other than they may have seemed.

Sound of the Underground is a multilayered experience revealing the unheard and unseen world of soil beings. By recording the sound of soil organisms at Waitangi Park, the work shares sonic frequencies far beyond the human hearing range. Combining soil ecoacoustics (a scientific method of measuring soil biodiversity through sound) and generative evolving visual systems—the intricate and interconnected world beneath our feet is revealed. The immersive installation sets out to inspire a moment to reflect on our relationships with soil.

Step into a world of vibrational communications below ground, where the complexities and interconnections of soil have been unearthed through a collaboration between soil and human, highlighting the indivisible link between oneone ora and tāngata ora.