Device For Listening To Snow Falling
Welcome to Device for Listening to Snow Falling, an experiment in deep winter listening. You’re invited to use wearable and free-standing devices to peer with your ears into the soundscapes of this island at the confluence of the Bow & Elbow Rivers.
Today’s event will work in 15 minute intervals of sound and silence. Every 15 minutes, you’ll hear a bell ring. We’ll alternate between periods of noise (where you are welcome to chat with your neighbour and hang out) and intervals where we ask you to quiet yourself in preparation for deeper collective listening. Our New Works staff will keep the time. You are welcome to drop in and out during the event, and wander around the island at your leisure.
There are 3 stations to explore: a bonfire station at the top of the rise, a sky station at the bottom of the rise, and a river station closer to the Bow River. We will position a number of wearable listening devices between these stations. You are welcome to walk, carefully, while using these devices, but we ask that you do not wear devices while climbing up or down the rise – for your own safety.
Whether it’s snowing today or not, this place is rich with winter sounds. As you listen, notice how the soft landscape muffles certain sounds and how the cold air carries others. Try to peel back layers of noise, from the most obvious, to the most subtle. Which sounds are made by people, near and far? Which are made by bodies of water and movements of air? More faintly, can you hear any animal sounds? Or plants in motion? Which layers of this soundscape are alive and which are in torpor, conserving energy for the Spring? Take the time to perceive the layer that is you – your own body, breath, and winterwear, amplified back at you. If we’re lucky and it’s snowing, prick your ears and listen carefully to the gentle sound of snowflakes falling against the surface of your listening device. Perhaps on an acute level each sound is unique, as common and extraordinary as the snowflakes themselves.
Device for Listening to Snow Falling was conceived by Calgary/Mohkinstsis based artists Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett and commissioned by New Works Calgary. Many thanks to Rebecca Bruton, Po Yeh, Christina Milinusic, Elyse Bouvier, the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, our collaborators from Empire of Dirt, Phil & Sebastian Coffee, Sidewalk Citizen, and our wonderful volunteers. This project is located on Treaty 7 Territory, home to the Blackfoot Confederacy, The Tsuut’ina, the Stoney Nakota, and the Metis of Alberta, Region III. Our gratitude to the sky above and the land beneath.
Support Local Business! Stop by Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters or Sidewalk Citizen Bakery in the Simmons building on Sunday, for 10% off a drink or a treat. Simply mention New Works Calgary or Device for Listening to Snow Falling to receive the discount at checkout.
