The Origin of Language

May 25th 2023
Photo
Region
Eastern Switzerland
Formats
Field research
Archive of the future
Essay
Disciplines
Acoustic Ecology
Deep listening practices
Themes
More-than-humans
Listening as activism

The extraordinary cows

They stand there at the edge of the meadow eating grass, drinking water. They are simply there, fitting right into the picture, in this meadow, next to the trees and bushes. They seem to come from another time. From a past time. Thoughts, feelings, stories, experiences, merge. It is a quite landscape that shares an original and pure atmosphere.
 
Crickets chirping in unison in the meadow down the valley. Up the valley, a few meters further away other crickets are chirping. On this side of the meadow, they sound lower and chirp more at intervals, this creates pauses and phrases.
Insects buzzing over the meadow, their high-pitched, soft but still quite sharp sounds highlight the whole acoustic event.
The blossoming apple trees, the lush meadows with the yellow-white flowers in them, the chirping of the crickets, the tinkling of the bells, the chirping of the birds and the smell of earth, the meadow, create a stylish atmosphere. Time and space have shifted.
Far below, where there are scattered trees and bushes, there is a cow peacefully eating grass. The sound of its bell increases or decreases in volume or stops alltogether, depending on its movements. Not far from it stands a second cow. It stops eating and looks into the picture. Then the first cow also looks into the picture. Both cows stand there for a long time without moving. Time stands still for a moment.
Rays of sunlight penetrating the clouds touch the cows and also the surroundings. A fantastic light!
The big cows in all their glory, their majestic, graceful bodies, their bony flanks, their shiny coats, grey-brown and beige-brown, stand there as if they were painted. The shading on their fur, created by the light, gives them even more intensity. The uniform, long, narrow heads with the forward-pointing ears, the light-rimmed nose, their clear, directed gaze, the curved horns, which are rarely seen on cows anymore, complete the picture.

Sorting:
//
/
Music
Soundscape studies
Anthropocene
Field research
Field recording
Worldviews
Experimentation
Philosophy
More-than-humans
Interview
Social studies
Worldviews
Field research
Field recording
Listening as activism
Site-specific
Locative audio
More-than-humans
Field research
Social studies
Worldviews
Field research
Multispecies research
Listening as activism
Archive of the future
Spirituality
Cooperation
Transdisciplinary research
Ecology
More-than-humans