To listen to the complex polyrhythms of a rainforest can be overwhelming and liberating at the same time. Liberating in the sense of letting go of the expectation of a specific flow of sounds, as we know it from musical compositions and the desire of cognition and familiarity, which comes with it. To listen to unfamiliar rhythms and frequencies creates shifts in our sense of hearing and the sense of ourselves.

Sharing our process of listening to non-human sonic environments and its unfolding of narratives, which remain to large extends unexplainable and unreachable to us is starting point of the conceptual framework points of listening.

Tracing back the history of sound and listening with primary forests as one of the first sonic references of human beings, helps to comprehend that the disappearance of primeval forests means not only the loss of precious ecology, but with the quieting of its sounds, humans gradually loose one of their oldest collective memory.

Points of listening in this context is a contemplation on the fact that the crises or our time is not only environmental, but also perceptual. We are questioning why we decide to listen to something and try to understand what we are not listening to and why we are not doing it. We are bringing into our awareness that the dynamics of listening rooted in each individual, evolves from a personal, intimate matter into a social, ethical and political one.

 

 

With this work the artistic team brings together the biophonies of various natural landscapes, pointing at their cultural relevance in times of climate collapse and loss of biodiversity all around the world. They invite their audience to a deep listening, of calls and vocalizations, rituals and conversations among the non-humans inhabitants of familiar and unfamiliar forests. Through dance they offer their personal memories and connection to these endangered poly- rhythms, allowing their audience to become aware of their own personal connection to and memories of the forest.

– Michela Filzi, published in STREAM Live Art Writing, June 2023

Points of listening has been formed by Katia Engel, Polett Kasza, Faozan Rizal and Ari Ersandi. The artists based in Germany, Slowenia and Indonesia explore as a group with their collaborators, how shifting sound environments continuously transform the human body from pre-history until the present time. The core of the artistic process lies in the exploration of body memory and sound, manifested as performance, film and sonic installations.

Ari Ersandi is a choreographer based in Lampung on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Faozan Rizal is a film director and cinematographer based in Berlin and Yogyakarta on the island of Java, Indonesia.

Polett Kasza is a choreographer and dancer based in Berlin and Ljubljana, Slowenia.

Katia Engel is a choreographer and sound artist based in Berlin and Yogyakarta on the island of Java, Indonesia.