Ear to the Earth Luca Forcucci

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Luca Forcucci

Crickets and Coy Fish in Shanghai
Luca Forcucci
August 2011

Auditory perception often reveals the environment in a subtle way. In Shanghai, the old coexists with the new and old sounds are sharing the soundscape with newer sounds. In Shanghai during the summer of 2011, the question I asked myself is: What is (was) the sonic identity of Shanghai? What is the sonic presence of nature in Shanghai?

I explored its urban sonic environment based on psychogeography. Distinct sounds appeared during my soundwalk and reminded me of a writing by Hildegard Westerkamp about Brasilia:

"The sounds that have kept my ears curious and exercised in Brasilia have been sounds from various crickets and cicadas, which cut right through the density of traffic noise even in the hotel sector. There seems to be an endless variety of rhythms and resonances in these sounds."

So as I explored the Shanghainese soundscape with the crickets idea in my mind, I heard the crickets, and sometimes with birds and coy fish, produce different sonic spectrums. The stridulation of the sound of the crickets contrasted, but also became a part of, the noise of Shanghai, and it seemed to articulate the relation of old nature and new urban environment.

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