CIISA- VICTORIA PARK

DISCLAIMER : With each recording I took I asked the land before I pressed play and I gave gratitude and said thank you after I need the recordings. I also took a few minuets with the landscape before I started recordings to acclimatise myself with the space and see what I could hear sonically to try to understand the space. With each area I left offerings of flowers that I had picked earlier those days to give something back to the land that allowed me to record it.

The soil type here is both chalky and clay based.

I took these recordings in Victoria Park on the 6th of April. The conditions of the soil wasn’t the best as the ground was very hard in a lot of the areas due to the recent weather conditions, so I had to go to the enclosed areas in order to be able to actually stick the geofon into the ground. I found through taking these recordings that I could hear more soil activity when I would put the geofon in areas that the sun was shining, also due to the fact that my pervious recordings of Eridge were taken in spaces where the was no human activity, it was interesting to hear how impactful walking and talking was to the soil. I was able to hear people voices muffled through the ground, vibrations of their footsteps and more. These recordings have me a lot more information than the ones at Eridge meaning that the soil quality was significantly healthier at Victoria park. The places in which I took these recordings varied from walkways that have over time frequently been used by humans, tame areas which were the pathways and places along the grassy areas which people sit and which had clearly been mowed. The areas that I found most interesting were the enclosed ones where the gardeners and rangers wouldn’t pay as much attention too. It was interesting to listen to the difference of untouched soil verses soil beds near recently planted trees and flowers. I found that the untouched harder ground had far less activity compared to the recent gardened one.

I chose to take these recordings at Victoria Park because the leader of the community gardens I volunteer at in Brockley also frequently works at Victoria park and is very familiar with the soil there, so he is able to give me and insight into how they garden here what types of plants they usually plant etc. I thought that this would give me a more intimate relationship with the soil there so I can understand it better and therefore understand the soil activity and his experience of the insects worms etc he encounters when he gardens there.

These are the recordings I took in the shrubbery enclosed areas. The ground here was very hard and it as close to the path where lost of people were constantly walking through so you can hear a lot of human activity.

I also took a field recording to give a comparison to what it sounds like above and below ground.

These recordings were taken in another enclosed area that had a lot of sun, there was also a lot of healthy grass in this area which ended up meaning. that the sun quality was also healthier than other parts of the park

In each area that I have selected to take these recordings in I wanted to have a personal relationship to the soil. I didn’t want to just take the recordings and that was it. It is something that in my work I feel as if I need to have in order the be able to actually record in these specific areas. I think that this is due to my ethical issues with taking recordings and my personal relationship with the land and ultimately mother Gaia. For example, Eridge Park is where my family live and where I ultimately where I will be buried in and return to the land as a tree through a tree pod burial. Dorset is where I have spent the majority so far of my life. Growing up having a very personal relationship with the landscape, through playing in the fields all day to making mud pies, gardening with my mother and running barefoot in the beautiful area of natural beauty that Dorset is. My relationship with Victoria Park come from my love of the space, it is my little slice of heaven in a city that is so overloaded with towers, buildings and concrete. A sanctuary that I frequently visit when I am seeking my connection with Gaia.

I took this recording in much harder soil where a lot of people were sitting. This soil didn’t have much activity which is apparent int he recording.

I took this recording by the lake which is situated in the middle of the park. I wanted to see if I could hear the water flowing in the ground, unfortunately this wasn’t audible

I also took a field rearing of the lake. Within this recording a dog came right up to the mics on the H5 zoom which made for a quite interesting sound.

Here is a combination of all of the soil recordings together.

Here is a combination of the soil recordings and the field recordings to give you a full soundscape of the land.