‘Dear Human’ is a multisensory audio guide that activates messages from non-human residents of this landscape: its prairie, pond, deer, trees, and others. Pair your smartphone with headphones for an immersive experience merging narration with the existing soundscape through site-specific prompts to listen, touch, and find your place within the local ecology.

Dear Human was written and produced by artist Christa Donner. Special thanks Kathy Dennis, Kristina Isabelle, and Sean Tomlins for lending their voices to the  prairie grasses, and to Tryon Farm Institute for supporting this project. Transcript follows: 

Dear Human, (3 voices, whispering)
Deear. Human. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. // You don’t have to do it alone. You can’t do it all by yourself. Nobody else is. We’re all part of this messy web of life together, and we help each other out. Don’t forget that, when things get hard. // You humans are clever animals, aren’t you? You made so many new things to depend on: machines made of precious metals and fabricated plastics. Does it make you feel more grounded? Does it make you feel calmer, to need those things so much? // The best technologies have been here all along, and the only upgrade you’ll ever need is to pay attention: the sun and moon tell us the date and time, stars and magnetic fields show us which way to go. // This one (cricket chirps) can always tell us what temperature it is, if you count the chirps the right way. I’m sure you can find out about that on one of your devices.  // Sway with me. Loosen up a little. Everything’s about to change again. (wind blows)Yess. Run your fingers through us. (sound of wind in grasses)If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s how to bend when the wind blows hard, and stay grounded. Our kind came in when the glaciers folded back. Later on, our ancestors were cleared and ground under for farmland, grazed by animals, mowed and sprayed. We’ve been through drought and through fire, digested the fallen bones of gentle foragers and great hunters. Each time, we grew back stronger and healthier than before. // It’s good to be among so many friends here – bluestem and switchgrass, horse mint and milkweed. We all contribute to this community in different ways. Together, our differences make us resilient. (voice 1) My fine roots sink into the earth, thirteen feet deep, an embrace strong enough to hold back flooding and erosion when the storms come.
(voice 2) I pull poisons from the soil without a sound, transforming their molecular structure into nutrients so we can all thrive. (voice 3) I’m a healer, soothing wounds and easing digestion. My leaves offer food and comfort. Like everyone here, I’m happy to share what I have … if you ask with respect and listen for the answer. // There are so many who depend on our talents, and of course we rely on them too: the insects, birds, humans, and other animals. There’s so much to learn from one another. Just remember: Take only what you need, and leave the rest to share. You’ll be all right.

Prairie

"Winter Walking" is an artistic performance related to a 4-month daily walking practice I embarked on while experiencing winter in Canada in 2022. The piece is a response to my attempt at multispecies listening, combining the sounds of snow, ice, footsteps, magpies, coyotes, and other beings and writers with whom I was in listening conversation. I first created "Winter Walking" as an 8-channel sound piece at the University of Alberta's Sound Studies Institute. The track here is a stereo (2-channel) version designed for participatory walking. Take a listen and walk along!

Winterwalking - Stereo

Janet Cardiff, The Forty Part Motet

On a family road trip traveling South, a song is made in every state crossed, capturing a state of mind(each recorded on a phone).

Georgia

please listen to this 10 minute audio in a quiet place with headphones.  You will be asked to draw, so please have a pencil and paper ready.

Prairie

Donnersounds

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