Fielding_Overlay

Full description

Background
Fielding_Overlay is an installation work presented at the ACHC conference at the Fonoteca Nacional in Mexico City, November 2019. The work comprises sound recordings emanating from wooden structures and incorporating vegetation local to both Mexico and Australia. As a second iteration of Lacey’s previous work ‘Fielding’, this work extends the theme of ‘broken ecologies’ and is a unique example of transdisciplinary research that combines sound art, urban greening and soundscape design.

Contribution
Fielding_Overlay employs a public sound art installation methodology that brings together sound artists, scientists and landscape architects. Sound works based on the theme of ‘broken ecologies’ were mixed across three speakers using Pascal Amphoux’s ‘Listening Pyramid’, and overplayed within a Mexican context. Mexican Feathergrass was planted within the installation, a plant now found throughout Australia, providing a non-human approach to understandings of globalisation. The work advances the field of urban soundscape design beyond mere noise mitigation and aligns with urban greening approaches that seek to improve urban liveability by introducing biota into urban areas. This forms part of Lacey’s DECRA research outcomes, which seeks to combine soundscape design and greening initiatives, alongside identifying pathways through which artists might engage in and influence urban futures.

Significance
The work was created on invitation by the ACHC conference, an international colloquium addressing issues of sound, ecology, technology and acoustics. Lacey supported the work through delivery of a conference talk, which is documented on the ACHC youtube channel. The Fielding project was funded by Programmed with a cash contribution of $15,000 + in-kind support to engineer, construct and maintain the installation. The project was initially funded through a competitive process supported by Wonderment Walk.