work in progress

THINK LIKE A MOUNTAIN

Mirjam Kroker *1982

Thinking like a mountain is a metaphorical starting point of an experimental research, in which I try to listen to the tuning of the world* as an exercise or attempt to shift perspectives of how we try to understand and connect to the world and concepts like “nature”. Mirjams work invites you to this new understanding if the world via an auditory experience.

^{*A term coined by Murray Schafer}

The question addressed in the theme “the end of nature as we know it” does not necessarily assume that nature would come to an end; but rather the way we understand it is put into question.

This codified nature of images becomes obvious when it comes to digital images, pixels and algorithms in machine language. Maybe the poor resolution of an image can unsettle the image from its totalizing understanding and open up different possibilities to listen to the image as well! Here sound comes in; because it can allow us to focus on a different experience, sound is something difficult to look at from a distance because it goes all the way through our bodies, so actually it engages us willingly or unwillingly in specific contexts in certain expansions of time.

There is this saying “seeing is believing”, but what about hearing? Nowadays at least in the western hemisphere we are very much influenced by an image based way of thinking and knowing. What happened to our capacities of an auditory thinking or being? How can we invent auditory narratives? Listening leads not only to a different sensory experience of the everyday but I would say also influences our engagement and perceptions, “ a manifestation of an approach to the planetary condition,” and the entire universe as our library.

The question is now how will you listen to the sound to decipher its nature, by listening as reading or listening as listening? Trust your ear, turn on, tune in, shut down.

Mirjam Kroker (Germany, 1982) studied Cultural and Social Anthropology and Fine Art. She is a nomadic artist and researcher questioning circulation, production and recording of knowledge. Her work consists of modules of in-complete collections of information and ideas that can be described as situated practice. She therefore constantly traveles to various places from Kiev to Dar es Salaam till Mexico City. She often approaches research collaboratively and works across disciplines.

website  mirjam kroker
Amsterdam Alternative published the interview Shona McCombes had with Mirjam Kroker here: AA issue 022 Mirjam Kroker