Embodied Listening PROJECT
Sound walk piece and accompanying events, 2021-2023
Voice-over lines, singing & delivery of events: Annie Goliath
Recording of Environmental Sounds & Composer: Black Astronaut
Spoken voice-over lines of Anna Woods: Beth Organ
The Embodied Listening Project (2021–2023) was a sound walk and series of accompanying events exploring attunement to plants through sound, movement, deep listening, and reflective engagement. The project began with the Tree Walk in Alexandra Park (Hastings), where I first explored the landscape by moving my body along the path, breathing in the atmosphere, and observing the trees within their ecological and social context.
I collaborated with composer Black Astronaut to record the inner sounds of seven selected trees using specialist microphones, creating an auditory bridge between human and more-than-human perception. The trees’ histories — often excluded or overwritten in colonial botany — were honoured through the sung voice of Anna Woods, bringing presence to these forgotten narratives in a decolonial and attentive approach. Her voice-over was informed by critical plant studies, aiming to convey the complexity, intelligence, and agency of plant life.
During the accompanying sound walk events, delivered in partnership with Arts on Prescription, I developed interactive elements to encourage reflective and embodied engagement with the more-than-human world. Participants experienced plant intelligence directly, focusing on sound, presence, and relationality rather than spectacle. Reflective activities at the end of each session included co-creating mixed-media Tree of Life collages and writing exercises, deepening the connection between participants and their environment.
This work was supported by the CHASE Climate Justice Network Small Grants award, recognising its contribution to ecological awareness, creative research, and multisensory engagement: CHASE Small Grants Considering Climate Podcast - Episode 3
Immersion Series, 2022 - 2023
Mixed media on canvas, 42 x 29 cm x 4 Trees of Life