Sitting. Just sitting and listening. All ears, tuning in, moving across the frequencies, the air born waves. Sitting not for a minute, or even four, or four minutes 33. Sitting now for twelve hours, half a spin of the earth, or for twenty four, a full spin. Waiting for the sun to appear in the same place, waiting for the shadows to fall on the same ground.

Try to remain present. Try to keep ears focused outwards and embrace the whole sound field. Identify this, and that, yes, but not dwell on it. Try. Difficult though. At first its all purpose, I’m here doing this because. I’m doing this because I’m determined. I’m doing this … Then, gradually, the purpose falls away. A hoverfly buzzes in front of me. Alarm calls from robins in the forest below, a moving sound through the foliage, perhaps tracing the path of a deer or fox. Then, my imagination. I watch ants crawling along a branch and imagine I can hear their footsteps.

Then its dark. Gradually. Much quieter. Sound seems to carry further. Fireworks over Torquay. And last longer. The jet passes overhead slowly, fading in and out as it disappears towards the horizon. And get bigger. The rabbits are now badgers, or bigger still. And more subtle. In the complete quiet, at 3am, a leaf falls from the canopy of a tree, and as it falls it brushes against other leaves and branches. Exquisite.

Throughout I’m switching between purposelful activity and presence. As the sit progresses, the purposeful moments diminish and the presence increases. I’m just listening to the dark bush cricket chirping. Simply enjoying the way its slow rhythms occasionally change. I have no purpose for this observation, no intention to publish a note on bush criket song, its just simply a moment, that lies between other moments and that’s enough.

And then its over. Well, at least, I move away. Its still going on, the sounds are still being born, but I’m not there to hear them. I’m somewhere else. I’m listening, but with no where near the same intensity. And that’s fine too. I know that the sounds are still there, and I know, should I wish, I can tune in again to this huge freely downloadable hi-fidelity uncompressed sound stream. A globally accessible lifeweb broadcast in real time.

Sitting, listening/performances

August 2004 – Twelve
A twelve hour sit from 8pm to 8am with artist Martin Prothero in woods at Roccombe, South Devon as part of the Art Farm Project

June 2005 – Twenty four
A twenty four hour sit from 9am to 9am with Martin Prothero on Dartmoor