December 2024
Greece
After a period of intense creative and professional engagement in the UK, I carved out a window for travel — to rest, reconnect, and deepen my engagement with sound, place, and people. What followed across Greece, Florida, and Europe was a whirlwind of ancient ruins, rocket launches, sonic experiments, and long-overdue reunions.
Taking a break from my Fellowship travels, I left the UK on October 23 for Greece for a brief holiday with Sean. For a few nights, we stayed with actress friend Shalom Brune Franklin (you might know her from Baby Reindeer or the Dune: Prophecy series) in Athens amidst her filming a new TV Stan series, The Assassin.
Exploring Athens for the first time, Sean and I visited the Olympiad, Akropolis, the Library of Hadrian, Lycabettus, and many of the amazing Greek restaurants the city had to offer. An anthropological highlight was visiting the National Archaeological Museum, housing numerous historic artefacts including the Antikythera device, which colleagues Gabriella Smart and Dan Pitman used as inspired for their work DARK: ANTIKYTHERA.
Towards the end of the month, we then travelled to the island of Paros in the Cyclades, staying in Ampelas, and visiting the nearby towns of Parikia, Naousa and Lefkés, as well as the nearby island of Antiparos for Sean’s birthday.
London
Following our Cycladic retreat, we returned to London, continuing to explore the city in all of its rich diversity, including bike rides through Hyde Park, visiting the British Museum, and Halloween raves in East Hackam. Catching Hadestown — a musical that reimagines the myth of Orpheus with New Orleans grit and a hauntingly lyrical score, and one that I’d loved exclusively through cast recordings over the past decade — was a delightful early birthday gift.
Florida
Amidst less-than-favourable news of the US election outcome, I flew out of London on November 6, bound for Florida via a stopover in Reykjavik and later transit over the Greenland icesheet, an awe-inspiring vista. Arriving late at night in Orlando, I made for New Smyrna Beach to begin my residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts for the month.
Founded in 1977 by Doris Leeper, an internationally known sculptor and painter, as well as a visionary environmentalist, Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) is a non-profit multidisciplinary artist residency facility located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Alongside its long standing Mentoring Artist Program (drawing in significant names across diverse disciplines), ACA recently began hosting an annual Soundscape Residency Program, which has featured practitioners like Bernie Krause, Nathan Wolek, Perry Lynch Howard, and Gordon Hempton.
Having connected with the Center in March 2023 for the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology Conference, and wanting to tap into the infrastructure and relationships cultivating the Soundscape Residency Program (particularly its relationship with Canaveral National Seashore, I knew I want to develop my own responsive soundscape composition, immersing myself in the coastal environment and wider Volusia County.
With the wonderful support of ACA staff members Eve Payor, Cayla Bartolucci-Kaualoku, Kelly Timmons and Executive Director Jennifer Coolidge, I connected with ACA board members, volunteers and members of the wider NSB community through various events. Following a volunteer dinner on 9 November at the ACA campus, I unexpectedly attended the wedding reception of Staci Janik and Lee Tesche (guitar for the band Algiers), on the New Smyrna Beach coastline, a serendipitous occasion where I connected with further friends Philomena and Juliana.
Over the course of the month, I ventured around Volusia County, exploring its coastal swamp landscapes and attendant soundscapes, a synthetic fusion of natural biophony and geophony alongside significant anthropophony (think ongoing rocket launches, 120 flight schools in the region, major motorways with huge pickup trucks, freight train lines to Miami, and ongoing construction activity).
One highlight emerging from the volunteer dinner was meeting Nancy and Bobby Maddox, ACA supporters who took me out on their boat to Mosquito Lagoon for a rocket launch. That day, there were two launches—an uncommon event. We traveled about two hours south, where no one else was around. I set up my microphones just as a herd of manatees surrounded our boat, capturing their underwater chatter as the rockets took off. The combination of the rocket’s sonic booms and the aquatic environment created a breathtaking audio experience, extending vertically up into space down and the cerulean depths of the water. Somewhere between the manatees’ chatter and the thunder of a rocket heading into orbit, I found a moment that felt like everything I’d come here for — the collision of human and non-human (hi)stories, told in sound.
I also had the pleasure to lead a soundwalk at Eldora in Canaveral National Seashore, introducing participants to ideas of acoustic ecology and modes of listening. A later engagement with the Young Sound Seekers Crew, a group of young differently-sighted folks led by Eve Payor and Nathan Wolek, had us investigate various types of recording equipment, with group members exploring hydrophones and contact microphones amidst the steady roll of Atlantic waves.
Many other days trips formed my reconnaisance and recording activity, including:
an ACA volunteers’ day out at Cracker Creek, a local brackish waterway highlighting the significance of the local ecosystem, the impacts of the then-recent Hurricane Milton, and the necessary ongoing litigation to protect the landscape.
Visits to vaious freshwater springs in Volusia County. I learned that many these discharge millions of gallons per day, having travelled thousands of years from more northerly regions through artesian networks.
Traversing the sand dune board walk at New Smyrna Beach, encountering gopher tortoises and many cars on the beach (not similar to the presence of vehicles on South Australian beaches).
Atlantic ocean waves and rocket launches at Playalinda Beach, immediately north of Canaveral National Seashore (the rocket launch happening to be that of an Australian Optus satellite).
Contact microphone explorations of shell middens left by traditional owners, including the Seminole and Timucua peoples.
Other expeditions included:
Attendance of an Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra concert on November 9, "An Evening with Jamie Bernstein", featuring works by her father Leonard Berstein and Mahler’s 4th Symphony
Visiting and diving at Alexander Springs with Philomena and Juliana (video below)
Fresh portrait shots and experimental colourshoots with Samantha Tribble and Stephen Holvik at The Lunar Studios in New Smyrna Beach (video also below)
Thanksgiving Dinner on November 28 with Eve Payor and her family.
"Volumes" Project
Having travelled the US and Canada previously in 2017, and then Florirda last year in 2023, I’d become interested in developing a series of works responding to the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, which I typically don’t engage with at home on the Southern Ocean. My artist residency at ACA offered a distinctive opportunity to start on the latter seaspace.
Synthesising the experiences above, and in search of a title that might help to cohere ideas, I became interested in the county name, Volusia. An etymological investigation revealed multiple different origins, but its homophonic counterpart, Volumes, was captivating, and revealed a complex interplay of sonic, material, and cultural volumes in the region:
Volumes of sound – anthropophony (human-made sounds), including over 120 flight schools in the county, car traffic, and rocket launches (which are increasing due to SpaceX’s Starlink).
Volumes of water – the Atlantic Ocean, brackish lagoons, and millions of gallons delivered in freshwater springs that have traveled for millennia underground.
Volumes of sand – shifting dune systems, beach culture, and artificial sand replenishment in Miami.
Volumes of storms – increasing hurricane frequency in recent years.
Volumes of media & politics – the county’s conservative leanings, juxtaposed with Orlando’s political climate, and the election cycle occurring during my visit, and deluge of information.
Through this project, I looked to weave the textures and materiality of these elements in an intricate soundscape composition, overlaid with commentary from local voices, archival media, and field recordings.
As the piece developed during my time at ACA, one highlight of my Fellowship travels was the Coastal Soundscapes concert held in ACA’s Joan Harris Theatre on November 22, featuring all original works including:
Cathedrals, a consensed version of my album, previously exhibited at the WFAE 2023 Conference also at ACA.
Dwell, a site-specific screen-dance collaboration with Sue Hawksley, Tammy Arjona, Billy Cook, and Richard Hodges.
a work-in-progress showing of Volumes
sanctuary x mill – originally an acousmatic (speaker-only) work, but for this performance, I incorporated a prepared Steinway piano at the Joan Harris Theater, blending its textures with the ruined pianos and concatenated soundscape recordings from the Murray Bridge Piano Sanctuary (SA) and Piano Mill (NSW-QLD Border).
The event was well-attended, with around 70 people in the audience and delightful feedback:
Thank you for a truly transcendent experience Friday night. A memorable evening! – Midge Wilson
It was a great night at ACA. I need more music in my life, and Apple Music isn't cutting it! This hit the spot. Volumes and sanctuary x mill were my favorites among the pieces you shared. What a treat! – Emily
Thanks again for sharing your work with us a the ACA. It was an inspiring evening. I found your work expansive! – Aric Attas
A smaller remount of the concert was presented for members of the ACA Board and community on December 2.
Departing ACA, farewelled by the wonderful Cayla (in New Smyrna Beach – shark capital of the world – appropriate-attire) and Eve!
After my ACA residency, my return trip back to Australian took quite the scenic route. My first destination was Chicago, where I stayed with dear friends and colleagues Eric Leonardson (vice-president and former president of the WFAE) and Deirdre Harrison (my sister-from-another-mother partner-in-crime for the WFAE 2023 conference). Alongside exploring downtown Chicago and visiting the famous Art Institute, I was guest speaker at a gathering of Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology (MSAE) members at Eric and Deirdre’s house, a great opportunity to meet fellow practitioners from the US and discuss current soundscape ideas and issues.
From Chicago, I flew to Amsterdam to spend a few days in the ‘vaderland’ and practice my Dutch. Having been twelve years since I was last in the city, I based myself from a pod in a Warmoesstraat Hostel on Oudeszijds, and made several wandelingen to the Begijnhof, Jordaan District, Wandelpark and Stedelijk Museum. Given the tight turn around, I didn’t get to touch base with family, but the bookend opportunity connect with part of my heritage (the trip opening with the visit to Scotland) was deeply rewarding, especially trialling my newfound language skills with Amsterdamers.
Aiming for Berlin, I then went to Utrecht for the first time, taking in the impressive Dom Tower, and wandered around the city’s gorgeous grachten. The following day, I made for Köln, visiting a friend Joyce (who I’d met at uni in Australia, and recently again on the Pitjantjatjara language course at the beginning of the year). Relying on her German translation, we explored around the city, visiting local Christmas markets, local Kölner Essen and a weekly Couchsurfing language exchange.
After a morning the following day exploring the impressive Köln Dom, I travelled to Berlin by train, my first time to the city. Initially based out of a hostel near the Hauptbahnhof, I made an effort to tick off the touristy sites in the first day. I spent the next morning walking by the Bundestag towards a sequence of Denkmalen: to the Sinti and Roma , to the Jewish Holocaust, and then to the Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism. From there, I crossed back through the Tiergarten, with memorials to Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven as well as various Romantic-era sculpture gardens, before walking beneath the Brandenburg Tor. A cold winter’s day, the trees relatively bare. In the afternoon, sites included the Berlin Wall memorial and Checkpoint Charlie, both offering detailed perspectives on the experiences of post-WWII and Cold War Germany.
The following day, I visited the Topography of Terror (a museum documenting Nazi atrocities) and later the Martin-Gropius-Bau next door for an exhibition of Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, a retrospective of his many installations. Unexpectedly, I also had a portrait drawn by resident artist Jake Sherwood, in response to me sitting and silently reading his poem, ‘The Hero of Both’ — a quiet, mutual offering in the Bau’s atrium, amidst matches of table tennis.
Over the final few days I spent a few nights with Martin, an Australian Couchsurfing host living out near the enwalled Görlitzer Park. That part of the city felt rougher-edged, but not inhospitable. Fragments of Socialist dreams and failures; the park’s edge a haven for various characters looking to push their wares. Exploring nearby eastern districts, I found a immersive light installation at the old Stadtbad Licthenberg (a decommissioned bathhouse), a temporary reimagining of liminal derelict spaces. Martin showed me around several cool restaurants (hitting a Japanese ramen joint one night, Korean the next), and later visiting a queer dive bar with unique kitschy charm and magenta-tinged plush furnishings.
To my disappointment, I missed the chance to go clubbing at the infamous Berghain, arriving the same weekend it turned 20 years old, with lines apparently 6 hours long — but Berlin isn’t going anywhere. I’ll be back. Probably in summer. Winter suits the city’s temperament, but I’d like to see it lush, too.
As the final stop on this epic trip and year, Berlin felt right. Not tidy. Not conclusive. But full of the kind of unresolved questions where the past doesn’t just echo but leaks into the present.
There’s a lot to unpack in the upcoming months back in Australia - artistically, politically, personally. The Fellowship year ends here — but I don’t. Plenty of residual experience to reflect on, write about, and share with community at home, nourishing for many months and years to come.
Until next time, with love and compassion,
Jesse
