As part of the winterschool of the Academy of Architecture of the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Theun Karelse became Artist in Residence and organised "a cult of the earth". More then 120 students were divided into 10 courses given by a guest tutor. Each tutor took their students on a creative research outside their comfort zone to explore ways of experiencing and honouring the earth. I had the privilege to be one of the guest tutors and designed a workshop with the topic of 'sensing spirits'.
 

Sounds are vibrations propagating, and thus traveling through, the substance filling up space. A moving body generates, a sensing body receives. Without a pause the vibrations of a manifold of bodies collide, merge, weave, reflect and distort to ultimately touch us with unfathomable complexity. When we listen, we navigate through this full space and find entities and relations. These sonic entities and atmospheres are ungraspable, invisible, ephemeral and at the same time surround penetrate and move us. These qualities could make us think of them as ghosts, spirits and the ethereal. Could dealing with sound and listening as if dealing with the spirit world help us to find a position towards the incomprehensible / ungraspable / unnamable?


 

Through listening exercises (in and outside), recording sound, imagining, writing reflections, open discussions and spending time with attention the students tried to find which spirits they’d like to honour and how to design a ritual to honour them.

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Among the outcomes where: