Roots in the Sky

This is a sound art work by Petri Kuljuntausta, spread across Keskustori in Tampere. It addresses the relationship of humans and nature in our time through sound. The roots of music are far back in prehistory, the sounds of living nature (biophony) and of inorganic nature (geophony) being early influences for human expression in sound (anthropophony). Our relationship with nature today is complex.

In Roots in the Sky, Kuljuntausta levels the playing field: the creator is a listener allowing nature to govern the performance. Played through speakers mounted at a height, the sound work captures the dialogue of a musician with birds flying through the air. The instrument is in interaction with its environment, not dominating nature but instead drawing influences from its sounds.

Roots in the Sky forms part of Kuljuntausta’s artistically oriented research project spanning several years, which in turn forms part of the project How to Live Together in Sound — Towards Sonic Democracy sponsored by the Kone Foundation.