How can we listen to other species?
How can we listen to other species?
Contact Membrane asks how a person might listen to an insect without reducing it to an object or musical controller. A human and a mealworm beetle share a tensioned paper surface. As the beetle walks, the performer tilts the membrane to keep it from falling.
The resulting sound is produced by the beetle, performer, paper, microphones, and software together. Rather than claiming to reveal the beetle's experience, the work makes the imperfect act of translating between species audible.
The first prototype was an insect-sized hammock that translated the beetle’s movement into sound. When observers began asking whether the beetle had become an instrument, the hammock gave way to a tensioned paper membrane that picks up the friction of its footsteps directly, leaving the animal free to walk, stop, or turn away.
Created and performed by Yohta Kitagawa. Originally created in classes at Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. Thanks to Professor Tess Oldfield, Professor Ed Osborn, Professor Elodie Freymann, and Professor Shawn Greenlee. Videography by Ingrid Jarvi.