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an mór rhíogan (2022-2024)

IMMA 2024

hand-wound, analogue sound piece

an mór rhíogan, the great queen and shapeshifter, appears as a crow in Irish mythology (read Táin). As I began observing the clever corvids I had the great fortune to meet Nicola S. Clayton, Professor of Comparative Cognition at the University of Cambridge. She has taught me that they are the feathered apes, matching primates in cognition. Of course, the place they occupy in mythology (Irish and beyond) tells us our ancestors understood this fully. We’ve talked a lot about non-verbal communication, other minds and how wordless thoughts can capture things humans have difficulty thinking about. Listening generously with full senses can be a powerful tool for reconnecting us with other minds, and the true sensory experience of listening. This text and analog audio work for Earth Rising is a response to our conversations and reflects on our relationship to sound, energy, other minds and our deep entanglement with the more-than-human world.  So let’s begin. (Audio improv by Headfoot, power by you)