+ WHO?
Lea Luka Tiziana Sikau
+ WHAT?
Explore how metabolic acoustics synchronize gut feelings.
+ HOW?
Study sounds from metabolism and their impact on emotions.
everyone emits and has heard bowel sounds. nonetheless, their metabolic acoustics remain stigmatized; their sonic richness is often silenced. stoff wechsel / látková přeměna is a multi-sensory installation exploring the acoustic and haptic quality of gut feeling. it brings our guts into collective resonances and viscerally encourages them to synchronize with each other. stoff wechsel / látková přeměna sounds out how we can attune to one another, not via breath or heartbeat, but through our gastrointestinal systems—asking to get closer to yourself, think outside your own rationality and to experience your body as an ecological system. in an inflatable bath of sounds, the audience’s gut sounds are experimented with and woven into a composition—or gutscape—that affects our internal organs and nurtures multi-organ communication. beyond semantics, this space enmeshes sounds with intuition, opening up to the hidden interplay of collective subconscious processes, affects and decision making that define our gut feeling.
Interactive Modules & Web Tools:
getting closer to the sonic gutscape faciliates the emergence of a relation with our bodies outside of the traditional stigma surrounding it. the installation consists of an inflatable of five meters diameter, made of pvc and an outer silicone layer with actuators hidden beneath. these interact with the touch of the visitor, intensifying the sonic experience of the listener through haptic stimulation. surrounding the inflatable, the audience finds silicone cushions which they can put on top of their guts.
encapsulating a self-built hydrophone
—which makes you hear the sound of blood running through the veins
—they allow to transcend the capacities of our ear to listen to amplified internal movements in real-time. these sounds are intertwined with a looping electroacoustic composition of thirty minutes duration. the sonic space, which creates the feeling of being absorbed in intestines, is threefold:
(1) spatialised composition with a dome-like immersive quality,
(2) vibrotactile quality of lower frequencies in the inflatable,
(3) live sounds of interacting audiences.
Impact: Explain how the above tools, methods, or experiments contributed to addressing the identified challenges and supported the project’s overall goals.
Present scenarios in which your tools, methods, or systems have been tested, applied, or exhibited. This can include installations, performances, workshops, pilot tests, exhibitions, or any other interventions.
Lessons learned: Reflect briefly on key insights that emerged from the application or testing of your tools in each scenario, including results from their evaluation.
Gut Sounds and the Urban Dimension
Both urban and intestinal environments are spaces in which solid entities acquire sonic qualities. Becoming adept at listening to these sounds enhances our understanding of these ecosystems.
They are both high-density spaces of sonic information: by learning to interpret these sonic patterns, we gain insights into their health, needs, and behaviors.
The hum of traffic, the repetitive and rhythmic patterns of the cities, the consistent peristaltic movements that generate rhythmic sounds, the sirens and car horns, the sudden gurgles or rumbles as food is processed – all these elements demonstrate how both environments feature sounds of varying intensities, from soft, almost inaudible noises to loud, attention-grabbing ones. Both systems exhibit complex, multi-layered sounds. Urban areas blend human voices, mechanical sounds, and sonic elements from the organic world, while the gut produces overlapping sounds from different parts of the digestive system, including the stomach, intestines, and moving gases.
Urban and intestinal space are made and remade of continuous background noise that often goes unnoticed unless we specifically listen for them. However, Stuff changes advocate that these sounds should not remain in the background anymore. The soundscapes of the future should encourage a layered approach to listening that includes both inner and outer sounds. We speculate a wearable that could shed light on the complexities of the relationships between both: an apparatus that one could wear to harmonize the sounds of urban spaces with the internal sounds of our guts. This wearable could allow users to immerse themselves in their inner/outer surroundings while gaining a deeper understanding of their own bodily and urban rhythms. Such apparatus reminds us how the divide between artificial and natural soundscapes are socially constructed.
By listening to both urban and gut sounds, users can experience a shift in perception, recognizing themselves as organisms within the larger organism of the city. This heightened awareness fosters a deeper connection to their surroundings and a better understanding of their body’s responses to the urban environment. In embracing our role as sonic beings within the soundscape of our multiple and layered environments, we recognize a profound truth: we are part of the gut of the city, and we have a city in our guts. Things are sonically layered. The body is not a wall but a threshold circulating between soundscapes.
Synchronizing ourselves to urban and intestinal spaces s not about gaining control over them but about developing the ability to communicate and listen in the margins of what we are used to. It’s about reacting and interacting with the textures and patterns of the ecosystem: inside and outside of the liminal space that is our bodies.
These similarities highlight how both urban and internal environments are rich with information and have a dynamic range of sounds that reveal much about their respective systems. It’s a way to become attuned to both our inner world(s) and the world(s) around us.
When things make noise, listening to them informs us about the state of these worlds. It provokes us to tune into them, listening to the health of ourselves in our ecosystems.
Adaptability / interoperability: How others might build upon your methods, tools, or ideas, or integrate them with other systems, platforms, or practices in different contexts.