Herding through urban Struer

Listening is often framed as an individualised practice. Although it is true that listening is always perspectival and highly subjective, one never truly listens alone and, like many activities, the experience of engaging with sound can be vastly different when done collectively.
We present six sets of instructions designed to encourage shared listening experiences. You are invited to engage with sites across the urban environments of Struer in a way that is both personal and communal. The instructions are presented in the form of postcards, each with two sides: one visual, one textual. Every postcard is linked with at least one suggested location in Struer (see map).
We encourage you to perform these directions in context with others. Gather a group or expand your scope of listening beyond the human. There will always be listeners present in the more-than-human world. We invite you to imagine the presence of others, or possibly invite a passer-by to join you.

To a person in Struer

Find a companion to listen with

I found a companion at Nørgårdvej, between the tunnel and Østre Strand

a stripe of gravel between the road and the lawn of a house

I listen to the sounds of
walking on top of the gravel
sora-sora
a trilled r with sharp edges

I try to listen with the gravel
the sharp edges against the soles of my feet

I try to listen with the time
sounds of seemingly stable bedrock
sounds of the bedrock being crushed smaller and smaller pieces
sounds of large quantities moving
shovelling and
stillness

56.483237°N, 8.611431°E

Sjzzfft
In there, too silent vibrations
for us to hear.
How do `they´ perceive our
big movements ?
They say they speak over 100 `languages´.
Sjzzfft

Between the tunnel & Ostre Strand (Norgårdvej),111 steps from the sea shore, Micro listening

56.483166°N, 8.612365°E

listening to wall reflections

Weekends are a good time to listen to the old industrial part of Struer harbour.

• Find the two signs “1936” and “1939” on the red brick wall next to Østkajen/Havnevej.
• Form a line in front of the wall, about 2m away from it.
• Start listen closely, possibly with your eyes closed.
• After some time, start walking slowly towards the wall.
• Stop only when you almost touch the wall with your nose.
• What do you hear?
• How do the sounds change when you approach the wall?
• How do you imagine your co-listeners experience the situation?
• Do they hear something different from you?

56.49347°N, 8.60325°E

Herd Listening

collective listening inspired by the behaviour of Arctic reindeer.

Gather a small group of humans.
The herd is steered collectively, with mutable leadership.
No one individual should guide the herd more than any other.
Consider when to guide the group, and when to be guided.
Be aware of your movements and those of the group.
Try to stay within a close proximity to each other.
There is no fixed starting or ending point.
Stay open and investigate opportunities to listen to matter, phenomena.
Move towards points of interest.
(don’t disregard the seemingly banal).
If in doubt, attune to the air.
Rush head-first into the wind like the arctic reindeer, cutting the air with your nose.

56.29449°N, 8.33378°E
56.576234°N, 8.634739°E

Horizontal Listening

Find an inviting place that gravitates with you. Lay down.
Sink into the ground and become part of the resonance body you are laying on.
Feel the exchange of vibrations and give attention to the sounds around you.
Listen how they come and go, fading in and out like concentric waves.
Maybe, lean your head to the left side or to the right.
Perceive the acoustic environment molding around your ear.
Extend your dimension of listening. Attune
from the ground your are laying on
to the living beings close around you
to the shells on the peer the starfish in the water
the fish and seals passing by
the microbes surrounding them
leave the water and dive into the sky
to the seagulls
and clouds
Be attentive to the multidimension of sounds you are part of.
Where do they travel from, and who receives them?
Where are they being reflected
bounce off
intersect
and swirl together with the sounds of others?
Who are the others listening?