Notes from the Natural World

‘Based on the themes of “Future Nature” and “Nature in City Life”, I’ve put together this mix of tracks at the intersection of digital and organic texture. The sounds of the neotropical Amazon rainforest, the ice of the Arctic Circle and the soundscapes of various lands mingle and are processed alongside electronic sound, guitars, gamelan, bells and voices. Each sound might be something personal and ephemeral, but heard together as one, they become like the sublime flow of a river on the Earth.’ Words by Sawako. If you could be any part of the natural environment, what would it be? Human beings are part of the natural environment, so everywhere, at any time, I feel the beat of nature, and the connection with nature, inside myself. But if I had to choose one part, I would be water. It can change between liquid, gas and solid, and you can find it everywhere—inside the human body, on the ground, and in minerals, rivers, oceans, the air, animals, plants, factories, foods, machines, old trees, and so on. I’d like to travel through various places in the world as water. How do you harmonise with nature? Open the ears and body to the environment. Tune in to the subtle frequencies of nature. Let the imagination fly freely outside of the bird cage of human-centric viewpoints. Also, as a daily practice, I practice meditation—something similar to Tai Chi, based on the Five Elements theory of Taoism. How does the natural environment find its way into your work? Every time, I think about and feel the connection with nature, especially because I live in Tokyo, a big city, and mainly create work using technology. Questions about the relationships between nature and human beings, nature and technology, are really central for me. I believe that future technology will be more organic, softer and more deeply connected to nature—it might be something animistic and primordial. Sawako is a sound and new-media artist who weaves a dreamy ambience with technology and field recordings. Once they have travelled through the processor named Sawako, these subtle fragments of everyday life float vividly in space with a digital yet organic texture. Sawako has released five albums with New York-based music label 12k among others. She has performed internationally at MUTEK Festival (Canada), Warm Up at P.S.1 (USA), MACBA, Sonar Festival (Spain) and ICA London (UK), and has provided tracks for documentary films, art installations and fashion shows.

‘For those of us who live in cities, it can be easy to forget the blessings of Mother Earth. But every fallen raindrop, every slice of wind, every dapple of sunlight should cause us to pause and remember her intricate, complicated beauty. Here is a playlist of deeply soothing, pastoral sounds that draw from nature and its elements, perfect for hours spent staring out the window, foraging in a magical inner-city woodland, or taking a solo night walk with the moon as your guide.’ Words by Grace Wang. If you could be any part of the natural environment, what would it be? I would aspire to be like the ocean—amorphous, permeable, salt-abundant. How do you harmonise with nature? By finding the balance between being infinite and impermanent. How does the natural environment find its way into your work? Poet Nathaniel Mackey said in a recent interview, ‘Could I ever write a poem as intricate as a pinecone? I can be usefully humbled by going outside and picking up a pinecone and just getting a look at it.’ What we often do when we become stuck with a bit of work, when we can’t find the right words or surface that final piece of the puzzle in a music composition or a painting, is to look out the window at whatever’s there. Usually there’s a bit of sky, some greenery or blossoms if we’re lucky. In turning outside of ourselves, we can think about questions like: Can what we create give someone the same feeling as when they see the first blossom after a long, pandemic-bound winter? Can we replicate the feeling of that first walk in the fresh air after a stint of isolation? Mother Nature, in her intricate, complicated beauty, sits there patiently, waiting for us to fully recognise her resplendent power. Grace Wang is an avid reader and music collector based in London. She hosts Footnotes, a radio show that selects a book each month and explores its narrative, themes and characters through sound and music. Recently featured tomes include Just Us by Claudia Rankine, The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and Another Country by James Baldwin.