Listening to the Anthropocene

Ben Rivers, Look Then Below, 2019. Courtesy of Ben Rivers and LUX, London.

Presented as a part of the third Coventry Biennial, Listening to the Anthropocene at Coventry Cathedral is a major new exhibition of sound and moving image artworks that explores the ways that field recording and sonic research can help attune us to the shifting state of our planet, at a range of scales.

Newly commissioned and specifically adapted artworks form an immersive sound installation in the Nave of the iconic Coventry Cathedral throughout the duration of HYPER-POSSIBLE.

International artists with relationships to locations that have been affected by climate change present artworks along all six of the Biennial’s HYPER-PATHS, but as the title of the exhibition suggests, all of the artworks are particularly embedded in the Sensing the Anthropocene HYPER-PATH, creating an exhibition that explores the idea that we have moved into a new geological epoch – one that is marked by the impact of human activities on the Earth.

‘Listening to the Anthropocene’ is originally the title of a significant lecture by artist-geographer AM Kanngieser, which maps the range of recent ‘eco-acoustic practices’ used by artists and others from around the world. In this exhibition, UK and international artists with relationships to locations that have been affected by climate change present artworks along all six of the Biennial’s HYPER-PATHS, but as the title of the exhibition suggests, all of the artworks are particularly embedded in the Sensing the Anthropocene HYPER-PATH, creating an exhibition that explores the idea that we have moved into a new geological epoch – one that is marked by the impact of human activities on the Earth.

A guide to the sound works can be found here.

Artists include:

Sarah Badr, Kate Carr, Department of Energy, Lamin Fofana, AM Kanngieser, KMRU, Rie Nakajima, Ben Rivers, Simon Scott, Jana Winderen

Notes:

Listen to some of the works here, where you can also buy the download version of the Listening to the Anthropocene album, or preorder the special 12” vinyl record.

you can view Rie Nakajima, Listening to the Hollows, 2021 digitally here. Photo: Tony McClure.

You can view Various Artists, The Nave, 2021 digitally here. Photo: Tony McClure.

You can view Ben Rivers, Look then Below, 2019 digitally here. Photo: Tony McClure.

This exhibition is generously supported by:

UK City of Culture 2021, Arts Council England, Coventry City Council, Art Fund, Coventry Cathedral, University of Warwick

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