Dr. Kuai Shen 

In the Anthropocene, there is no silent environment. The soundwave spectrum is composed of human and nonhuman acoustic signatures and identifying them can facilitate focused understanding of transmission and disturbance in urban ecologies. This artistic research combines bioacoustics with city noises to awaken awareness about insects‘ sensorial abilities and ecological contributions as part of human-made environments. In collaboration with the Campus Goes Biodiverse project and the Biodiversity Society seminar taught by Dr. Marko Rohlfs, I will trace movements and flying patterns and record bio-acoustic signals of insects living in meadows on the university campus. I will amplify naturally and artificially produced signals and process data to make electromagnetic interferences audible. By focusing on the subjective power of sounds, I will work on fostering a heightened awareness of the supportive duties of unattended and uncharismatic insect species as pollinators which fulfil important ecological functions.