Listening Beyond Human Perception with Jez riley French and Pheobe riley Law

We are surrounded by countless sounds that lie outside the range of human hearing. Although not directly perceptible by humans, such sounds profoundly impact our planet’s ecosystems and hold immense value for human and more-than-human lives. In this paper, I will first address the limitations of our hearing and reflect on how we can deepen our awareness of the sounds outside our hearing range: infra- and ultrasounds and quiet sounds. I will also consider how human listeners, including artists, have come to terms with sound worlds inaccessible via the human ear through whole-body, multi-sensory, micro and durational listening, and a variety of hearing assistive technologies. Then I will focus on British sound artists and field recordists Jez riley French and Pheobe riley Law who have extensively listened to airborne ultrasound including the vocalization of bats, subaquatic sounds, and subterranean sounds in soil horizons (including the sounds of trees). French and Law recorded these sounds with a wide range of self-built and adapted microphones to translate their listening experiences into music and media art. I will specifically discuss three of their works: “ultrasons | Edogawa” from elusive fields (2018), “a glacier heated by the sea” (2015), and “Cherry Birch from the ink botanic series (2020–). I argue that through the work of French, Law, and other artists in this field, we may gain a better understanding of acoustic ecology’s hidden dimensions which are a register for our environments’ health. We may rethink our own sonic perception and footprint and ideally be motivated to help sustain the planet’s sonic futures. This paper builds on my collaborative research with audiologists and field recordists at ASU’s Acoustic Ecology Lab, work by scholars and artists such as Karen Bakker, Jez riley French, Steve Goodman, Stefan Helmreich, Toby Heys, and Pheobe riley Law. The paper seeks to advance discussions about small and inaudible environmental sounds and to introduce French and Law’s work into the scholarly discourse.