Dear Human is a multispecies audio guide, activating messages from non-human residents of this land: its pond, a large tree, a local deer, and others.
Listen outdoors, with headphones. You’ll discover an immersive experience merging narration with the existing soundscape through invitations to listen, touch, and find your place within the local ecology. These soundtracks were created using site-specific field recordings and the voices of local community members and land stewards.
Dear Human can be experienced through the following site-specific installations, or (audio only) wherever you are:
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Dear Human at West Ridge Nature Park was created with support from the Roman Susan Art Foundation. Click to discover trail markers, maps and messages from a pond, a deer, a tick, local humus, a tree, and more.
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Dear Human at Tryon Farm Institute features the voices of Frogs, Prairie Grasses, and the Institute’s historic Dairy Barn, among others. Click the link for maps and messages.
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This project was created for natural spaces in the Midwestern United States, but you can experience the audio portion from anywhere in the world through Soundcloud. You do not need to download the app to listen.
First, grad your headphones and find an outdoor location where you’re likely to meet a tree, a pond, some tall grass, perhaps a deer. Click the “Welcome” link to begin.
This work was created as part of Navigations, a series of artist projects shared and realized in public/common space through the Roman Susan Art Foundation, and shared at West Ridge Nature Park in alignment with The Available City as a partner program of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Read more about the project in this Block Club Chicago review.
The soundtracks, trail markers, and artist-designed maps that make up Dear Human are a collaborative effort with local ecologists and communities. If you’re interested in expanding the project to include your natural area, please get in touch.
Special thanks to Sol Hinami-Mayorga, Kathy Dennis, Katy Kelsey-Morgan, Kristina Isabelle, Gary Morrissey, Sean, Alice, and Caroline Tomlins, Andrew S. Yang, and Margaret Morris for lending their voices to the organisms featured here, and to the West Ridge Nature Park Advisory Council, Roman Susan Art Foundation, and Tryon Farm Institute for making this project possible.