On making our relationship with other beings perceptible

Can you hear it?

That crackling, crunching, and vibrating on the forest floor? It is the sound of ants and dung beetles crawling over withered leaves, and of trees communicating with each other through clicks from their roots. So much happens that we fail to perceive when we take a walk in the woods. But Daniela Bretes Maciel Elneff does, when she places her custom-designed contact microphones on the things growing out there. Through sound, we can make our relationship with all the creatures living around us tangible and perceptible, she believes.

Daniela moved to Struer three years ago to work with sound. Today, she does so as a sound designer and research assistant at Struer Museum - SOKU. Here, she helps create a connection to our history through sound. "Sonic cultural heritage," she calls it. For instance, when we today hear almost the exact same sound from the bell in Gimsing Church as our ancestors did in the Middle Ages. We feel the very same vibrations they did.

If we blur the visual boundaries, sound can give us depth and perspective. We miss out on so much if we forget to listen.