25th Nov 2024
Sensory Listening as one!
The arc diagram above by Wayne McGregor represents our minds as a bounded space of images. The upper arc identifies images of what we see and hear out there in the world, as well as what we feel inside of our bodies right now. Our body state is affected by both what is inside it and by those entities and forces out in the world that interact physically with it. The lower arc depicts the potential for bodily
expression through skeletal and vocal action as well as somatic (e.g. blushing or sweating) and visceral reactions. The centre is three intersecting loops to capture how, over time, specific ideas emerge out of embodied schemas, intuitions and feelings and how those specific ideas can lead to images in the mind’s eye and in the mind’s ear.
Why does listening have to be limited only to our ears?
I’m now on the tube (Jubilee), on my way to a non-tech run rehearsal. Headphones playing ambient techno, barely resisting the roars and shrieks from the Underworld of London. I’m fatigued and dry, recovering from a stubborn cold. With a mask on, filtering the industrial air. 4 layers of clothing with a beanie. I’m essentially covering all my sensory organs except my eyes. Yet, Listen. My body is telling me to sleep. My flesh is a bit sore. Skin dry and hot inner organs. I need hydration and rest, yet I’m here. My state doesn’t belong in the tube or the rehearsal or anywhere, but I’m now near my stop. My excitement changes the mood of the music playing and my sense of time of travel. My eyes are focusing on the pen and paper, jotting down my thoughts while my consciousness is sweeping around me, scanning peripheral seats for gazes. I’m here partially.
I got on the overground for one last transit. The sun is now in my eyes. Sparkling, like the drones in my ears and blurred faces on transport. The air is cooler. More relaxed in the overground now. People were screaming in the tube, trying miserably to chat. Or, cancelling the ears and drapes to their phones. What’s there to listen but pain? Even getting out of that environment proves difficult to stop the momentum and residue desires of blocking outer sounds. My personal bubble ebbs and flows as noise strikes high and low. My body is moving through space, but I’m not here.
Listening is a symbol of sensory reception. The alignment with the different parts of our psychic terrain and mortal body. We constantly microperceive our feelings and surroundings into our unconscious, like downloading data in the background. Microperceptions absorb experiences to our pre-conscious level, interconnecting all sensory inputs and impacting our subjective reality. To think of listening, we must include our context and our human experiences. Relationships inform us of where, why, what and how. What are we listening to when we disregard our bodies?