Commissioned by Amy Youngs for Vermiculture Makers Club exhibition,
Kentucky School of Art, March 6 - April 7, 2015
wormculture.org/exhibition/
The Worms' producers, tour managers and technicians are:
Amy Youngs (Columbus OH, USA), Krzysztof Topolski (Gdańsk, PL)
The Worms are a rock band sensation. Living worms are the musicians and superstars, captivating their audiences with their authentic movements through their compost medium. These multi-talented beings turn food waste into fertilizer while living inside instruments that amplify their actions into music that is translated for human ears through technology. In our collaborative project we will create musical instruments to amplify and sonify the movements of composting worms; turning them into sounds that are understandable as music by humans.
We are looking forward to experimenting with ways to present the music of these life forms to show them in a positive light. As artists, we will be behind the scenes, taking the roles as producers, promoters and technicians of the band, The Worms. Like many superstars, these worm musicians are difficult to see and know outside of their music and the associated media that is produced around them, such as fan websites, posters and t-shirts
We will start with the soil microphones developed in an earlier worm amplification project of Amys and join this with the field recording and music-making abilities Krzysztof brings. We will develop and build three hybrid worm compost bins that function as specialized instruments to capture and amplify the movements of worms through their compost medium. Each bin will operate as a different type of instrument and the sounds of all will be manipulated live on stage through digital looping and effects processes.
Sonifying worms is a way for us to reveal a living creature that is overlooked, yet very import_ant to our ecosystem. Turning worms into pop stars re-presents them as desirable beings, capable of creative output. We genuinely want to collaborate with worms through the sounds that their movements make and we seek to create a new image for worms through music. Currently the
representation of worms in popular culture is extremely negative. Consider how they are represented in reality television and consider the first song about worms that comes to mind. Whether it is, The Worms Crawl in or Think I’ll Go Eat Worms, the feelings conjured are unfortunate and disgusting.
The effort to cast a new image for worms might at first seem trivial, but the actual goal of the project is to disarm viewers and listeners so they might be more open to the concept of worm composting. Using worms to compost leftover food and paper waste can help decrease global warming in ways that traditional composting cannot. Organic waste put into landfills emits methane, a greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide. On the contrary, the worm composting process (vermicomposting) emits no harmful gases or unpleasant odors. The byproduct of worms is a nutrient-rich material that looks and smells like soil. We hope our project can help change people’s understanding of worms through the power of pop culture persuasion.
released March 24, 2015