• What is art? What is art anyway? It's a new term, really. I think we need to go a little bit beyond that. I think of myself as a sound practitioner, so what can I offer? If someone has a visual acuity, if someone has acuity with body and movement and voice, you know, what is it that we can do in our communities to help people to listen, to be in their bodies, to breathe?

My conversation withcomposer, sound artist, media artist and facilitator Tina Pearson, whose work explores nuanced sonic investigations of perception, presence and place. suggests we slow down and listen, which I often hear artists suggest on this podcast but how does one do that? Well, soundwalking is one way to do, which what Tina and I did during our 90-minute conversation, recorded in September 2024 at PKOLS park, translates to ‘White Head’ or ‘White Rock’ in the SENĆOŦEN language of the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, also known as Mt. Douglas Park inVictoria, British Columbia. I edited down our long conversation to 15-minutes, which as you will hear is accompanied by rainfall and the magnificent Pacific Ocean. 

Action points

• Practice deep listening to places and communities to understand their needs 
• Question whether current artistic practices perpetuate harmful systems
• Consider how artistic work can offer service and benefit to a specific place 
• Explore alternative ways of being a sound practitioner beyond traditional concerts and touring
• Pause and reflect on the impact of our actions and practices on the environment

Show notes generated by Whisper Transcribe AI:

Story Preview

Imagine walking through a park, not just seeing, but truly listening. What if our art could heal, not harm, the world around us? Join me and Tina Pearson as we explore the profound act of listening to place and the courage it takes to question our creative practices.

Chapter Summary

00:00 Defining Art and Sound Practice
01:06 The Art of Sound Walking
02:16 Reciprocity with Nature
03:49 Untethering from Modernity
05:02 The Gift of Listening
06:36 Rethinking Artistic Practices
09:14 Community-Centric Art Practices
12:19 Listening to Place and Community

Featured Quotes

• I think of myself as a sound practitioner. So what can I offer?
• One of the biggest gifts you can give someone is to really truly, deeply listen to them. And similarly to a place.
• It’s the construct of how we’ve got here that’s the problem. Not the actual things as much.

Behind the Story

This conversation, recorded at PKOLS Park in September 2024, dives into Tina Pearson’s philosophy of sound and place. It challenges the conventional approaches to art and climate action, advocating for a deeper, more reciprocal relationship with the environment. Pearson’s personal background as a first-generation North American informs her perspective on decolonization and untethering from harmful systems.

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END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020 on un-ceded Anishinaabe Algonquin territory (Ottawa). 

It’s my way to give back.

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish free ‘a calm presence' Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.

Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on July 8, 2025