The field of ecology is one of nature and ecosystems. It is a field of interconnectedness, sensitivity and presence. It is a lense that anything in existence can be analysed through. Ecology is simply the analysis of the relationships of any given thing to the environment in which it lives or exists in.

Jonathan Gillmurray looks into “ecological sound art” as a field of study. He makes the claim that environmentalism in sound art isn’t as recognised as it is in other art forms, and wants to make a case for ecological sound art to stand as its own distinct field outside of other ecological art practices and saound art istelf. He thinks of ecological sound art as specifically concerned with environmental issues. Whilst there is a “clear innaction” against the worsening environmental issues the earth faces, Bill McKibben noted back in 2005 that art and religion are mediums that humans truky digest, so to talk about issues and implement change, they must be adressed through these mediums, particuarly art.

So if ecological sound art specifically regards the state of our natural environment, then it must use these environments within the art. Perhaps this is why environmentalist art is often referred to as “land art”, as it is quite litteraly art made from the land. Gillmurray points to a growth in texts surrounding environmental discourse leading to a growth in the art based around these issues. The symbiosis of environmental academia and art can be seen in the field of ecomusicology, which concerns music, culture and nature. Gillmurray notes than sound art is not recognised within the field of ecomusicology. But why can’t it be? Gillmurray suggests that perhaps the term “music” within ecomusicoloy is too narrowing. But isn’t music a part of sound art, and would that not therefore mean that sound art could be one lense to anaylse culture and nature within ecomusicology? It feels as though sound art wants its own seperate validation and pushes itself out of broader art fields, rather than those art fields pushing away sound art. Because at the end of the day, what even is sound art? If we prescribe certain attributes to the meaning of sound art such as “art that contains sounds but cannot be too musical” or “art that contains visuals but cannot be too focussed on the visual”, it gives sound art a sense of elitism and pushes away artists from considering their art as part of this field. These attributes are essentially what Gillmurray is prescribing to sound art when he claims that it is not “musical enough” nor “visual enough” to be included within ecomusicology.

Perhaps the entire argument Gillmurray presents here in this article is based on personal feeling about what sound art means to him. Personally, reading his article affirmed to me how much a part of ecomusicology sound art is, and how interwined sound art is with every realm of the art world.

Being in El Salvador, a country built on volcanic land, preserving many of its indigineous traditions, I have been inspired to create what I would consider to be ecological sound art. Using field recordings taken (so far) from the top of the volcano using both the stero recorder and a contact microphone, I have begun creating music that will be scored to the visuals for my second Happiness Starts with Dancing film, Happiness Starts with Home. It is important for me to be able to construct the sounds made using sounds from the land, meaning I am quite litteraly making “land art”. The sounds I am creating are quite musical- they are inspired by the musical soundscape of El Salvador (Cumbia, Merengue), but perhaps according to Gillmurray, this would therefore make my art not be sound art, as it is too musical. Perhaps in that sense then, according to Gillmurray, I am not a sound artist, as I do not want to create sounds that leave the listener in a state of anxiety or clulessness. I want my sounds to provide a sense of safety and familiarity- a sense of home.