Choir of Kin – Lichenography (2023)

Transformative Narratives (Tony Wagner & Lena Kuzmich)

Choir of Kin is an ongoing multipart, cross-media project by the collective Transformative Narratives, exploring experimental music notation and sound production processes through multispecies encounter. The collective's themes and methodologies are shaped by its inquiries into symbiosis, landscape entanglement, and sympoietic world-building. At Silent Green, the collective presents its music notation technique, Lichenography.

Lichenography is a custom music notation method that generates sounds based on the morphological data of lichen. The bodily shapes of lichens growing on trees and stones are manually traced and translated into MIDI notes using digital music editing software. Generating tone clusters, the lichens become active participants in the composition process.

The animated visualizer makes the audible visible: as a thin line traces the shapes of the lichen, notes are triggered, and sound is produced. The audience is invited to watch and listen as a symphony unfolds.

The project’s development was supported by the European Media Art Plattform within the framework of a research residency at Antre Peaux in Bourges, France.