MSAE Summer Soundwalks: Listening for Resilience

Big Marsh Park, Chicago, IL 

July 20, 2019

Norman W. Long

Sara Zalek

Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology

Chicago Park District Night Out In the Parks Program

Photo/Video by Katie Wood

Norman W. Long has been following the revitalization of Big Marsh since 2015. He has done this by recording Big Marsh at several times during the year (when the City allows the public in to the area) and since it has opened as a Bike Park and Nature area. Listening is great tool to determine the health and resilience of this ecology.

Since 2016 Norman has collaborated with movement artist and Butoh performer Sara Zalek on soundwalks at Big Marsh Park. They have engaged the park and walkers with dance, improvised music, performance, meditation practice and mindfulness exercises to connect the community to the ecology and soundscape to Big Marsh Park.

This years theme is Listening for Resilience. Resilience is defined as: 

1. the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.: "the often remarkable resilience of so many British institutions".
2. the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape

During our walk, we performed listening, breathing exercises with our group. We also provided water for hydration. All to prepare them to focus on the soundscape especially on a very hot day. We walked newly formed shaded paths for the afternoon. We had two clearings for stopping and listening. One a listening station where one can hear amplified network of insects in the undergrowth through headphones connected to a recorder and contact microphones. The second station was a natural pavilion for Sara Zalek’s performance with a salvaged metal sheet (and acompaniment from Norman Long) reflecting on the resilience of the local ecology and soundscape. After the performance we all discussed our theme of resilience in context of ecological restoration, community disinvestment, immigration and education. 

Within the South Deering neighborhood lies a brownfield marsh area called “Big Marsh” at 11400 S Stony Island Ave that the Park District is in process of ecological restoration. 

“Once the site of a waste and slag dumping ground from surrounding industrial operations since the late 1800s, the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District teamed up in early 2000s to restore this area to a healthy habitat and eco-recreation park. The Chicago Park District acquired the site in 2011 and began the park planning, environmental assessment, and community input process. A Framework Plan for the park was completed in 2014. Design for the bike park feature in the southwest section of the park began in 2014 and the bike park opened in 2016. The northwest section of the park also opened to the public in 2016 with a new walking trail and parking lot. Big Marsh will be the site for the future Ford Calumet Environmental Center, expected to open in 2018. “

(https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/big-marsh-park-no-564#locmap)