Professor showcases cricket cacophony
Jessica Nalbandian
Issue date: 11/13/09 Section: News
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Anderson wanted his piece, "Voice of the Mystic," to allow its audience to "observe sound and take it out of nature."
To accomplish this he collected a group of crickets and put them in a glass container, approximately one foot by five feet, that he made. He then set up a microphone, lowered into the container, and an amplifier facing the entrance of "The Hatchery," a room in the art hallway of the Fine Arts Center.
"[There's a] natural space that's out there and we can wander around and think about it," Anderson said.
Anderson wanted to erase the physical aspects of sound so that his audience could "only think about and only [be] exposed to sound." In order to accomplish this, he amplified the noise, hoping it would reach people in the halls before they even entered the room.
"In this event I am interested in the potential narratives that are formed from what we project on a collection of objects and sound," Anderson said. "These elements become a key to something else, enabling a connection for the viewer to envision their own place, their own narrative."
The first group of crickets was acquired directly from Anderson's garden. These crickets were large, black and very aggressive, Anderson said.
Once Anderson gathered them in a contained area, the males fought and killed each other until only one remained. The females, on the other hand, were not so aggressive, and all survived, he added.
Anderson did not want his piece to suffer due to lack of specimens, so he purchased a new group of crickets which were much smaller and less aggressive.
These crickets not only tolerated each other, but when the dominant male of the previous set of crickets pursued them, they were defensive and quick to flee.
In general, the male crickets hide more than the females when approached by humans, but use their noise to both attract the females and to ward off other males. They are very territorial.
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