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Writer's pictureEva van der Zand

The Cricket House

Updated: Oct 16, 2019


Crickets are humbling. “the repeating marks of safety and the longing to mate, to survive, to live.”

They are so focused doing their thing while we are so easily distracted. Just when we start to understand things, we go off somewhere else. I pray for you, to realise your potential. I pray for you, to find out who you are. I pray for you, to become fortunate to have your basic needs. What I need is focus to understand what I already have. That is so much. that is abundant. We have to be aware that spirituality doesn't become a motive and a vehicle for greed.

A little cage for the hurried and worried people. A place not to be busy, not to be hurried, not to be mechanized in your moods. They seem to be after a resounding form of companionship. Or perhaps it is the pulse of pure art, the love of sound, tone, rhythm of music. (Bug Music: How Insects Gave Us Rhythm and Noise).

Some hear bug music, some hear people music, all depends on your ears.

the music of nature is deeper and far less clear, yet it is in its ambiguity that people are able to reach into it. The rhythms of insects bind us to the landscape, the warm weft of early autumn, a smile at the seasons' march. Insects have been around for millions of years, longer than anything human. they might be the source of our interest in rhythm, the beat, the regular thrum. and noise. yes noise. our love of noise. This text reminds me of the glass workshop space I work in. Noise rules the day. In a world guided by machines. We either praise or damn those sounds, depending on our mood, pessimism or optimism. The glass fornuis gives this endless sound like a buzzing animal. Like a huge insect. bug music, people music.

The music of the crickets has great group qualities as well. they respond reliably, like little computer routines, waking up to sounds and silence, filling in the spaces between. they clearly listen from one species to another, something birds, whales and even humans are not so used to do. Insects overwhelm us with the great crackle and buzz of prehistoric earth. Our method is not to listen. But to insist in joining in. With building these two houses we want you to consider insect sounds as music. We want you to start listening and harmonize joining in again into a harmony. it is not about attracting a mate or defending territory. it's about the music that differs, it's qualities evolved to make each species have its own identity and stand out from the fray. With these houses we want to show you the diversity of life. I want to convince you that insect sounds is music, and make you love it.

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