Listening to Amazônia Verde Viva: Transmorphic Intersections of Ecology and Music Technology in the Global South

Luiz Ribeiro Sales Fonseca; Thiago Albuquerque; Albery Albuquerque; Courtney N. Reed

Listening to Amazônia Verde Viva: Transmorphic Intersections of Ecology and Music Technology in the Global South
Image credit: Luiz Ribeiro Sales Fonseca; Thiago Albuquerque; Albery Albuquerque; Courtney N. Reed

Abstract:

This paper investigates transmorphic music, a form of composition with animal voices created by Brazilian musicians Albery and Thiago Albuquerque, focusing on their 2021 work “Amazônia Verde Viva”. Through interview with Thiago, we link the work and its composition to broader debate about the borders between human, non-human, and technological voices in the face of climate change and ecological destruction. In artistic practice with novel technologies, this work contributes the (1) principle of transmorphic interaction and attunement to non-human voices and musical interfaces, and (2) alternative approaches from the Global South to the use of audio technologies in anticolonial and perspectivist practices in dialogue with animal collaborators.