Aural Oral

Aural Oral by Grace Denis is a series of site-specific studies and sensorial junctures in agricultural research, offering a sensorial reflection on processes of cultivation and consumption. The meal pairs an auditory archive of its ingredients with its ingestion, implementing various microphones to transmit a series of recordings of culinary and cultivation actions coupled with environmental sounds from the site of production. Each accompanying track sketches a sonic cartography of the dish, amplifying the micro-actions of both the farm and the kitchen, proposing resonant reflections of its cultivation and consumption to extend beyond the domain of the gustatory. The mix commences with recordings done near Vevey during the vendange of Soulages this September and subsequent processing of the harvest in the cave of Matthias Orsett in Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz. The mix layers the soundscapes of the harvest, destemming, and pressing while weaving in the subtle soundscapes of the fermentation tanks. The mix continues with a combination of recordings from the most recent projects in the series, undulating through the fields of Praz Bonjour, an agroecology project in Blonay. This iteration of Aural Oral was realized with the support of foodculture days and Margaux Schwab. Sound engineering by Grainger Gustafson.