Christine Ödlund
"Stress Call of the Stinging Nettle
Accompanied by the Life & Death of a Cowslip
(Electronic music & animated score, 8:00 min loop.)"


There is an ongoing and complex form of communication in nature that we humans know quite little about. When a plant is attacked by a feeding insect, it sends out signals of stress that alert other plants. The communication is carried out through chemical substances produced by the plants. The musical piece is sprung from an idea of finding a way to bridge the language barrier between plants and humans. In this case the chemical compounds emitted by plants are transposed to music. Here we can follow the transmitted stress call of a stinging nettle as it is attacked by the comma butterfly larvae, accompanied by the cowslip’s life-cycle. To the music, a score is supplied, so we throughout can follow the plants’ life, struggle and death. Thanks to Anna-Karin Borg Karlsson and the staff at the Department of Ecological Chemistry at KTH, EMS, Bergen
– Christine Ödlund





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