Becoming Lichen - irregular diary - part 1

2.09.24

Coetir Tycanol Woodland, Pembrokeshire

At the northern edge of the woodland, accessed by large outcrops of granite I’m able to stand up amongst the oak canopy. The air is so still and a thick mist hangs over the woods today.

I’m trying out 2 new contact mics, attempting to record in parallel with each other, the mic’s are placed on a tangle of furry Usnea and wedged in the space between branch and rock.

I sit and listen, and eventually hear small, high frequency sounds, things moving - insects in the Usnea? Small vibrations through the tree, a rhythmic pulse.

It feels like I’m listening into this ecosystem through the Lichens; of course other things enter, move through and register their affect.

A few minutes in, a Peacock butterfly flies into the canopy and lands on the branch close to the mic. It then extends its proboscis and begins to lick the area beneath it - and I can hear this in stereo in all its detail! accompanied by a low vibration coming from its body.

I’m captured, immersed for a few minutes in this worlding; any boundaries dissolve, I’m within the event and its unfolding, not apart.

So grateful for this time to listen, to bodily be with these inscrutable beings.

- Simon Whitehead