The hum of the Earth: From geomythology to epistemological leaps via art (draft for a future art practise)

Abstract

Abstract The Hum is a phenomenon that only very few people experience, but for those this invasive low frequency humming, rumbling or droning noise is highly intrusive. The cause for the phenomenon has been widely speculated over four decades, and it looks like there are many valid reasons for it. In 2015 scientific researchers found out that one instance of the Hum originates from the movement and pressure of giant, slow-moving waves. The Hum acts as an example in this article to discuss art’s potential to deal with the human relation to what is alien to human perception – namely, natural phenomena. To deal with the alien, humans construct geomyths, which are as important in binding the human with nature as science – perhaps even more. I will bring in Steve Goodman’s work on vibrational force to bring depth into the Hum as a phenomenon. By looking more closely into Iain Hamilton Grant’s work on Schelling and Ray Brassier’s work on Sellars I will investigate what kind of methods art might learn from geomythology and epistemology for coexisting with that which is alien to human perception.