ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on works of environmental sound art that are fundamentally reliant on an interrelationship with the environment. The history of the soundwalk involved experiments in bringing the visitor to the source of the sounds, rather than the other way around. The artistic decision to work with environmental sounds was greatly enabled by advances in audio recording technology, beginning in the 1960s. The miniaturization of the reel-to-reel tape recorder, the availability of the cassette player, the use of portable digital players, and the wireless transmission of sounds from remote locations have all presented the artist with powerful tools. Site-specific works are generally conceived by the artist for a particular space. The installation was intended to raise awareness of the plight of animal ecologies the world over as well as to provide a space in which one could find solace in the midst of natural sounds from another part of the world.
