49m², year 10, autumn 2025 | Observation by Anoek Mensink

During my working period — from 21 September to 20 December 2025 — I repeatedly returned to this patch of nature over the course of three months. I moved within the 7-by-7-metre area, where the small willow tree slowly shed its leaves and the grass began to bend under its own increasing weight.

On the 49m² site, I conducted a sound investigation on a macro level. For this, I used, among other things, contact microphones. These are able to capture subtle low-frequency vibrations within materials or in the ground, which are then converted into audible frequencies. In this way, I was able to make perceptible sounds that are generally inaudible to humans.

With this work, I sought to reveal a dimension of the site that usually escapes our perception. I recorded sounds from the soil, the plants and the tree at different moments and under varying weather conditions: creaking, gnawing, tapping, walking insects, swaying branches, storm, wind and rain. I positioned myself somewhere between observer and participant. Using this archive of sounds, I composed tracks that focus on deviations from the sounds I expected, allowing a sense of wonder to arise around a piece of land we would not normally pause to consider.

These composed tracks were engraved onto a vinyl record under the album title Fonie, which means “sound” in Greek. The titles of the compositions gave me the same sensation as some of the sounds themselves: a feeling in which you are not entirely sure where you are or what you are hearing. When there is no reference point to hold on to, one must experience rather than understand: rough bark, beneath the land, air weeps, swaying grass and fly with me.

Life speaks to itself, and in this album you can listen in for a moment.

I invite you to listen to the album while standing on the 49m² site in the Zaartpark.

Fonie, which means “sound” in Greek, is an album that emerged during my residency on the 49 m² site. I conducted a sound investigation using contact microphones. These microphones can capture subtle low-frequency vibrations within materials or in the ground, which are then converted into audible frequencies. In this way, I was able to make perceptible sounds that we have never heard before.

For this album, I composed five tracks, each highlighting a different dimension of the site: from deep within the soil to the interior of the willow tree.

With this album, I aim to create a moment of attentiveness in which we allow ourselves to be filled with wonder by everything that unfolds beyond our perception. Life speaks to itself, and in these compositions you can listen in for a while.

ruwe schors (rough bark) — A composed piece made from all recordings of the willow: the creaking within the trunk, the wind rattling through the leaves, and the sighing of the trunk rooted in the ground.

onder land (beneath the land) — A composed piece built from sounds recorded in the earth: crackling, water seeping into the soil, and the tapping of unknown presences beneath the land.

lucht tranen (air tears) — A composed piece of sounds recorded during rain showers, in which the increasing intensity of falling drops and the whispering of dew characterise autumn.

wuivend gras (swaying grass) — A composed piece of sounds recorded in grass and plants, where insects chirp, gnaw and crackle.

vlieg mee (fly with me) — A composed piece of the air: the swelling wind, the beating of wings, and the calls of birds.