Roar – meaning
Study on interspecies vocalisations

Presentation

“Roar – meaning” is an art-science project that investigates imaginary forms of communication inspired by the sounds of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens).

It is a participatory audiovisual work but also a study on the recognition of certain sounds and the search for identity through them.

Otariids tend to congregate in large colonies during the breeding season. Females give birth to one pup per season and are the only ones to feed it. Mothers alternate foraging trips at sea with nursing periods on land. These frequent separations between mothers and offsprings require a well-developed individual recognition system to reunite.

The recognition process is essential for both the survival of the young and the health of the mother.

Sound is a link between mother and offspring. Biology understands these sounds as acoustic signatures.

The artistic research we propose wonders what happens if we seek to be like this animal, to put ourselves in its place, to imagine its listening rhythms, its capacity to be in sound?

We are studying whether we can recognise these roars. We are paying attention. We are looking for new forms of coexistence.

Download complete project in PDF (Spanish)

Roar – meaning
Study on interspecies vocalisations

Project
Martín Virgili

Production
Candela Chirino

Camera and editing
Maximiliano Tazza

Sound
Guido Bressan

Voice-over
Eduardo Herrera

Biology Specialist
Dra. Gisela Giardino
Dra. Sofía Copello

Roars
Paula Elgarrista
Gisela Giardino
Juan Pablo Se Copon
Carolina D’alessandro
Lucila Dovao Medin
Sofia Copello
Maria Alejandra Estifique
Francisco Ramallo
Candela Chirino
Guido Bressan
Matias Tazza
Francisco Bezich
Leila Ale Wagner
Agustina Suero
Pablo Engel
Ines Drangosch
Manuela Sanchez
Paola Carobino
Florencia Campoamor
Araceli Cora Garcia
Patricia Di Benedetto
Agustina Crespo
Juan Cerono
Ailen Kowalyik
Carmen Theodossiou
Agustin Torbero
Valentina Belen De Prado
Ada Russo
Federico M. Valdéz
Nestor Machado
Alejandro Cesar Torres
Sabrina Beltrame
Carlos Alberto Britez
Juan Esteban Montepagano
Virginia Jonas
Sofia Dominguez
Candela Latorre
Ariel Guissarri
Maru Stella
Martín Virgili
Vera Lecko

Recorded in Mar del Plata
September – December 2023

Centro de Arte y Ciencia (CEAC)
UTN – Mar del Plata