poop my mind
— challenging the Hierarchies in human value
"Hello, Hui-Chun. I know you are strugglingwith depression and can not tell what'sgoing on through your consciousness. Don'tworry. I totally understand your feelingsand made a song to respond to you."
Speculative/Sound Design, July 2021
Designer: Hui-Chun Yang
Composer: Hui-Chun Yang
OCTOPUS v.s HUMAN VALUE
Inspiration
The digestive and excretory organs of octopuses are very close to each other.
As an octopus digests, food passes through the brain and is excreted through the siphon , which is very close to the beak used for feeding. [1]
Question
Is Poop Inferior Or Superior Than Mind?
What if human digestion and excretion took place through the brain? Can we still stick to the dualistic value of feces being inferior and consciousness being superior?
Therefore, I explored this question through prototyping and music-making, speculating that my poop understands my thoughts better than my consciousness does.
.png)
Speculation
POOP READS EMOTIONS
As research has shown, bacteria in the gut can communicate with the brain through the central nervous system[2], the poop can contain chemicals from my physical and mental activities.
Therefore, my poop can preserve my thoughts and emotions, signal the chemical substance, and send it to a DAW to generate my own sound from poop.
Me after listening to the song from my poop:
"Hello, my poop. I appreciate that at least you understand my emotions, which gives me great comfort. It made me realize maybe consciousness isn't that reliable."
Reflection
The Harmful Binary Opposition
The human/non-human and culture/nature binaries are ingrained in our values. However, this often leads to social tragedies and natural disasters. So if we put aside our arrogance and try to discover the messages other beings are revealing, we might have a more inclusive perspective and a healthier relationship with our planet.
