To Hear Crickets

To Hear Crickets is a two-part piece about the crickets around us. It was the output of my first studio at Srishti, exploring Human-Animal Narratives in the Anthropocene. My zine and video attempt to condense my study that explains how anthropogenic sounds and artificial lights at night together affect the crickets’ ability to select the strongest mates, causing weaker progeny and a cyclical effect on the rest of the food chain. I designed both of the science communication materials to be conversation starters and not the communication of the research itself.

This project started when I got curious about the patterns of cricket noises in my garden. It had me sitting on grass barefoot, stepping out of home with my camera well into the evening, and even sitting in a mosquito-ridden space to conceptualise my pieces on-site. These are methods I wouldn’t normally follow, given my preference for secondary research methods. They taught me to look outside of myself and situate myself in my surroundings. They helped me think differently about representing an insect I could barely see, and gave me constraints that started my journey of rediscovering my style and creative abilities.