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The Longest Hum is a participatory vocal work, conceived by Tina Stefanou, to create the world’s longest collective hum.
The hum is a gentle, musically democratic and direct way to interact with both humans and the more-than-human. Hums are utterances found in the voice of humans, machines, and non-human species, as well as sonic artefacts found within the botanical world, and planetary rotation. It is an utterance that challenges the logical isolation of the English language - it is pre-speech, subterranean, pre-linguistic, pre-enunciative and within it exists pure potential. It acts as a conduit between sound relationships that connect the human experience to sounds found outside of it. Creating a living, resonating web, this work will communicate a sonic experience of location and connectedness for participants.
We love your hums; all you need to do is record it on your phone and upload it to our web platform. The hum can be from your voice, or the voice of your fridge, dog or thunderstorm. This will then enter a collective hum which will run and stretch for 21 years. Why 21 years you might ask? Honouring The Spirit of ‘21 and an affirmative hope for the future, we are creating a real-time time-capsule full of curiosity and thick relational webs, as we head further into all sorts of changes.
What will we sound like in 21 years? How will technology develop? How will we re-tell stories of hum’s past?
Can’t wait to hum with you!
Love, Tina