Earthen Sound explores the relationship between sound and matter through the design of resonant clay vessels. The project is inspired by ancient sonic uses of clay and the local historical significance of the material to London.

Adopting a materialist conception of sound as a primordial flow of matter and energy, a sonic flux, the project sees the design of Listening Bells – clary vessels that, when imposed upon a landscape, generate unique recordings intrinsically tied to the materiality of their time and place.

Computational design methods are paired with ceramic 3D printing in the creation of the listening bells. Working within the traditions of the clay vessel as a sculptural form, their geometries express ideas around noise, flux, and change.

The Listening Bells perform an iterative recording process, revealing the continuous mutual conditioning of the physical properties of the vessel and the sounds surrounding it. Sited within the Lower Lea Valley in East London, a place of significant change over the years, these recordings can be seen as convergences of geological and historical flows within the stratum of the sonic flux.