The project explores some areas of sensory anthropology, and has developed to include exploration of sounds and music with images and words and how in sensory terms these modes inflect each other in our perceptions and cognitions.

The videos on this website offer an exploratory, sensory experience of the natural world by looking and listening. They are of four kinds: Ikons which are short reflective observations; Haiku which are longer videos usually about 4 minutes; Etudes which are thematic studies up to 20 minutes; and Opus, which are long narrative pieces.

HARK explores embodied knowledge practices and is a highly collaborative and participatory project. There is a HARK Collective, a group of video artist and musicians who have worked on the various projects and also produced a sound album. We also welcome and encourage participation in our events and try to create sound environments in which participants can play, improvise and find their ‘voice’.

It is important to note that HARK’s sensory anthropology work is culture bound and ‘western’, and does not attempt to make cross cultural comparisons or enter the field of ethnomusicology and the grammars of different kinds of music. In short, we are exploring the local aspects of sensory listening and looking at ‘knowledge practices’ both in terms of how ‘audiences’ respond and how performers, create, improvise, play and collaborate.