“In ‘third nature’, listening is a matter of a more hybrid act of focusing in which the borders between human and environment,…
“In ‘third nature’, listening is a matter of a more hybrid act of focusing in which the borders between human and environment, human and machine are more fluid. This means that a profound listening experience of environmental sound has to be more than a meter attentive form of listening. The ear is helped, guided or manipulated into a specific direction by technological means. In order to successfully steer a technologically supported and enhanced focus, however, a very conscious choice has to be made beforehand on what to listen for, even if the final result is not entirely predictable. In a way, this also happens with laptop music, when the musician, in the words of Cascone, creates a ‘density of information, multiple channels all turned on at once, whole listeners position themselves in this field’; the artist creates a kind of ‘scene’ for the listener to dwell in.”— Bosma, Josephine. Nettitudes: Let’s Talk Net Art. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2011.