Ecotonality, or Adapting Soundscape Ecology to Creative Practice: Ecological Sound Art Responses to Four South Australian Ecosystems presents a practice-led research project, introducing Ecotonality, a creative framework which connects and adapts the principles, frameworks and methods of the ecological discipline, ‘soundscape ecology’ to ecological sound art practice. It consists of a portfolio of creative works and 30,000-word exegesis. Drawing on the growth of research in soundscape ecology (and by extension ecoacoustics, bioacoustics and acoustic ecology), in the past decade, the Ecotonal Creative Framework considers the adaptation of soundscape ecology research, fieldwork and analysis as it relates to creative concerns of project conception, data collation, creative material preparation, compositional assemblage, artistic realisation and post-project reflection. Additionally, the framework appraises roles of human and non-human agency (via Karen Barad and Timothy Morton), and the inherent role and implications of technological mediation, as related to soundscape ecology and creative practice. Ecotonality allows a reconsideration of the macro- and micromorphological relationships of ecosystems in creative works, which engages the ethical concerns of site-specific practice and impact of creative work on ecosystems and soundscapes. Four creative site-specific responses are subsequently discussed, each in response a different South Australian site - Mobilong Swamp (swamp ecosystem), Long Island (riparian ecosystem), Featherstone Place (urban ecosystem) and Farina (desert ecosystem) - and each employing multichannel surround sound setups and acoustic instrumentation. These creative project act as case studies of the implementation of the Ecotonal Creative Framework, creatively expressing ideas related to place, ecosystem, soundscape and identity. Through the recording, manipulation and utilisation of extant material circumstances of particular places, (i.e. their contemporary soundscape and ecosystem), the resultant creative responses provide commentary on ecological, sociocultural, political and spiritual circumstances, histories and identities. 

https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/128786