Bitter Jackass: A Sound Park in Belize
By Philip Blackburn and Preston Wright

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What? Where?

In May 2003 we bought 93 acres of raw jungle (technically subtropical deciduous cohune forest, moist high bush, or tropical evergreen seasonal broadleaf lowland forest over calcareous soils: tehuantepec-peten variant, according to who you ask). With old-growth trees of 150 feet tall, it sits fortress-like in an area of orange groves and pasture 1/2 a mile off the nearest “road” (some call it Society Hall, some Black Man Eddy, and some the Caribbean Fruit Growers’ Road — there are no signs). We are in the foothills of the Maya Mountains, between the Tapir Mountain Reserve and Mile 57 of the Western Highway, midway between the capital Belmopan and San Ignacio town. That’s 50 miles from the ocean and the largest coral reef in the Northern Hemisphere. The former centers of Ancient Maya civilization, Tikal and Caracol are a few dozen miles in the other direction.

Belize was once British Honduras, so speaking English comes in handy. If you’re still not sure, go find a map of Central America (CA no longer means California to us), find Guatemala, Honduras, or Yucatan, Mexico, and we’re in the middle. You can fly into Belize City. Perhaps you recognize it from Temptation Island or Mosquito Coast.

Within a 10 mile radius we have Mennonite fruit-tree grafters, butterfly farms, pre-Classic Maya pyramids, miles of limestone caves with ancient pottery artifacts, a few decent restaurants and a cow-foot soup lunchstand.

Why? 1. To escape Bush by going bush; 2. Because it was cheap and our modest monies go further there; 3. Because it doesn’t have Minnesota winters and the attendant short growing season (annual rainfall: 73”, temperatures between 65-85ºf); 4. To build a sound park.

To elaborate. In 10 years or so we expect to be living there. Right now, there is nothing but impenetrable jungle. Watch this space.

So the idea is to fashion a place for ears and plants, for the arts of listening and growing:
• A retreat center for artists to spend time making environmentally-sensitive sound sculpture;
• A living art project;
• An eccentric folly;
• A venue for performing wilderness events, Surrealist eco-theater, Deep Listening meditations, jungle operas, ethnobotanical tours, high tech neoprimitivism, and whatnot.

All decisions about developing the land and dwellings will be made to minimize environmental impact and maximize acoustic interest. Water will come from an underground well in the karst limestone, drawn by electricity from solar panels.

Living areas will be like living inside a gigantic musical instrument: tunnels, reflective surfaces, parabolic walls and domes, acoustic focal points, anechoic chamber, echo spots: a grand sonic architecture, expanding on the Ancient Maya art of acoustically-designed pyramids, staircases, and ball courts.
The forest will have walking trails that lead to sculpture sites, plantings that become living art (such as a wind-powered organ made of living bamboo), fruit trees, edible and medicinal plants, viewing/listening areas, a creek leading to a pond for iguanas and waterfowl, an aerial tower for observing bird life at canopy level…

Next Steps

Philip will be on site March – April 2004 commanding a bulldozer. The government will be implored to cut the access road to allow entry to the property. A Guatemalan (cheap) hut may be built to allow for staying on site until a more elaborate dwelling can be planned. Preliminary trails and pond will be cut.

Why call it Bitter Jackass?

Jackass Bitters is a common herb for curing malaria, diabetes, infections, intestinal parasites, with general antiviral and antibacterial properties. We expect to make good use of it on the way to becoming decrepit and curmudgeonly.

The alternative is Xochipili, the Ancient Maya god of music, dance, plants and sex; but can you remember it?

What you can do

• Send money
• Buy neighboring properties so we can expand this Shangri-La Utopia
• Come visit in a while and help build something or make art

Here are some things that make us drool:

A bamboo wind organ

The wonders of lightweight concrete construction

Poustinia Earth Art Park

Edward James's Las Posas

James Turrell's Roden Crater

Sonic Architecture

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