Events / Social Acoustics
2020-09-28 - 07:00 PM / Errant Sound, Berlin
with presentations by:
Brandon LaBelle, On Acoustic Justice
Zorka Wollny, Let’s make noise!
The experiences of hearing and being heard contribute greatly to the work of recognition and mutuality, supporting the building of community as well as the struggles by which to resituate identity. Through a range of acoustic gestures and practices, from disruptive signals to vibrant ecologies of togetherness, hearing and being heard become scenes or processes of reorientation, affinity, escape, and solidarity. The issue of social acoustics is put forward as a research framework in order to map out the ways in which sound and listening lend to social, cultural, and political experiences and imaginaries. In addition, the topic of acoustic justice is raised, suggesting that the movement of sound through a given environment carries questions of social equality and the power of aurality. How might we think through understandings of agency from a sonic perspective? Are there particular listening practices that may impact onto scenes of injustice? What types of acoustic arrangements might we make in support of a diversity of voices and orientations?
The seminar brings together participating artists to reflect upon sounding and hearing, collaboration and listening, and how these operate within their own practices. This includes questions of musicality and (social) composition, radio practices and sonic archiving, voice and embodiment.
The first in a series of three seminars planned at Errant Sound. Upcoming seminars include: October 24 with Achim Lengerer, and November 15 with Julia Tieke, introduced and moderated by Brandon LaBelle.
Brandon LaBelle is an artist, writer and theorist working with sound culture, voice, and questions of agency. He develops and presents artistic projects and performances within a range of international contexts, often working collaboratively and in public. Works include “The Other Citizen”, Club Transmediale, Berlin (2019), “The Autonomous Odyssey” (with Octavio Camargo), Kunsthall 3,14 Bergen (2018), “The Ungovernable”, Documenta 14, Athens (2017), “The Hobo Subject”, Gallery Forum, Zagreb (2016), and “The Living School”, South London Gallery (2016). He is the author of The Other Citizen (2020), Sonic Agency (2018), Lexicon of the Mouth (2014), Diary of an Imaginary Egyptian (2012), Acoustic Territories (2010; 2019), and Background Noise (2006; 2015). He lives in Berlin and is Professor in new media at the The Art Academy, University of Bergen.
Zorka Wollny is an interdisciplinary artist who directs and choreographs performative works in collaboration with musicians, actors, dancers, and community members. Operating at the intersection of visual art, theater, activism, and contemporary music, her projects often explore the voice and body as tools of expression and public debate and respond directly to the histories and functions of specific architectural sites. She has staged performances in museums, factories, and empty buildings. Her works have been presented worldwide, including at Chicago Architecture Biennial, Biennale in Porto Allegre, De Appel, Amsterdam; Heroines of Sound Festival,Berlin; International Studio and Curatorial Program, New York; Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg, Germany; Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Jazz and Experimental Music Festival, Istanbul; Akademie der Künste, Berlin; Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig; Savvy Contemporary, Berlin; Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade; Royal College of Art, London; and the 4th World Social Forum, Mumbai.
