Title:

Tales of Sonic Displacement

Sub-Title: SoCCoS: A Sound-based Artist Residency Network
Editors: Julia Eckhardt & Luís Costa
Graphic Design: Luís Costa
Redaction: Henry Andersen, Julia Eckhardt, Taïca Replansky & Rui Costa
Printing: Tipografia Beira Alta (Viseu, Portugal)
ISBN: 978-989-97205-9-6
Legal Deposit: 422672/17
Copyright: © 2016, all rights reserved
by Edições Nodar, Q-O2, DISK Berlin, Hai Art, Binaural/Nodar
& CCA Ujazdowski Castle


www.soccos.eu

Contacts: Q-O2 workspace

Koolmijnenkaai 34
1080 Brussels
Belgium
+32-2454824
info@q-o2.be
www.q-o2.be

DISK - Initiative Bild & Ton e.V.

Veteranenstr 21
10119 Berlin
Germany
+49 (0)30 44041852
www.ctm-festival.de

Hai Art ry
Pölläntie 455
90480 Hailuoto 
Finland
info@haiart.net
www.haiart.net

Binaural/Nodar
Rua do Seixo, 5
3670-280 Vouzela
Portugal
+351-232723160
info@binauralmedia.org
www.binauralmedia.org

A-I-R Laboratory
CCA Ujazdowski Castle
ul. Jazdów 2 {CSW} Zamek Ujazdowski
00-467 Warsaw
Poland
+ 48-22 628 12 71
info@csw.art.pl
www.csw.art.pl
 TALES
OF
SONIC
DISPLACEMENT
SoCCoS : Sound of Culture - Culture of Sound

A Sound-based Artist Residency Network

TA B L E OF
SECTION 1 006
SoCCoS: A Sound-based Artist Residency Network
Antie Greie : Hai Art (FI)
Sonic wilderness 009
Luís Costa : Binaural/Nodar (PT)
Poetics of permanence 013
Julia Eckhardt : Q-O2 (BE)
Home through foreign ears 017
Taïca Replansky : DISK Berlin (DE)
Dissolving sonic borders 021
Krzysztof Marciniak :
A-I-R Laboratory CCA Ujazdowski Castle (PL)
In the centre 025

SECTION 2 028
Artists in Residence

SECTION 3 186
Texts by Invited Researchers
Annie Goh
Migrational listening 187

Angharad Closs Stephens

Sounding Europe: Nationality and the affects of language 193

Leandro Pisano
SoCCoS: Critical cartographies of sound in Europe 199
Elen Flügge
Connecting flights, common sounds 205

SECTION 4 212
Biographies


CONTENTS
Kaffe Matthews 030 DISK Berlin Micro-Residency
(CTM 2016 Festival) 112
Helena Espvall 034
Maciej Kierzkowski &
Pierre Berthet 036 Jarosław Urbański 116

Yannick Guédon 040 Frederik Croene & Lilia Mestre 120

Juan Duarte Regino 044 Ryoko Akama 122

Caroline Claus (A-I-R Laboratory) 046
Heimo Lattner & Judith Laub 124
Luka Ivanović a.k.a. lukatoyboy 048
Q-O2 Micro-Residency
Susana Santos Silva & (the other the self) 126
Torbjörn Zetterberg 052
Donia Jourabchi & Davide Tidoni 132
Hai Art Micro-Residency #1
(Field Techno) 056 Camera Sonora 136

GrawBöckler 062 Giorgio Mega & Marta Romaszkan 140

Soundwalk Collective 068 David Birchall & Vicky Clarke

a.k.a. Noise Orchestra 144
Jaume “Mal” Ferrete 074
Binaural/Nodar Micro-Residency
Aurélie Lierman 076 (Vougascapes: Around the water dam) 150

Tiina Laurila 080 Hai Art Micro-Residency #2

(Sonic Wilderness Camp) 156
Xabier Erkizia 082
Juan Duarte Regino & 164
Tiina Sainila & Mikko Kanninen 086 Sébastien Piquemal

Marija Bozinovska Jones Marialuisa Capurso 170

a.k.a. MBJ Wetware 090
Rima Najdi with Kathy Alberici
Daniel Brożek
& Ana Nieves Moya 174
a.k.a. Czarny Latawiec 094
Julian Bonequi 178
Caroline Claus (Q-O2) 098

Deena Abdelwahed 102 Francesca Saraullo & Cabiria Chomel 182

Peter Cusack 106

SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK

SECTION 1
SoCCoS: A Sound-based Artist
Residency Network

6
 INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
SoCCoS (Sound of Culture – Culture of Sound) is a residency and
research network engaging with exploratory music, sound art, and
culture. Five European organisations collaboratively designed the
project as an exchange network in which artists, curators, researchers,
and non-professionals could work together on an equal basis.

S oCCoS began with the simple This publication aims to

idea that a residency abroad can be
more meaningful for artists than one at
home, that through time and space away
from known environment and everyday
routines new sites and different cultures
can be discovered, skills developed, and
networks expanded.
In turn, the experiences of the
returning artists will strengthen their
artistic community at home and benefit
a broader culture of sound. Creative
means of communication will have to
be invented and, against the mirror of a
different culture, the artist’s own habits
can be both questioned and reinforced.
demonstrate what a sound art resi-
dency can mean. It does not represent
all activities of the project, but rather
takes three distinct perspectives: that of
the artist, the organiser, and the outside
observer - in this case four researchers
deepening the project through related
topics.
SoCCoS is shared by the organ-
isations Hai Art (FI), Binaural/Nodar (PT),
DISK Berlin (DE), A-I-R Laboratory (PL),
and was initiated and led by Q-O2 work-
space Brussels (BE).
Julia Eckhardt

Five organisations collab-

oratively designed the project as an
exchange network in which artists, cura-
tors, researchers, and non-professionals
would work together on an equal basis.
We explored topics on the thresholds of
other domains, opening questions like:
What can art mean or do for society?
Who is the artist? What do we hear and
how do we listen? What is the signifi-
cance of context?

7
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK

8

Sonic wilderness
Thoughts around the decentralisation of art and culture, visions for
rural art practice, remote influence in broader network constellations,
art, and friendship.
by Antye Greie
Hai Art, Hailuoto (FI)
S oCCoS has been a tremen-
dous surprise to me. Out of a compli-
cated application and guideline process
came moments overflowing with fun,
excitement, togetherness, connect-
edness, kindness, and unprecedented
sound art. Whether from professionally
established or emerging artists, the
creativity these residencies unleashed
has surpassed even my most naïve
expectations.
Northern and remote
Hai Art docked into SoCCoS
from our remote base in northern
Finland, 200 km south of the Arctic
circle. Situated on the island of Hailuoto,
just off the coast of Finland’s fourth
biggest city, Oulu, Hai Art represents
the most remote contribution to the
SoCCoS network. With a conference,
10+ artistic residencies, a children’s
listening programme, and four years of
experience in cultural locality, the idea
of extending and diversifying Hai Art’s
network seemed worth pursuing. The
fact that SoCCoS concentrated on sound
as an emerging field allowed Hai Art to
line up with like-minded organisations
in a visually dominant culture.
9
SONIC WILDERNESS
For us, the goal was to improve
the sound curation, production, and
facilitation of our residencies.
During the period of SoCCoS,
Hai Art developed a new residency
format - the collaborative hybrid inter-
vention camp. This residency format
better suits our set up and multiplies
the effect of cultural exchange.
We started out with a single,
three-day residency with lukatoyboy
(see pages 48-51), who explored the
island in various ways. His final work
was a sonification event in Hailuoto’s
landmark lighthouse on International
Lighthouse Day. Lukatoyboy worked
with his signature text-based walk-
ie-talkie interventions, an approach
which inspired local cultural worker
Tiina Laurila to incorporate these
devices in future workshops which she
later conducted in Portugal during her
own SoCCoS-supported residency (see
pages 80-81).
To spell this out simply: a
nomadic Serbian sound artist came to
remote Finland and inspired a local
cultural worker, who then undertook
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK
her own residency with Binaural/Nodar
in rural Portugal where she ran a three-
week children’s workshop using her own
techniques plus those inspired by the
Serbian artist. Subsequently, her own
residency influenced local practice in
Portugal.
Next, we organised a micro-
residency with ten emerging artists,
and even beyond the appearance of
the northern lights, magic happened.
The intense multi-cultural one-week
camp was incredibly fruitful, resulting
in 10+ audio (visual) works and several
lasting friendships. The residency house
was played and amplified, outdoor
intervention scores were created, radio
shows were produced (see pages 56-61).
Coincidentally, I listened to a
Radio MACBA podcast in which Franco
“Bifo” Berardi argues that friendship
is one of the most resistant tools
against imperialism. This cemented my
resolve to change from single residency
programme to theme-based, one-week,
plug-out-and-play, sonic intervention
camps.
The second camp, called
#Sonicwilderness, hosted nine estab-
lished artists, researchers, and journal-
ists, with a focus on instrument building
(particularly on home-made, off-grid
battery-powered devices). Proposals
were built and tested: feedback systems,
creations based on Arduino sensors, a
mushroom synthesiser, energy-bending
mycelium signification systems. We
organised listening sessions and
recorded analogue improvisations in the
forest at dawn (see pages 156-163).
These camps are structured in
such a way that all participants live in
a single house in a very silent part of
the island. Participants have to live in
double rooms and share two kitchens,
two bathrooms, two saunas, and a
wooden fireplace near the bay. Food is
self-financed and cooked in teams; we
decided on vegetarian food by default.
Two to four hours of organised inter-
ventions and trips took place every day
and the rest of the time was free for
research, group work, cooking, listening,
discussions, building, charging batteries
etc. There are a lot of restrictions on the
island and these have to be communi-
cated. We are learning to plan camps
more precisely and to execute them
with less administrative effort and more
focus on play.
Ok, as a millennial would
say: ‘these camps gave me life’, and it
is remarkable to me that something
so extraordinary can arise out of such
bureaucratic structures.
Silence and
collaboration
The unique energy of our
specific and remote location became
useful in a wider, transnational context
without exploiting the place’s beauty
but by enhancing it in unexpected
ways. I assume that the sense of crowd-
sourced creativity, knowledge sharing,
the peaceful space with its retreat-like
quietness, the sight of an actual horizon
and the overwhelming visibility of stars
(due to lack of artificial light) supports
these results.
It has bewildered and
rewarded me with a rare sense of
content.
10
 SONIC WILDERNESS

sonic wild code is ok. It is a truthful study and under-

scatters between taking to investigate ways of listening.
small pines Sound of Culture - Culture of Sound is a
blue techno abstraction visionary project which the whole world
between can look to and be inspired. What if
mushroom networks governing bodies all over the world set
ferry gate for silence preservation up peace projects such as this instead
diamantine listening financing and tolerating militarisation.
and amplified set ups
Again, the key to everything is
Quite often, islands are treated listening – spending time to listen to a
with nostalgic, heritage-turned-kitsch place.
ideas of culture and tourist fetishism.
Somehow, the camps at Hai Art work in
opposition to what tourism perpetrates,
assembling inspiration for practicing
artists who, in exchange, leave their own
memories and altered realities behind.

The partner meetings in all the

diverse SoCCoS network locations have
been another necessary yet enriching
experience. Portugal, Berlin, Warsaw,
Brussels, and Hailuoto all very much
stand for a diverse Europe, for the trac-
tion between rural and urban thinking,
for the exchange and benefit of decen-
tralising art, and for the dispersal of
artistic organisations and diffusion plat-
forms by inclusion and diversity. Each
locality has its own unique potential to
stimulate artists. This project develops a
vision of how urban and remote places
can interact and benefit from one
another. Personally, I was inspired by
the international diversity and quality
of the curation. The discussions we went
through together have strengthened my
curatorial practice.

Critical coexistence
This intercultural exchange,
encouraged by the often demonised EU,
can be a vision for creative and critical
coexistence. If that sounds hippie, that

11
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK

12

Poetics of permanence
In a forgotten corner of Europe, practicing sonic localism through
the listening of rural densities, poeticising permanent realities and
convoking alterity through the art of sounds.
by Luís Costa
Binaural/Nodar, Viseu Dão Lafões (PT)
A forgotten
corner of Europe
A long time ago, back in
the mid 70’s, when electricity was yet
to arrive in our rural village of Nodar
(located in the Gralheira mountain
range, Centre Portugal), we would
listen to elders telling wonderful and
sometimes frightening stories by the
fireplace in the kitchen, where families
would gather during long winter nights.
These stories mixed the wanderings
of maverick characters such as musi-
cian beggars, blind farmers, beautiful
witches, devilish priests, and ancestors
coming back from the dead to check
their estates. In a sense, these stories
and being close to people who were
living essentially in the same way they
did two centuries ago, made us appre-
ciate a series of what we would now call
values: being humble and hard-working
but at the same time being outspoken
and free to imagine and share unor-
thodox ideas and stories, and being
permanently conscious of the fragility
of life and of the enduring presence of
the past and of nature surrounding their
communities.
13
POETICS OF PERMANENCE
Many years later, around 2006,
we decided to establish Binaural/Nodar,
a rural sound art and experimental
music residency project in the village
we felt so attached to. In a way, to start
inviting international experimental
artists to work and interact with the
local context and, more importantly,
with local people, was our humble
homage to the generations of maver-
icks who lived and wandered in these
remote villages, assuming that art is still
one of the few areas of human activity
where idiosyncrasies and strange ideas
can be accepted and understood.
When we started our project,
we were committed to a simple yet
powerful idea: that the opportunity to
make sound art in a place so detached
from sophisticated art circles would
require the freedom to really explore
expressive possibilities, to be able to
fail and not be surrounded by inquisi-
tive eyes and ears, and naturally to be
able to produce meaningful art that
could eventually go beyond the clichés
of mainstream discourses.
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK
Let’s face it: life is complex,
places are complex, and their history
is also complex and so much incom-
prehension is now present in Europe
(between countries, regions, popula-
tions, genders, political aisles, religions)
that listening to and creatively sharing
what the forgotten places of Europe
really are can be a valid morsel of hope
for a more open-minded future.
Fighting the same
friendly fight
After almost a decade of
existence, Binaural/Nodar received an
invitation from Q-O2 to be part of a
sound art residency network that would
apply to Creative Europe Programme’s
funding. This invitation, and all the
wonderful experiences and reflections
that followed, made us sure that this was
the right project at the right moment for
us, one that would broaden our mindset
and enable future possibilities. At last
we found good people fighting the same
friendly fight and living similar experi-
ences as ours yet in completely different
places within Europe.
After several years hosting
projects that explored thematic aspects
of the territory that were previously
proposed to artists (‘riverscapes’,
‘voicescapes’, local religion, rural archi-
tecture, social mobility) we decided
that with SoCCoS we should return to
the liberating nature of not having a
strict underlying theme for the artist
residencies to host, thus inviting them
to emphasise organic, expressive and
visceral interactions with (natural and
built) landscapes of the region through
performances and installations that
would be entirely conceived in situ from
the stimuli they received. We entitled
this series of artist residencies “Playing
the rural landscape”.
If we retrospectively analyse
the work of the great artists that we
hosted in 2015 and 2016 in the context
of SoCCoS network, we can identify
three parallel reflection streams for the
sound art works they created:
Listening to
sound densities
‘Rural’ as a dense context,
away from the naive sketches some
use to define these places as nothing
else than landscape and old things.
No, no, no! These places need to be
addressed with more patience and
subtlety. That’s why we remember with
affection French composer Yannick
Guédon’s viola performances in nature
for solo audience, which were a great
context for both physical detachment
and deep listening, or Swedish impro-
viser Helena Espvall’s instant cello and
electronics compositions in different
places around the tiny village of Açores
that produced amazing reverberations
in the landscape and made locals feel
they were being touched by the grace
of some Northern sonic goddess. And
speaking of densities, how can one not
feel touched by Italian vocal performer
Marialuisa Capurso questioning her own
artistic identity in a strangely beautiful
place like the top of the Caramulo
Mountain?
14

Poetics of
permanent realities
One of the counter-values of
local contexts such as our own is (still)
its distance from a certain progressive
optimism based on technological and
social change as necessarily positive.
We particularly question these tensions
between permanence and change
through our curatorial practice, which
values unlikely artistic encounters that
help to untie the ‘Gordian knot’ of a set
of complex dualities that are in place
(artist vs, community; local vs. global;
perennial vs. ephemeral; manual vs.
intellectual; practical vs. poetical; work
vs. art; rational vs. irrational; under-
standing vs. misunderstanding, etc.).
Therefore, we embrace artists
who really can grasp ancient but valu-
able narratives and we had three perfect
examples of that during our SoCCoS
residencies: Belgian sound artist Pierre
Berthet’s fragile sonic garden, a set of
micro-installations placed in a field
made with simple objects (metal cups
and pans, dry leaves, etc.) and tiny
electrical motors, Basque artist Xabier
Erkitzia’s quest for the screeching sound
of ox-carts that are still used in our
region, and finally Japanese sound and
visual artist Ryoko Akama’s poetics of
abandoned, forgotten or newly-found
memorabilia.
Convoking alterity
We always thought that artist
residencies are an interesting and some-
what “libertarian” context to bring imag-
inary possibilities to an isolated region
like ours, which can include technolo-
gies, connections, concepts and most
15
POETICS OF PERMANENCE
importantly, ways of social engagement.
Just by hosting international artists we
are therefore convoking small-scale
alterity without forcing any agenda, and
that can be beautiful.
Throughout our SoCCoS
residencies we witnessed several
examples of idiosyncratic projects
that followed unbeaten paths: Polish
artists Maciej Kierzkowski & Jarosław
Urbański brought together udu drums,
granite stone xylophones and local
traditional singing; Finnish sound
educator Tiina Lapola developed a
holistic series of workshops for chil-
dren around experimental sound,
body, movement, and nature; Mexican
artist Juan Duarte together with French
artist Sebastien Piquemal developed a
temporary FM station with local youths
using both global and local sounds,
Belgian composer Frederik Croene and
Portuguese performer Lilia Mestre used
their residency to investigative the
possibilities of performing impressions
of a place using unorthodox visual
scoring techniques, and finally we
hosted a one-week collective residency,
entitled Vougascapes, where ten partic-
ipants developed a free investigation
on the impacts of the recently built
Ribeiradio-Ermida water-dam, one that
produced a set of wonderful sound and
audiovisual pieces and performances
and that demonstrated how any subject
or any place can really be inspiring
with the right combination of focus and
perseverance.
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK

16

Home through
foreign ears
or: good neighbours and far friends
by Julia Eckhardt
Q-O2, Brussels (BE)
Artists as travellers
P ersonally, I can be afraid
of foreign places, of people whom I
don’t understand, of situations which
I cannot frame and recognise. I don’t
find it self-evident to leave my comfort
zone. I’m worried about how people
perceive me compared to their own
standards, feel guilty when they have
more hardship than I do, and most of all
I feel unsure about how my art, or the art
I’m involved in communicating, will be
received.
In consequence, I feel grateful
to those artists who come here, coura-
geously jumping into a different world
than the one they are used to, meeting
and working with people and places,
discovering and embracing the unknown
in this city which is rough and not
museatic at all. I’m grateful because in
a way it feels like they are substituting
for me. They allow me to discover this
place - which I think I know and so don’t
pay much attention to anymore - in a
different way, through their eyes and
17
HOME THROUGH FOREIGN EARS
ears. They make a bridge which I don’t
feel able to make. It is as if I had become
a guest in my own city and I enjoy it.
Brussels
The orbit in which Q-O2 oper-
ates as an artistic workspace is the centre
of Brussels, a complex and completely
urban context with all the benefits and
problematics that entail. The artists who
visit us as residents describe it as dirty,
noisy, grey, and smelling of lead. Yet,
they also find it inspiring, interesting,
welcoming – we don’t know why. Maybe
because it’s a city with many cracks
and little polishing, and thus, in a very
human way, it exposes the parameters
of cohabitation. Brussels, where almost
everybody has a background of migra-
tion, seems hospitable without being
host, able to provide a little spot for
everybody. At the same time it opens
fields of tension which are fertile soil
for artistic exploration.
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK
Within this context, most of
the artists who participated through the
SoCCoS network, have happily agreed
to work with, around, and about people
and places, stories and their languages.
In this way, for instance, Kaffe Matthews
conceived the Brussels version of her
Sonic Bikes in collaboration with various
communities, Heimo Lattner and Judith
Laub explored the limits of translation,
Jaume Ferrete talked his way through
Brussels researching masculinity,
Daniel Brozek discovered different local
language projects and radio initiatives.
Various workshops created bonds
with and between children, youths,
students, the mentally handicapped,
professionals, and, not least, local
organisations.
Places and spaces have also
been a topic for the artists and other
researchers who lodged here during the
last two years. Brussels’ urban design
and its failures has been an inspiration
for artistic projects and hybrid research
projects by for instance: Caroline Claus,
Peter Cusack, and Susana Santos Silva
and Torbjörn Zetterberg. All these
projects and activities have accompa-
nied us through the whirlwind of atten-
tion which carried our neighbourhood of
Molenbeek into world news in the last
two years.
Our overall topic at Q-O2 for
these two years was ‘the other the self’,
an exploration of gender issues through
the adjacent matters of voice, language,
and identity. This has linked nicely to the
framework of SoCCoS and has offered
several meaningful connections.
Culture of sound in
the micro and the macro
My own personal horizon of
sound curation was enriched through
the visits of, and exchange with the
partner organisations. Each of these
places has its own specific qualities
and since we are all organisations
which have been growing out of local
dynamics, each of the partner organ-
isations is strongly rooted locally. It
was a simple but illuminating discovery
that not only the quantity but also
the quality, content, and even form of
artistic organisations grounded on resi-
dencies are determined through place.
Rurality and urbanity, climate and light,
social structure and consciousness of
identity, socio-economic situation, and
much more, are all mirrored not only
by the artists and their work but by the
supporting structures as well.
I discovered very different
urgencies visiting the different part-
ners. In Warsaw, sound ecology and
activism were very present because of
the city’s precarious political situation.
The natural bond with tradition, and the
easy and humorous relation to religion
impressed me in Portugal. In Finland,
the most prominent trait appeared to
be the overwhelming yet also insistent
and unignorable natural environment.
The working circumstances in Berlin
seemed to be the most comparable to
our own situation, and still the differ-
ence in social tissue is reflected in the
topics and structure of the work of DISK
annex CTM.
This ‘hands-on’ experience of
the partners locality and context lead to
long debates on how to work together
whilst still remaining different, indi-
vidual, and specific as organisations –
each rooted in our own territory.
18
 HOME THROUGH FOREIGN EARS

The quality shift common language, by being a guest in

It seems to me that it is exactly
by enhancing these differences that the
collaboration has been made sustain-
able and fruitful. What we seem to share
is an approach in which context takes
preference over a traditional hierarchy
in the appreciation of art. Together, we
have taken each of the activities and art
works which occurred during the project
equally seriously, concerning ourselves
with only the impact each residency
had and the energy it released. In this
way, the notion of artistic quality gets
newly implemented and ‘big’ and ‘small’
culture melt into each other.
Most of the artists have picked
up on this, making it clear that the idea
of ‘quality’ in the arts has undergone a
shift. Quality has become relative. It no
longer stands on a ground of the implicit
standards of a homogeneous society.
a foreign or a home country, but also
by being host. As Martha Nussbaum
suggests, music offers possibilities to
extend solidarity; a ‘we-feeling’. It can
unlock seemingly deadlocked societal
and urban situations through creativity.
The artists have brought their own
culture and ways of dealing with the
world, and sometimes challenged us
with either their shyness or their outspo-
kenness, sometimes with their claims.
As curators, we have sometimes had
to guide them in how to be respectful
to ‘our’ territory. Some artists we met
again at their home context after having
hosted them in Brussels. Then I realised
how different they are between the two
settings, in consequence, and how much
we all depend on the energies which
surround us.

Sharing culture
through sound
Sound is a connector. It is easily acces-
sible and it operates on a very intuitive
level. It is an ideal means for ques-
tioning, exchanging, and developing
culture because it so easily touches on
other artistic, scientific, and political
domains. Sound is always available. It
is endlessly participative – at the scale
of the individual, the common, and the
public. It reflects societal matters such
as who we consider as minorities, who
is in power, where the socio-economic
interfaces are, how to deal with gender,
race and cultural territories. Sound is a
nice excuse for reflection and discussion.

Sound and music offer ways to

share, experience and undergo culture,
by collaborating, by inventing a different

19
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK

Photo by Udo Siegfried

20

Dissolving
sonic borders
by Taïca Replansky
DISK Berlin (DE)
“I n a talk on the [CTM Siberia]
festival’s opening night, Robert Henke
remarked that ‘the beauty of globali-
sation is that our generation, and the
ones to come, have access to the world
of sound’. This might read like a rather
naive statement, yet [...] it reflects the
optimism of this strange festival in the
back of beyond. This is why CTM Siberia
is an inspiring and hopeful experience,
where a new generation of Russian
artists, internationally connected, are
creating their own futures and narra-
tives in a way that’s at once very familiar
and unlike anything I’ve seen [...].”1
Luke Turner of British journal
The Quietus best describes the feeling
of elation we at DISK Berlin experienced
while completing our first action within
the SoCCoS project. Taking the oppor-
tunity presented by our collaborative
“CTM Siberia” festival with the Goethe-
Institut Novosibirsk, we immediately
organised two sound art residencies in a
city that marks the geographical centre
between eastern and western Russia.
Here, Berliners GrawBöckler created a
new chapter in their ongoing, language-
based “Let’s Talk about the Weather”
1 Turner, Luke. (2015). “The Quietus | Features | Three Songs No Flash | Eastern Dawns: CTM Siberia
& The Importance Of Dancing Across Borders”, http://thequietus.com/articles/18952-ctm-sibe-
ria-festival-review. 2015 The Quietus.
21
DISSOLVING SONIC BORDERS
project, which explores weather as the
lowest common denominator in starting
up a conversation (see pages 62-67).
Arthur Larrue, a collaborator of the inter-
national group Soundwalk Collective,
came to investigate the first steps of
a sonic research project exploring the
Отшельник (otchelnik) – the Russian
term commonly translated as “hermit”
but also used to designate a wider
international movement of people that
are withdrawing from conventional
society, or going “off the grid”, with a
focus here on those escaping to the
remote Altai Mountain region along the
Russian-Mongolian-Chinese border (see
pages 68-73).
Politics are not a safe subject
for discussion in Russia, where coded
descriptions are the norm. Here the
challenge and importance of encour-
aging deeper dialogue and exchange
through art and music is very apparent.
In a country where power and culture
are often centralised in Moscow and
Saint Petersburg, the physical gathering
of foreign artists, and more significantly,
of Russian artists from other cities,
helped cement links that until then had
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK
been mostly virtual. Many of the young
producers and creators in Russia are
very much used to exchanging online,
having met in person perhaps once or
twice, if ever. Despite this remoteness,
many young Siberians are steeped in a
conscious internationalism that feels
extremely necessary right now.
Traveling to Novisibirsk to
accompany GrawBöckler and Arthur
Larrue impacted us strongly in many
ways. Among other, these first two
projects unintentionally made very
clear much of what we wish to achieve
by supporting artistic residencies:
encouraging the artists to feel like an
Отшельник by leaving their own comfort
zone and exploring new ways of medi-
ating the non-verbal (and unfamiliar)
through sound. As a unique feature, DISK
Berlin is the only organisation within
the SoCCoS project that strongly linked
its residencies to the festival format –
namely within the yearly CTM Festival
we have produced in Berlin since 1999.
Most residencies were thus tied to CTM
Festival, providing a platform for pres-
entation and open public discussion of
the SoCCoS-supported works.
A curious residency narrative
emerged when our next two artistic
residencies, selected by an open call
via the ongoing CTM Radio Lab, both
strongly connected to the internet. One
of the Berlin-based residencies was held
by Deena Abdelwahed, who expounded
on the internet’s positive powers of
connection and discovery, based on
her own enlightening experiences
with the internet while growing up in a
conservative Tunisian family and society
(see pages 102-105). In direct contrast,
the second resident, Marija Bozinovska
Jones, who collaborated with Lithuanian
musician J.G. Biberkopf, dove headfirst
into the darker side of hyper-circulation,
globalisation, and the isolation and
anxiety of a life increasingly lived online
(see pages 90-93). At a time in which
the unifying power of the internet is
undermined by increased control and
algorithms that trap us into suffocating
echo chambers, the two residencies’
balance of hope and caution resonated
particularly well.
At the same time as our first
Radio Lab residents were performing
their works at CTM Festival that year,
we organised our first-ever Micro
Residency. It assembled 15 students
in music and sound art from Germany
and Europe who followed a week of
meetings and discussions in parallel to
performances and presentations at the
festival. We were pleasantly surprised
by the intense satisfaction from this
action and general potential of this new
format.
The first year of SoCCoS
opened up many reflections in the DISK
team about the limits of reaching out to
new audiences: Can you truly reach out
to someone very different from your-
self? As event organisers, what kind of
new formats of audience engagement
can we imagine? How far can we push
audience development? How ‘diverse’
can our audience become? This is some-
thing we are much looking forward to
continuing to explore.
Through a second round of
the CTM Radio Lab, we rounded out our
artistic residencies with Mexican artist
Julian Bonequi, who came to Berlin in
November 2016 to test, script and create
the basis for a piece that, like Marija and
Gediminas’ project, leapt firmly into the
future, but this time with a humorous,
sci-fi twist (see pages 178-181). Around
the same time, Berlin-based Lebanese
artist Rima Najdi took collaborators
22
 DISSOLVING SONIC BORDERS

Kathy Alberici and Ana Nieves Moya on a

two-week residency in Beirut to explore
themes of pervasive, indirect violence
and how people cope in navigating it in
their daily lives (see pages 174-177).

The types of sounds, the

research methods and the artistic
approaches of all of these artists might
seem incredibly diverse, but their preoc-
cupation with very current and perva-
sive issues hints at sound’s fundamental
unifying power and at its ability to touch
us directly, without interference from
our consciousness. In this immediacy lies
the power of sharing sounds and sonic
experiences across borders, of being
enthralled by unexpected similarities
or baffled by differences as musicians
and artists weave personal experiences
that open new spaces for collective
emotional understanding. This is not to
say that sound is inherently peaceful
or peace-inciting, but that it offers a
space that can be both abstract enough
to make room for difficult engagement,
and directly emotional enough to make
us stand up and act.

23
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK

24

In the centre
Trying to harmonise the sound waves of global and local politics.
by Krzysztof Marciniak
A-I-R Laboratory
Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (PL)
Centre for Contemporary Art
Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw is (phys-
ically) the most massive partner of the
SoCCoS network. It is enormous - like
one of the spaceships from Stanisław
Lem’s literary prose; armoured, but a
bit too cold and not really cosy. Artists
of various disciplines, who spend few
months in the Residencies Programme
(A-I-R Laboratory) at Ujazdowski,
sometimes remark on the similarities
between the institution and the setting
of Kafka’s novel „The Castle”. For SoCCoS
artists visiting Warsaw, but also for me
as their guide, their residencies were not
only the experience of moving in space
and culture but also an experience of
the various aspects of the system of
contemporary art. We were trying to
find our paths in labyrinths of corridors
and galleries, elevators and staircases,
rooms, cells in Excel spreadsheets,
studios, offices, warehouses, libraries.
Ujazdowski Castle – an
edifice of art, surrounded by
the rickety park extremely
polluted with noise from a
neighbouring highway.
25
IN THE CENTRE
Warsaw – a lively city,
contaminated with its
terrible history and recurrent
architectural, economical, and
political conflicts.
The institution was our plat-
form / space station. Artists were given
a place to sleep, flight tickets, budget
from EU and the municipality. Shouldn’t
we give this back to people?
As sound artists/researchers/
curators we are using public money to
produce sound. That is what we do our
entire lives. An artist residency is prob-
ably one of the most expensive way
to produce sound that has ever been
invented. Isn’t it a waste of money?
Here, in this monstrous factory with its
subtle oscillations, the feeling of being
a cog in the wheel is tangible. You can
feel the system of contemporary art and
economical paradoxes of its processing
in your skin.
I am the youngest curator
involved in the SoCCoS project. In two
years coordinating the Warsaw branch
of SoCCoS, I have spent more public
money than I have earned in my entire
life. Was it worth it?
SECTION 1 | SOCCOS: A SOUND-BASED ARTIST RESIDENCY NETWORK
The art of sound – a branch of
alchemy in which cash flows
transform into acoustic waves.
Publicly-funded sound – an
experimental way of redistrib-
uting wealth.
The value of sound is impos-
sible to measure with a volume meter or
by the number of tickets sold. We are not
interested in sound as entertainment
– our activities in the city are aimed at
spreading auditory competence and
curiosity. I also believe that there are
people who simply need to be given
access to proper sound. There is a huge
lack of good vibration in this society.
But one can also listen to sound
art without perceiving acoustic waves at
all. We are stimulating sound imagina-
tions not (only) eardrums. Listening can
be a starting point for various political,
intellectual, ecological, and aesthetic
actions. We are using it as a lever, as
a tool for silent resistance and social
acupuncture. But secretly we dream
about inventing a way of listening that
could be a detonator, a trigger for polit-
ical and ecological change for the better.
A sound artist – a contemporary
alchemist trying to invent a
miraculous oscillation to bring
peace and happiness.
As with many of the other
residents and Residency Programme
curators of Ujazdowski Castle, we chose
to work in the city, as far as possible
from galleries, clubs, and concert halls.
Institutions usually concentrate on
public events; we were interested in
public spaces. We were searching for
our audience in the streets, presenting
effects of our work in crowded places,
squares, parks, and bus stops - at rush
hour and in the middle of the night. I
can recall the tangled chains of sounds
and their echo-consequences ampli-
fying socially.
I remember a sound perfor-
mance by Davide Tidoni that lead to a
difficult discussion between its listeners,
which itself then became the starting
point for Warsound|Warszawa a book
by Donia Jourabchi and Taufan ter Weel
which was published a half year later.
Or a soundwalk with the participants of
a workshop that inspired another publi-
cation: Urban Sound Design Process
by Caroline Claus. And I recall a mega-
phone, which Edyta Jarząb had used as
a tool in one of her sonic interventions
that was later employed during dozens
of demonstrations and protests. And
an amateur DIY electroacoustic instru-
ment, first played as part of a workshop
lead by Juan Duarte and which I later
saw on a festival stage some 518 kilo-
metres from where it was first built,
being played by Izabela Smelczyńska,
who originally constructed it.
A sound – an acoustic
wave and its political
consequences.
Listening – analysing
presence and predicting the
future.
It is not pure sounds or
sounding objects that have such influ-
ence on our lives, but sound’s users and
the practices in which sound is used.
The transferral of knowledge was one
of our priorities during the residencies.
Each of the four artists who visited
Warsaw in the frame of SoCCoS, organ-
ised a number of workshops and collab-
orated intensively with Warsaw-based
researchers and practitioners. If sound
and listening are to be seen as critical
26
 IN THE CENTRE

factors in culture and politics, then they

are far more valuable when they are a
product of collective work, an effect of
social interaction. Mutual listening is
a basis for communication, collective
improvisation can be a basis for rein-
terpreting our environment, performing
sound and listening together in public
spaces is a way to communicate with the
environment - to be influenced and to
influence it. We can learn how to listen to
architecture or politics, how to describe
and neutralise acoustic violence. We can
share these skills and knowledge with
the citizens of Warsaw.

The paradoxes accumulating

above must be confusing and they can’t
be much help in the process of creating
work. Still, it would be improper to
ignore them. We should treat our posi-
tion seriously. CCA Ujazdowski Castle is
located in the centre of Jazdów govern-
mental district in Warsaw - somewhere
between the Russian embassy (1000m
south), the embassies of Germany and
France (650m north), and USA (900m
metres north-west). We are exactly
halfway between the Chancellery of the
Prime Minister of Poland (700m south-
west) and the polish parliament (700m
north). It is a powerful geographical
metaphor: culture should always be in
the centre, with the conflicts and indi-
vidual ambitions of the politicians as
nothing more than its satellites.

As artists and art curators, we

should make efforts to harmonise the
waves of global and local politics - to
use an edifice of art which transforms
cash flows into acoustic waves in order
to invent an oscillation that can bring
peace and happiness. Analysing pres-
ence and predicting the future at the
end of 2016, we should consider this our
prime and inalienable duty.

27
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

SECTION 2
Artists in Residence

28
 TWO YEARS OF SOCCOS ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Two years of SoCCoS

artists in residence
In the following pages we collected texts, impressions and images from all the artist residencies
either artist/project-based or collective short term ones, hosted by the five SoCCoS partners in
2015 and 2016. The texts follow the chronological order of the residencies themselves.

29
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Kaffe Matthews
composition : community-based sound art : sonic bikes
Residency Period: From 16/02/2015 to 15/03/2015
From 09/05/2015 to 30/05/2015
Invited by Q-O2 to work in the city of Brussels
Over a period of four months, Kaffe Matthew developed a Brussels version of her Sonic Bike Operas.
She explored the city and its socio-politics by collaborating with different individuals and local
community groups, GlobeAroma and Vaartkapoen among many others. She ran route composition
workshops for children together with theatre director Ivan Vrambout at La Maison des Cultures
Molenbeek. She held a lecture and workshops for students on geo-localisation technologies, the latter
in collaboration with software developer Tom Keene. The gathered material was shaped into the
composition of Finding Song Home, to be experienced by riding a Sonic Bike. The project was a
co-production with Opera House La Monnaie and the Bicrophonic Research Institute.

Finding Song Home of its citizens. Through meeting and

“Jump on a sonic bike to explore
the city and let the sounds, music, and stories
it plays transform your ride. You are sonic
cycling, floating through a changing audio
landscape, not going on a journey. Do take
your time. Your pace and the routes you
decide to follow will create your own opera.
We suggest you check the map to see the
boundaries before you set off, but don’t look
again unless you have to. The map shows you
which areas of Brussels will play through your
bike. When you find yourself pedalling in more
than 3 minutes of ‘silence’, you have left the
mapped areas. There’s one simple rule: old
cobbled streets are bad for sonic bikes, scores,
and maps, so do not use them. In the squares
you will find surprises, circle slowly to find
them. Also continue straight on unless you
hear an indicator sound to turn right or left.
The rest is absorbing perceptions. Let your
ears guide you ~ explore!”
F
inding Song Home explores
the injustices of birthright and the
power of national governments to
enable or prevent the free movement
sharing with often illegal, non-Euro-
pean Brussels immigrants, Matthews
has gathered a mass of their stories
which, intimately told through the
voices of the storytellers, create a multi-
threaded libretto to be revealed by an
audience cycling the GPS-linked sonic
bikes through and beyond Brussels’ city
centre. The diverse routes - the opera’s
score - pass between La Monnaie Opera
House, the canal, and the squares of
Molenbeek, redefining the neighbour-
hoods through songs and narratives,
the shifting street’s soundscape, and
Matthews’ electronic counterparts. With
sounds triggered by where and how
fast the bike travels, each participating
cyclist creates and defines their own
experience of the opera. Compositions
are linked to locations using a bespoke
Sonic Bike mapping software. Created
in fragments, sounds are mapped into
different zones across the city, enabling
multiple routes for a cyclist to take and
endless compositions to experience.

30
 KAFFE MATTHEWS

Process of
composition
The specificity of a site
becomes a source of decisions around
audio content and compositional strat-
egies. Therefore, historical, geological,
social, physical, political, and experien-
tial inputs are considered for a variety
of sites. Then starts the process of
sonification with a variety of possible
approaches; from pen to paper, actual
to digital, the process removes and
abstracts outward from its original
source. It creates an amount of confu-
sion, stimulating fundamental thought
like: why do I make music? who is it for?
and what sounds? you mean there’s a
choice?
The sonic bike
Invented by Kaffe Matthews,
the Sonic Bike has evolved over 10 years
of international projects and continues
to be researched and developed in order
to expand the compositional potential
and unique listening experience which
it allows for.
The Sonic Bike is an instrument
that plays site-related sound pieces for
it’s rider and those that it passes. The
instrument is simply a bicycle with
frame mounted speakers which perform
different sounds and music depending
on where the cyclist goes and how
they ride, using a location sensitive
software and hardware system, with
software designed by David Griffiths
and developed by Tom Keene.

Project developed in collaboration with Bicrophonic Research Institute, Cyclo,

FoAM, GlobeAroma, Rits/School of Arts, Maison des Cultures et de la Cohésion
Sociale de Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Vaartkapoen. Finding Song Home is the BRI’s
8th bicycle opera, commissioned by Q-O2 and La Monnaie.

31
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

FIN DIN G SON G HOM E

■ TEX TURES
■ MELODIES
■ SONGS WOMEN
■ SONGS MEN 3

■ GIRL S VOX
■ BOYS VOX
■ DONGS
■ MOLENBEEK RECS
■ BRUSSEL S CITY
■ PUL SES

Cette carte est seulement un guide et reste sujette à changement

Deze kaart is enkel een leidraad en onderhevig aan verandering
This map is only a guide and subject to change

1 LA M ONNAIE / DE M U N T
2 Q- 02
3 LA M AISON DES CULTU R E S /
HUIS VAN CULTUREN M O L E N BE E K

32
 KAFFE MATTHEWS

CON COURS / W EDSTRIJ D / CON TEST

P R EN EZ U N E P H OTO – GAG N EZ U N E
SA IS ON DÉCOU V ERT E DE L’O P ÉRA
1 Prenez une photo de l’un des endroits
inattendus que vous découvrirez durant
votre vélopéra.
2 Postez-la sur votre Instagram avec l’hashtag
#findingsonghome.
3 Chaque mois, jusqu’à la fin de la saison 2015/16,
l’auteur(e) de la photo la plus intrigante gagnera
un ticket duo pour assister à une production
(opéra, récital ou concert) de la Monnaie.

N EEM EEN FOTO – WIN EEN S EIZO EN

LA N G OP ERAG ELU K ZA LIG H EID
1 Neem een foto van een van de vele onverwachte
locaties die je op je fietsoperatrip zal ontdekken.
2 Deel je beste shots op je Instagram met de
hashtag #findingsonghome.
3 Elke maand tot het einde van het seizoen 2015/16
krijgt de auteur van de meest intrigerende foto
een gratis dubbelticket voor een van de
concerten, recitals of operavoorstellingen
van de Munt.

TA K E A P IC T U R E – WIN A S EA S O N
OF O P ERA EXP ER IEN CE
1 Take a picture of one of the unexpected
locations that you will discover during your
bicycle opera experience.
2 Post it on your Instagram with the hashtag
#findingsonghome.
3 Every month, till the end of the season 2015/16,
the author of the most intriguing photograph
will win a free double ticket for one of the
concerts, recitals or opera productions of
La Monnaie.

L A M O N N A I E . B E / D E M U N T. B E
MM TICKETS +32 2 229 12 11

33
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Helena Espvall
site-specific : cello : improvisation

Residency Period: From 12/04/2015 to 03/05/2015

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in the rural village of Açores (Portugal)
Swedish cello improviser Helena Espvall was invited to take part in Playing the Rural Landscape,
a series of artist residencies around the theme of visceral/tactile sonic connections with rural
landscape, one of which took place in April 2015 in the tiny village of Açores (municipality of
São Pedro do Sul, Portugal), on the foot of the mystical mount São Macário.

34

T he mountains are towering
over us, strewn with yellow flowers.
There is a constant drone of water at
different speeds that we hear wherever
we are, indoors too. A creek running
close by our living quarters, a reservoir
of water always dripping and over-
flowing. And rain. Lots of rain. A tiny
remote rural village, Açores, part of the
Gralheira mountain range, with only
a handful of inhabitants, all elderly. A
vertiginous winding road leads to our
cottages. It is a breathtakingly beautiful
place. Orange trees, eucalyptus, mint, a
few ruins.
We are only three artists,
Yannick Guédon, from Brussels, Pierre
Berthet, from Liège, and me - a Swede
living in Lisbon for the last couple of
years now. Over time, Pierre creates a
magic garden full of sounds emanating
from found objects, rusty cans, wires,
twigs, small motors, water dripping into
containers - wondrous contraptions. layers and drones with subtle changes
Some rare days without rain, I
sit with my cello in that garden and jam
along with his wires’ sublime drones.
Pierre also turns out to be capable of
coaxing extraordinary music out of
vacuum cleaners (the visual appearance
35
HELENA ESPVALL
of this is quite striking). Yannick plays
long notes on his viola da gamba, in the
same pitch but with different spacings
of silence, and the sound carries into
my room and blends with the river and
rain. I yearn to sit and play by the creek
on top of some decrepit ruin, but most
days, I sit inside my room and listen to
the rain on the roof, playing for the big
lizard that shares my space. So much
rain. I run my cello through a chain of
loop stations, delays, and distortion
pedals. My process is improvisatory.
I sit down to my tools without
specific expectations, trying to stay
empty and open to see what will
show up. I’m overly sensitive to my
surroundings and to energies - my
curse and my blessing. Sometimes I
enter a kind of altered state of mind.
Afterwards, listening to the recordings,
I wonder: where did that come from? I
enjoy creating and getting lost in many
and developments. Patterns, orna-
ments. I was first drawn to Portugal by
the azulejos, the decorative tiles, and
couldn’t bring myself to leave. Now in
Açores, in the rainy season, I find my
music highly affected by all the flowing
water.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Pierre Berthet
found materials : diy electronics : vegetable garden : water

Residency Period: From 12/04/2015 to 03/05/2015

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in the rural village of Açores (Portugal) and
proposed by Q-O2
Belgian musician and sound artist Pierre Berthet was invited to take part in Playing the Rural
Landscape, a series of artist residencies around the theme of visceral/tactile sonic connections
with rural landscape, one of which took place in April 2015 in the tiny village of Açores
(municipality of São Pedro do Sul, Portugal), on the foot of the mystical mount São Macário.
Pierre built a sound garden below the residency house using found materials, simple electronics,
watering techniques plus immense amounts of intuition, observation, detail and poetry.

Instructions to make parts of the assemblage and shake it.

a sound garden in the last
house of Açores, a hamlet
with five inhabitants at
the end of a road
in central Portugal.
T his house has three parts.
The last part you reach is very small
and consists of just one room. It’s now
a kitchen but you can put a bed in it.
It faces a terrace with a stone table on
which you can work if it isn’t raining.
You might start by assem-
bling the dead, dry leaves of a palm
tree and two empty cans of tomato
concentrate – suspending the device
in front of the house to the left of the
little door and attaching a small motor
to it.You could fix a little silicone fan to
the motor so that it would hit various
Between some of the old stones that
the house’s external walls are made
from, you will find rusty parts of some
old garden tools. You could suspend
one of the smaller tools just beside
the tomato can assemblage, so that the
fan would sometimes hit against that
as well, depending on the wind. Wind
brings a lot of changes and variations.
Sometimes the fan gets blocked for a
few seconds. Put a little bit of butter on
the fan if it stays blocked too long or
gets blocked too often. Adjust the fan
to obtain as much variations in sound
as is possible. Connect the larger of the
two cans to the metal part of the roof
with steel wires so that vibrations travel
through it. Firmly attach a very thin
steel wire to the tomato can, adjusting
the length of the wire so that it strikes
the stone wall when it is shaken.

36
 PIERRE BERTHET

You could then cut the + cable

(or the - one) of the motor and strip
both ends. You could wrap a flat stone
in aluminium foil and fix it to the end of
the cable that goes to the motor. Attach
the other end (the one that goes to the
micro-controller) to a fork and suspend
this fork above the wrapped stone in
such a way that when the fork swings,
the stripped end of the cable touches
the wrapped stone when it passes over.
In this way, the contact alternates and
the motor switches off and on. When
it doesn’t swing, contact is permanent.
There’s another milk bucket around,
when you find it, you can pierce a tuna-
fish can and suspend it from three small,
metal wires.

Somewhere near, you’ll find

an old milk bucket in galvanised metal.
Suspend it with a metal wire in front
of the house to the right of the door,
attaching it to the roof so that it is just
above the ground. On the way to Açores
from the airport in Porto, on the first
highway car park where you can stop,
there are some small palm trees from
which you can discreetly cut some long,
thin, dry leaves – more or less 25cm in

length. Attach them firmly around a
small, low-tension motor so that it looks
Two meters above you could
a little like a giant spider. Suspend the
hang a plastic bottle upside down from
spider so that it touches the milk bucket
the roof. You would have cut the bottom
and connect the motor to a micro-con-
of the bucket beforehand and have
troller which can vary the speed of the
pierced the stopper. You would need to
motor according to variations in tension.
put a plastic tube in the hole – 5mm in
diameter, 5cm in length, and put a stop
valve at its end. You could lengthen it
with a silicone tube of the same dimen-
sions, fixing a ball of aquarium filter
material to its end. Fill the plastic bottle
with water and regulate the speed of
its flow with the valve until you find a
tempo of dripping water that you like.

37
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

around this length of silicone so that

by pressing more or less on the copper
you can tune the changes in water flow.
Attach a stop valve and let the drops fall
some two meters onto a PVC drum you
have built in the way of the water. Make
the skin of this drum from silk paper,
and cover the membrane with layers of
airplane model varnish. The rhythms of
the drum vary with the wind flow.

Later in the garden is a

disused goat-shelter, made from wood
and corrugated iron. You could pierce
the roof of the shed with steel wire and
suspend a small battery-powered motor
from a steel wire. You might pervert the
motor with small weights so that it can
no longer turn right around. When the
motor is switched on, it will resonate up
Adjust the milk bucket under- through the wires and the iron structure
neath so that the water-drops fall into of the goat-shelter. By extending the
the suspended tuna can. Put some net of wires or adding other materials
stones in the bottle so that it doesn’t from the garden, you could enrich the
swing too much. At this point, you resonances it creates. You could wrap
already have three sound devices near the motor in some corn leaves, so that
to one another: listen to this trio as long will add a soft ‘frrr’ sound to the mix.
as possible. At the end of the terrace, There are many more things you could
behind the stone table, you can take the do of course, but begin with these and
stairs down to the garden below. On your make mistakes. Mistakes are a good way
left, after walking eight meters through to get different results.
the garden, there’s a small waterfall
fed by a reservoir above, in the court-
yard near the house. You can stop the
waterfall by regulating the level of this
reservoir. This is done by using a valve to
direct the reservoir’s flow into another
garden. Measure a length of plastic tube
from the reservoir to the waterfall (5mm
in diameter, 15 meters should be long
enough). Fix a ball of aquarium filter
material to one end to weigh down the
tube to ensure that it stays in the bottom
of the reservoir. Bring the other end to
the mouth of the waterfall below, cut
the plastic tube and insert a length of
silicone (about 30cm). Curl copper wire

38
 PIERRE BERTHET

39
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Yannick Guédon
composition : treble viola-da-gamba

Residency Period: From 12/04/2015 to 03/05/2015

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in the rural village of Açores (Portugal) and
proposed by Q-O2
French composer Yannick Guédon was invited to take part in Playing the Rural Landscape,
a series of artist residencies around the theme of visceral/tactile sonic connections with rural
landscape, one of which took place in April 2015 in the tiny village of Açores (municipality
of São Pedro do Sul, Portugal), on the foot of the mystical mount São Macário. Yannick
interpreted some of his compositions during the residency, inviting local inhabitants to specific
spots in the landscape for individual listening, and created a sound piece for the final event.

Story of The sound of the river is very

“a_ _ _ _ _ _ _”
Saturday 2nd May, 2015
Iam about to play the sound
piece ‘a _ _ _ _ _ _ _’ in the bedroom of
the cottage where I am staying, in Açores,
a remote hamlet of seven inhabitants.
The cottage is situated at the
end of a little country road, at the top of
a rocky promontory on the inner edge of
a meander in a small river.
Thanks to its multiple open-
ings, the bedroom on the second floor
of the house offers different views on
the valley : one door and one window to
the east, two windows to the south, and
three to the west.
From these openings, one can
see the river flowing from west to east
towards the village of Sul, three kilo-
metres downstream.
present and it is emphasized as the river
passes through several weirs along its
course.
As the spectators enter the
bedroom, I invite them to sit wherever
they like on the available beds, chairs,
cushions and mats.
The door and the windows are
closed.
The windows are covered
with white cotton curtains that let the
daylight enter the bedroom but obscure
the view of the landscape.
For now, the sounds of the
environment are muffed, barely percep-
tible. Before starting to play, I inform
the audience that they can leave the
space whenever they want. A way to let
them choose an end to the piece I will
perform for one hour and a half.

40

The concert can start.
I open the wardrobe on my
right and take out my treble viola da
gamba. Then I sit down before the only
wall without openings, my back to the
north.
I first play one bowing on the
lowest string of the viol – silence – then
two bowings on the same tone – silence.
I stand up and open the door
on my left, to the east.
The sound of Pierre Berthet’s
installation enters into the bedroom
and prolongs the note just played on the
viol.
It’s a drone generated by a wire
whose vibration resonates in an aban-
doned shed in the garden.
I come back to my chair then
resume the series I started before by
playing three bowings – silence – then
four – silence.
I get up again to open the
window on the right of the door, over-
looking the hamlet. From this window, I
often see a woman tending her sheep, or
hear the dog barking whenever someone
walks past its house. The sound of a
second installation of Pierre Berthet
is heard more distinctly : it consists of
drops of water, defected from a pipe,
that fall on resonating objects.
I return to my place and play
five bowings – silence – then six –
silence. I get up and open the window
beside the first one.
The sound of the river is now
much more present.
I go on with this process until
the end of the concert. Each time, I
add one bowing to the previous series,
and each two series, I open a window,
41
YANNICK GUÉDON
progressively revealing the landscape,
both visually and sonorously. When I
open the first window on the west side,
Helena Espvall starts her concert with
her amplified cello on the other side of
the river.
Now, three pieces of art
interact : Pierre’s installations, Helena’s
concert and my own performance,
all subject to the vagaries of the
surrounding sounds. From the bedroom,
the three are perceived as very singular
proposals and since the viol is played
softly, none overwhelm the others.
I always play the same note
on the viol but this sound is enriched
gradually by others. Those of my voice.
I hide the fundamental note of my voice
in the one of the viol, and develop the
natural harmonics series with subtle
vocal overtones. Each bowing is related
to a specific vocal harmonic of the
series.
The first harmonics emphasize
those of the viol ; the following ones
emerge little by little from the sound
of the instrument and become more
discernible.
The score could be simply
written like this :
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Each number corresponds to a
bowing and the related number of the
harmonics series.
Consequently, there is a
perpetual return to the beginning of the
series, a way to deepen our listening to
what has been already played but not
necessarily heard - because one does
not necessarily perceive at frst that the
progressive coloration of the sound of
the viol is produced by the harmonics of
the voice.
When all the windows are
open, I go on with the score and start
to close them in the same clockwise
direction.
The closing generates a
different configuration than the open-
ings : the first window opened was on
the east side, the last one to stay open is
on the west side.
After having closed the last
window, I end the concert by putting the
viol back into the wardrobe.
Detail from The Virgin and Child before a Firescreen,
Robert Campin (National Gallery London)
Addendum
A few days before performing
this piece, this is what I read :
“Anyway, the landscape
appears in European painting around
1420 in Flanders, literally through the
window. For example, the one that
opens onto a city, behind The Virgin
and Child before a Firescreen, by Robert
Campin, the Master of Flémalle - a
“veduta inside the painting” that Alain
Roger states to be “the invention of
the western landscape. The window is
indeed the frame that, by insulating, by
enshrining the country in the picture,
establishes this land in a landscape.”
from Augustin Berque,
in Les Raisons du paysage, de la Chine antique
aux environments de synthèse. Paris, Hazan,
1995, p104.
View of the hamlet of Açores from the cottage
42
 YANNICK GUÉDON

43
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Juan Duarte Regino

playful sounds : diy sound electronics

Residency Period: From 01/06/2015 to 15/07/2015

Invited by A-I-R Laboratory CCA Ujazdowski Castle to work in Warsaw and
proposed by Hai Art
Juan Duarte Regino describes below two projects he realised during his artistic residency in
Warsaw: Pulsar Kite and DIY workshop Electroacoustic Atelier. Only one important thing should
be added here: Juan’s intensive collaboration with developing sound-artists, among others
Izabela Smelczyńska, Kinga Kozłowska and Mateusz Śmigasiewicz created beautiful energy
and was an impulse for their further involvement in the SoCCoS project – effecting with their
artistic journeys to Hailuoto, Berlin and Brussels.

M y project at the A-I-R in a given environment with specific

Laboratory CCA Ujazdowski Castle
consisted of two planned activities
framed around the topic of Sound of
Culture – Culture of Sound. The first
activity was based on the development
of a Pulsar Kite, a sound instrument
controlled by a flying kite. The second
project was based on a workshop in
sound electronics, which was produced
in a collaborative concert using the built
electronic instruments.
The residency at the A-I-R
Laboratory CCA Ujazdowski Castle
enabled collaboration with local
participants interested in sound elec-
tronics. This call, set in Warsaw, brought
together a group of artists and profes-
sionals curious to try sound experi-
ments in a playful manner. My work with
sound, through the creation and play of
sound artefacts, explores the medium of
sound. Thus, I wanted to use a method
that would enhance a sonic experience
between players and sound objects
and malleable qualities, shaping sonic
materials to experience interaction
and contemplation around the act of
listening.
I had the opportunity to fly the
Pulsar Kite next to the Vistula River and
another location next to the Ujazdowski
Castle. The riverbank location offered
an interesting view of a bridge that
connects Praga and Warsaw. It was
windy and cloudy by the river on the
day of the recording; it began to rain
heavily, but fortunately right after we
finished the video and sound recording.
Unfortunately, flying a kite near the
Ujazdowski area had less favourable
wind conditions; however, there is an
additional meaning to flying kites in
this space: since this area, connecting
the Stanislaw Axis with the Ujazdowski
Castle and the landscape of the Vistula
embankment, forms a network of loca-
tions known as the Smile of Warsaw, or
the Flying Kite.

44
 JUAN DUARTE REGINO

45
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Caroline Claus
sound ecology : urban sound design

Residency Period: From 08/06/2015 to 15/07/2015

Invited by A-I-R Laboratory CCA Ujazdowski Castle to work in Warsaw and
proposed by Q-O2
The Warsaw edition of SoCCoS aimed to react to the actual problems in the city soundscape
– research on sound in its political and ecological aspects. In 2015, inspired by the Castle’s
location near Łazienkowska Road, the dynamic urban spaces of Plac Zbawiciela (Savior Square)
and Marszałkowska Street, as well as the tranquil surroundings of the Royal Route and Łazienki
Park, resident Caroline Claus concentrated on urban sound ecology and sound interventions in
the particular acoustic environments of the CCA neighbourhood. Sound ecology is a relatively
new field of artistic expression, research, and urban planning - developing since the 1970s, the
concept of soundscape stresses the importance of clarity and diversity of the sound environment
in human life. The task of the artist was to undertake actions in public spaces, with the goal
being to arouse an interest in city sounds with the residents of Jazdów and other districts of the
capital. “Opening the ears” of city dwellers translates into their everyday sound practices, and
long-term, into changes in the sound environment, aiming to make the soundscape of Warsaw
more aesthetic and friendly (both for humans and for other species of “listeners” living in the
city). Caroline Claus organised workshops for local sound artists and researchers. Effects of
the workshops were presented during events within the frames of the CCA Ujazdowski Castle
festival Jazdów Archipelago. In December of 2015, the bilingual Polish-English publication
Urban Sound Design Process by Caroline Claus was published by A-I-R Laboratory - CCA
Ujazdowski Castle. This project had financial support from the City of Warsaw.

46

Urban sound design is the
practice of modelling sonic experiences.
It is a design practice in the sense that
we’re dealing with shape, texture,
distance, scale, ideas of process and
change. We’re dealing with acoustic
space, but also with psychoacoustic
space in a very definite way that liter-
ally opens up a normal space outside
of itself. Urban sound design is not so
much about the design of an object
— it’s a sound art practice producing
time-space places that are contingent
and reciprocal, invisible in the sense of
‘unseen’.
The Urban Sound Design Studio
at MDM took place in the fortnight
following the residents’ meeting. During
several sessions, a group of young sound
artists and landscape architects explored
and worked with the approach described
above. The objective of the studio was
the design of public space and/or action
for future sonic experiences along
Marszałkowska Street. In advance we
defined three project areas by cutting
47
CAROLINE CLAUS
up a map of MDM and its surroundings
into different pieces, based on the resi-
dents’ everyday experience of place
and sound. We selected zones that we
found to be most interesting in terms
of sonic experience, appropriation,
and urban, architectural design. The
following distinct atmospheric unities
were carved out of the supposed
unity of MDM: a monumental square,
an express-way and its surrounding
neighbourhood, and a small-scale
neighbourhood possibly threatened
by gentrification. The resulting cartog-
raphy could be used as a catalyst to
explore and navigate oneself through
varied ambiences, both physical and
psychological. Participating artists and
designers each made a design proposal
for one of the three defined zones.
They worked on one or more sonic
experiences for the public space along
Marszałkowska. On the final day of the
studio they presented their ideas and
design proposals by arranging a sound-
walk which was open to the public.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Luka Ivanović
a.k.a. lukatoyboy
lighthouse : blueberries : noise

Residency Period: From 27/07/2015 to 16/08/2015

Invited by Hai Art to work in Hailuoto
The artist lukatoyboy [Luka Ivanović] visited Hailuoto and Hai Art for three weeks in July-
August 2015. Three weeks of sound, blueberries, walks, talks & silent sessions.

ACTIONS To the Lighthouse

> Lighthouse performance on International
Lighthouse Day Aug. 18th
(video, images, sound)
> Woods blueberry noise session (video)
> Junk yard sample session
(video and sound)
> Organum sessions (sound, pictures)
> Walkie Talkie LAB action w/ local children
(audio, pictures)
> Walkie Talkie bird tower Quartet (audio)
by lukatoyboy
To the Lighthouse is a live
sound intervention by Hai Art / SOCCOS
Artist in Residence Lukatoyboy, espe-
cially prepared for the lighthouse
in Marjaniemi and staged for the
International Lighthouse Heritage
Weekend.

48

Although the lighthouse is a
famous landmark in Hailuoto, there is
another element which might not have
the same visual, historical, and architec-
tural value, but has a great influence on
the Marjaniemi atmosphere.
Some visitors, who are desper-
ately trying to capture a frame with the
lighthouse without it’s ugly brother (or
sister), are very much aware of it.
The others, who have already
spent a lot of years in Marjaniemi, maybe
don’t even notice it. Listen.
Yes - the radar. Its particular
sound governs Marjaniemi nowadays
(when the wind turbines are silent)
and it’s an audible counterpart to the
lighthouse.
On Saturday the lighthouse
will be filled with sound as well, raising
the awareness of a unique soundscape
which might be easy to miss for those
who are not living in of the Marjaniemi
huts.
This way, a duo of the light-
house and the radar, will have its
premiere. Saturday, 15.8. 14:30
Impressions
by lukatoyboy
Hai Art is based on an island
with a population of 1000 people, which
is a very different, rural, farming and
natural atmosphere comparing to the
European capitals I am the most familiar
with. Nevertheless, a media lab is based
there, and given the portability of the
equipment and the internet connection,
the actual workflow bears similarities,
but everything else is very different: the
audiences, the venues, media, transport,
public spaces, social gatherings. Most of
these things either barely exist, or are
49
LUKA IVANOVIĆ A.K.A. LUKATOYBOY
very particular and different to a city
life. Its geographical aspects provided a
never-ending to surprise subtle change
of ground, it being mostly sand, but
sometimes ending up being a surprising
mud, swamp or filled sponge-like dry
organisms which sounded beautiful
when crushed, but would then die,
leaving permanent tire marks, as they
are sometimes impossible to miss.
:::::
:::::
Excerpts from a shared diary
Hailuoto
week one
/
Not a single car on the road.
Sounds beatiful here: contant waves
oscillating radar percussive flag
ropes & poles.
Left internet “on”
in Luoto resturant area behind the
curtain (suggested location) off to sleep.
/
4 hours bike ride:
2 guys riding weird vehicles, wearing
headphones with antennas
2 senior blueberries pickers, envious of
their load
(1 pit stop with the best find so far, the
biggest and the easiest to pick, although
mosquitoes are impossible to escape)
3 Thai women entering a car 1 car
parked deep in a wood /
Crazy hum coming from a farm-related
house nearby, a machine, truck-alike, in
front of it.
The grid as the loudest sound on a road.
Some kind of sensor on the ceiling, a
good-night blink.
/
no shopping mall
no football team
no police
no cinema
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
no nightclub
one elevator
/ where all kinds of human made objects
I went towards the bird tower.
It was occupied, and it was too early to
stop.
Tried many roads, often dead-ended. :::::
Organum Sessions:
sound soon
::::
Sound in Hailuoto
Observations by
lukatoyboy
Not being a city means you
can get away from the traffics sounds.
On top of that, no human made sounds
are inescapable, which helps to discover
the sounds of local nature. A different
kind of noise occurs: the humming sea
waves, the trees in the woods causing
traffic-sound aural hallucinations, the
local birds. Sometimes, the “rush hour”
on the main road reminds you of how it
is now for the majority of humans alive
living in the cities.
The stream of cars (and
buses, because of the summer season)
provided the constant reminder, since
all roads are connected to the main
road. The small roads provided different
sounds: sandy (being really quiet),
rocky (being really loud) when walking
and biking, producing all kinds of small
sounds as the effect of each footstep or
wheel movement. Branches, and other
kind of woods debris, were additional
sounds on these roads, something which
usually gets removed from city streets, if
it becomes present at all.
To be able to perceive these
as loud sounds, so many other sounds
my ears were accustomed to had to be
non-exist, which makes an interesting
topic for a noise-to-signal debate.
It was also interesting to
stumble upon a recycling scrap yard,
waited for their next destination in a
open field, which could be recorded
outdoors, without disturbing anyone.
Night were so quiet some-
times that you could only hear the elec-
tricity grid, but then, on some nights you
could hear constant hums of farming
machines.
The sounds related to the
accommodation / living situation places
are the first and the last sounds we hear
in our daily lives.
Comparing to a city, where
all kinds of dynamic action are audible
if living on a street side, and a bit less
if within a backyard, at the first place I
was staying in, the wind, since it was a
marina, provided a lot of opportunities
for loudness.
Its previously operating trio
of windmills dissolves into a silent solo,
but there is still is a very special sound
caused by a radar, a very close and
operating partner of an old landmark,
the 19th century lighthouse.
The sound of the radar in
Marjaniemi was my main inspiration in
Hailuoto, as the thought material, and
as readymade partner for a public event
we staged (more on that later).
At the other, more in-the-
actual-village place I was staying at,
the loudness was both internal and
external, related to sustainability of the
farms and the guest house. The internal
loud air condition, which was used (and
I guess is much needed) for the kitchen,
was quite something.
An occasional car was coming
in an out, and suddenly it became an
event - comparing to a city- constant
50

stream of car sounds, in which we are
able to identify only those much louder
than average events: blasting music,
obsessive honking, trash picking, police
or emergency sirens etc. This particular
example of a zooming out / zooming
in thought process relating to “sound
pollution” was constant throughout my
stay in Hailuoto.
Talking further about this, I was
informed about a single hut being alone
in the woods, far away from the other
houses and roads, therefore without
sounds to disturb you. But there was a
catch, it had a certain device, impossible
to turn off, probably related to air, water
or a sort of a fire alarm, and that sound
usually disturbed the guests in the hut.
It is another example of how much we
can be focused to particular sound after
being accustomed to the uncontrollable
varieties of sounds and background
noise in a city, and since recently, the
majority of the population lives in a city-
like soundscape.
Another very site-specific
sound, albeit more as an effect, was
tested and used for recordings - the
Organum, an acoustic sculpture made
by an architect and curated by Hai Art. It
is positioned far away enough from any
51
LUKA IVANOVIĆ A.K.A. LUKATOYBOY
neighbour, after a road ends, and water
starts.
The particular acoustics are
free for everyone to explore, and there
is no plane, car or similar sounds to
disturb you - although you may hear
some birds, depending on their time for
calls.
I also recorded a sound of a
friction, squeaks and bangs made during
the contact between a sock gangway
and the land in Marjaniemi marina.
These particular sounds last
only while there is some particular
wind, which causes water level to
change (since there is no proper low
tide / high tide) and/or brings a bit
more waves into the marina than usual
built protection allows. It is an inter-
esting sound, not only because of its
musicality - you could easily imagine
free improv percussionists and brass
players - but also because of its dual
origin - the construction would not
provide any sound if no unpredictable
and particular natural/geographical
events would occur, nor would there be
something like a dock gangway without
the human in(ter)vention. This also is
related to the topic of geography above.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Susana Santos Silva

& Torbjörn Zetterberg
double bass : trumpet : site-specific improvisation

Residency Period: From 10/08/2015 to 05/09/2015

Invited by Q-O2 to work in the city of Brussels
Susana Santos Silva’s and Torbjörn Zetterberg’s plan for the residency was to explore the city by
playing it with their instruments; trumpet and double bass. They travelled around Brussels and
recorded improvisations on sites which they felt inspiring. Brussels video artist Val King joined
them to capture place and space. This plan related to an earlier project, an album which was
recorded in the north of Sweden capturing the harsh yet beautiful and tranquil environment.

Interview by How do you think the experience of

Henry Andersen
Can you talk me through the process
you went through to find the spaces
in Brussels? Did you have particular
spaces or kinds of spaces in mind? Did
you travel by foot?
We went around town by
foot, bike and tram. Even before starting
we’d been asking around for interesting
spots around Brussels. Q-O2 provided
us with a list of locations and great ideas
for our project. We didn’t really have
any specific type of places in mind but
we knew we wanted to find both acous-
tically and environmentally interesting
spaces.
making this experiment in Brussels
was different than it would
have been in a city you
were more familiar with?
Do you think the kinds
of environments you found in
Brussels are particular to this city?
1. It probably made the
process a bit more interesting for us
being in a foreign city since we tend
to find foreign things somehow more
exciting.
2. Yes and no. Some are very
much so, like the tram station. While
some others, like the garage, might not
be so unique to Brussels. This was some-
thing we talked quite a bit about during
the residency, where to put focus. We
did want to capture Brussels, but that
was not necessarily more important
than for example acoustics or just an
interesting vibe.

52
 SUSANA SANTOS SILVA & TORBJÖRN ZETTERBERG

Can you tell me about the difference
between the inside and outside sites
you chose to improvise in? From the
video, it seems like inside you are
working more with the resonances
and acoustics of these large spaces,
whereas outside the environmental
sounds become more important. Is this
accurate do you think?
We found it particularly inter-
esting with the mix of the silent big wet
rooms and the dry sound in the busy and
sometimes very noisy outdoor environ-
ments. Also in the outdoor locations we
really wanted to bring the surrounding
sounds into our improvisations. Of
course, in a large room the resonance
plays pretty much the same role as the
environmental sounds in an outdoor
setting. And whatever it is, it will affect
the improvisation.
Can you talk a little about the rela-
tionship you had with Val King, who
shot the video for the project? You
describe working with him as being like
performing in a trio.
Can you elaborate a little?
I think it might have a lot to do
with the fact that he made all the videos
in one single shot. Since that was his
idea from the very beginning it probably
helped him get in that same ‘life and
death’ mode you somehow need to be
when you improvise. Of course Val was
improvising too, with us. As we played
Val danced around us, being in the
music, fully present.
Why did you want to include
a visual element in this project?
Both of us are quite interested
in the mixing of art forms. As a duo
we’ve only done one real collaboration
like that before. That time it was at the
Stockholm City Theatre with Swedish
actress Gunilla Röör. For this project, it
really was natural. Picturing all these
fantastic environments we would find
in Brussels. We just had to have this
documented visually.
Is it unusual for you to improvise
without a live audience in this way?
This is an interesting point.
Most of the time we play it’s in front of
an audience. This is a totally different
setting and there is a different energy.
But that’s also very interesting, the
subtle differences. Somehow playing in
front of a camera, the camera becomes
the audience. Also, the different envi-
ronments somehow provide some kind
of audience. Like at the tram station,
there were all the people’s different
reactions. In the park, there were some
people doing yoga or similar, birds
all over the place and so on. All these
things bring in a whole new energy, and
that probably (hopefully) has an impact
on the performance.
When you perform together normally
(outside of this project, I mean) you
usually play in dedicated music venues,
with a stage, audience etc. In these
cases, do the space and environmental
sounds still filter into the way you
improvise, do you feel?
It does for sure, but in more
subtle ways perhaps. It’s basically the
same thing. Only that the difference
between two concert venues might not
be as big as the difference between
for example the beautiful acoustics
at La Loge and the business down in
an underground tram station. Concert
venues still differ in acoustics though
and there are usually people making
noises which naturally becomes part of
the experience and so on.

53
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

As I understand it, working but everything else going on at the

so directly with different same time. Improvising in a group you
sites is new for you too. have to be open to what the other musi-
Has the experience affected cians are doing and respond to that. The
the way you work in general? idea here is to widen your perspective
Is it something you further and let the whole environment
will continue to do? join the band. I do think it has affected
the way we work in general, though
It is new and not new to us. I
it would be hard to pinpoint how. Will
don’t think we ever thought about it so
we continue? Well, after our month in
clearly before, but when I think about the
Brussels we certainly are tempted.
different places we played prior to our
month in Brussels a park in Stockholm
[The videos can be watched at http://
comes to mind, a huge church in Paris,
ssstz.tumblr.com/residencyqo2]
theatres, clubs, festivals, indoors and
outdoors. I think what is really inter-
esting about working so intensively with
the spaces like this is that it forces you to
widen your perspective. And so to speak
‘become’ not only what you are playing,

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 SUSANA SANTOS SILVA & TORBJÖRN ZETTERBERG

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Hai Art
Micro-Residency #1
Field Techno
listening : exploration : voicing : movement

Hailuoto Island, Finland

Micro-Residency Period: From 30/08/2015 to 06/09/2015
• 10 emerging sound artists invited for a one week residence in Hailuoto
• remote work in nature / off the grid situation
• intuitive iPad / app music / real time sampling workshop
• sound and movement
• sound, exploration, voicing, group action in the Organum
• outdoor, sea, sand, space, time
• internet, LAB space, audio and video tech available
• curatorial company

with: Andrew Jarvis, Anne Lepère, Antoni Michnik, Izabela Smelczyńska, Kamila Staśko-Mazur,
Kinga Kozłowska, Marine Drouan, Paweł Paide Dunajko, Federico Dottini, Jacek Sotomski

56
 HAI ART MICRO-RESIDENCY #1

RUSSULA
CAMP
MUSIC FOR
WOODEN
SURFACES
BLUEBERRY TECHNO

NON-PLACE SOUNDWALK

MUSHROOM
BEATS

WERKZ & FIELDZ

SOUND OF RESIDENCE {HOUSE}
NORTHERN ISLAND

MUSHROOM
FIELD WORK
SOUNDING PLACES
TRIBUTE TO JOHN CAGE BIRTHDAY

STUDY OF
MOVEMENT
SONG OF AURORA

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

FIELD TECHNO
Event score
A field practice for 9+ people

• gather about 9 people for field techno practice
• assemble as many possible battery powered speakers (with cables or bluetooth)
• collect multiple analogue, digital, portable noisemaking objects
• if you don’t play - dance or record
• if a consequent rhythm or vibe is established - dance all together
• don’t stress for results, let it happen
• listen to the environment, incorporate the non-human
• use your voice once in the session
• have 2 people record your shit and 2 cameras
• publish with hashtag #fieldtechno

58

Mise en Abyme
on Hailuoto
[by Anne Lepère]
-1-
At first you arrive on an island. You have
heard stories of this Hailuoto community.
What is happening here is like a micro-
cosm, certainly something that can be
expanded on a larger scale.
Interactions on a local level always reveal
the best and the worst of human beings,
but they seem stronger in a smaller space
where people are still able to discuss any
problem that arises.
Arguments, reflections, debates,
acceptance, …
Here you can find the codes for a global
society.
What is the position of the strangers,
the children and the elderly in this
community?
How can we react to drama?
How to move in this island space with its
territory so definite?
How does living in a community ask us to
understand the world around us.
Understanding & composition.
A composition which cares about others
but still respects yourself at the same
time.
-2-
On a second level of community life...
living with 10 strangers
10 people listening carefully to each
other create an effortless atmosphere
where everybody is moving softly.
Usually it takes time to be able to act out
your own rhythm within a group. Here it
seems so easy.  and our outsides decreases
59
HAI ART MICRO-RESIDENCY #1
 
-3 -
Then, on a third level these 10 people
are exploring this astonishing place: the
Organum.
Organum, a space on the island where
you can also hear yourself belonging to a
space. Bringing you to the awareness of a
resonant inside.
Like a skin between voices and world.
Your own voice has an effect on each
of the walls of this architectural propo-
sition, except when sound is suddenly
absorbed by a hole.
Natural openings on the
environment around.
Also, by being fascinated by one sound,
by focusing on it, you may forget the
ensemble and find it difficult to observe
all life inside the Organum.
It can be a fragile composition:
Outside feeling inside, inside feeling
outside.
And maybe it’s here that we reach the
fourth step of the mise en abyme
 
-4-
Behind the ear
Deeper & deeper
To reach silence / calm / understanding /
acceptation
Maybe the more carefully we use our ear
the more the limits between ourselves
life ...
... and finally we belong to a same-space
a same-world
Melting the borders ...
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

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 HAI ART MICRO-RESIDENCY #1

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

GrawBöckler
language : weather

Residency Period: From 14/09/2015 to 21/09/2015

Invited by DISK Berlin/CTM Festival to Novosibirsk, Russia
Let’s Talk about the Weather is the latest initiative by duo GrawBöckler. The project explores
different particuliarities of language, taking the weather’s position as the lowest common
denominator for a conversation as a starting point, and elevating the subject by artistic means.
GrawBöckler added a chapter to this ongoing project during a residency at the CTM Siberia
festival. The duo interviewed CTM Siberia participants and festtivalgoers, as well as the
residents of Novosibirsk, asking them to describe diverse feelings and thoughts using weather-
related words and symbols. Currently assembling the footage into a video montage, a whole new
range of colours and expressions from Russia and Siberia is now being added to their ongoing
weather “episodes”.

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 GRAWBÖCKLER

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64
 GRAWBÖCKLER

65
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66
 GRAWBÖCKLER

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Soundwalk Collective
memory : landscape : frequency

Residency Period: From 14/09/2015 to 21/09/2015

Invited by DISK Berlin/CTM Festival to Novosibirsk, Russia
As part of CTM Siberia festival, which took place 14-20 September 2015 in Novosibirsk,
Russia, Soundwalk Collective affiliate Arthur Larrue conducted preliminary research focused
on the Отшельник (otchelnik), as a type of person exiting contemporary society and living
in relative isolation in the remote Altai Mountains, some 600km of Novisibirsk. The work
gradually evolved into an experimental multimedia piece when, in spring 2016, two other
Soundwalk Collective members ventured to the Altai Mountains to collect sound and visual
materials for the project. Titled Memory, Landscape & Frequency, the project became a broader
research on a Siberian (sound) identity. The final work will be premiered at CTM 2018.

Foreword by Arthur Larrue together with my friends the Soundwalk

“I consulted an empty
dictionary, somewhere. All information
that was too precise had been erased from
its pages. Entries relating to locations had
no mention of governments, no important
dates, nothing of wars or revolutions.
Location names were simple invitations
to dream. The cities were purely mental
constructs, as were the countries and
oceans”.
At the entry, Russia, I found:
“an immense, uninhabited territory”.
At the entry, Siberia, was written: “carte
blanche”. In 2013, I attempted to describe
in a novel the definition of St. Petersburg,
but I found this task extremely difficult.
Only one word came to mind the entire
time I was writing the novel: “fog”. I
was nonetheless living in St. Petersburg
at that time. Living in a place does not
necessarily give you permission/the
ability to describe/speak of it. In 2012,
Collective, we created a dictionary of this
sort. It contained one lonely entry: Black
Sea. We travelled around this sea by sail-
boat. Together, we wished to create the
most broad definition for it possible. They
recorded the sounds of our journey, musi-
cians and all other voices that were able
to tell us something of this region of the
world. Using these recordings, Soundwalk
Collective composed a work that they
named after a witch that inhabited the
area: Medea. Each time I listen to Medea,
I hear the words, ‘Black Sea’. I no longer
remember the words that I created for
the Black Sea Journal, where I described
the creation of Medea. I do remember
the following questions: Is it possible to
escape? Isn’t it preferable to get lost?
Siberia is an ideal word for
getting lost / to get lost in. The work,
Memory Landscape, brings up another
question in me: What kind of memory do
we keep of those that have left? / of the
one that left?

68
 SOUNDWALK COLLECTIVE

SYNOPSIS

MEMORY, LANDSCAPE &
FREQUENCY is an audiovisual project
that attempts to establish a confron-
tation of the geographical landscape
of a territory with the anthropological
memory of colonisation. The attempt
by human beings to appropriate a land,
revealing the psychic claims that they
impose on nature.

With the cooperation of

Stas Sharifullin and Klammklang, we
compiled unpublished audio diaries
of first Siberian colonisation and sonar
recordings used to map the land from a
scientific standpoint, towards the crea-
tion of a sonic journal that re-asserts
the relationship of human and land
(landscape).

Landscape and myth establish

themselves more than anywhere else
in Siberia, making metaphors more real
than their references and becoming in
fact part of the scenery.

The sacred, the memory, the

woodland wilderness of Siberia, gener-
ation after generation have consoli-
dated the myth of an uncontaminated
territory. The forest and the rivers have
seen war and terror, elation and desper-
ation, death and resurrection; a sense of
primitive darkness is re-enforced by the
endless forest. It is a bewitched land.

The composition depicts

Siberia as a place of myth, sacredness
and expanse. It will set off on the trail
of ‘social memory’, acknowledging the
ambitious legacy of nature that Siberia’s
uncompromising landscape embraces.

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

CO-PRODUCTION
& COLLABORATION

This project is a co-production
between Goethe Institute Novosibirsk
under the supervision of Stefanie Peter,
DISK Berlin, Deutschlandradio Kultur &
Radio France Culture.

KLAMMKLANG founder Stas

Sharifullin was invited to explore the
groundwork and assist in the discovery
of sleeping sonic memories that origi-
nated at the time of the first expeditions
in Siberia. These exist under the form
of tape reels, cassette tapes, SONAR,
SODAR and ultra sound land scanning
methods that were adopted to map,
grade, understand and possess the land;
measure its depth, its space - ground
communication, the weather conditions
it is subject to, its water basins.
The recordings derive from the
local geo/weather scientific labs at the
Siberian Federal University archive in
Krasnoyarsk, and local History Museum
archives retaining reel-to-reel audio
diaries on Siberia colonisation and
urbanisation recorded between the
1950s and 1970s, as well from the
national radio archives and the Siberian
State University of Telecommunications
and Information Sciences.
We undertook the process of
researching, identifying, re-archiving
towards an ongoing human chronicle of
the discovery and structure of the land
from the first settlements.
In a cut-and-paste collage these
sonic documents are juxtaposed against
field recordings of exemplary forests,
emblematic wind, storms and trees;
confronting the sound of nature with the
one of human ownership and settlement.

70
 SOUNDWALK COLLECTIVE

SONAR / SODAR
Sonar (originally an acronym
for SOund Navigation And Ranging) is a
technique that uses sound propagation
(usually underwater, as in submarine
navigation) to navigate, communicate
with or detect objects on or under the
surface of the water, such as other the
presence position of the land (land
measurement).
Two types of technology share
the name ‘sonar’: passive sonar is essen-
tially listening for the sound made by
vessels; active sonar is emitting pulses
of sounds and listening for echoes.
Sonar may be used as a means of
acoustic location and of measurement
of the echo characteristics of ‘targets’ in
the water.
Acoustic location in air was
used before the introduction of radar.
Sonar may also be used in air for robot
navigation, and SODAR (an upward
looking in-air sonar) is used for atmos-
pheric investigations.
The term sonar is also used
for the equipment used to generate
and receive the sound. The acoustic
frequencies used in sonar systems vary
from very low (infrasonic) to extremely
high (ultrasonic).

71
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
SCIENTIFIC
INSTRUMENTS
In collaboration with Gennadi
Krivolapov of the Siberian State
University of Telecommunications
and Information Sciences, and Andrey
Smirnov, founder of the Theremin Centre
of Electroacoustic Music in Moscow, we
researched the scientific instruments
that were initially used for the mapping
of the Siberian landscape above and
below the Earth’s surface.
These instruments of scien-
tific origin produce ultrasound and
subsonic frequencies used to scan the
surrounding territory.
By adopting them as musical
instruments / synthesizers, Soundwalk
Collective operated them in a studio
setting to generate the same tonalities
and pulses that were once employed for
landscape measurement and mapping
in Siberia, towards the creation of a
multi-layered tonal backdrop in the
sound composition.
72

SOUND
COMPOSITION
We conceived an atonal medi-
tative piece that references the Siberian
solitude and landscape and evokes the
immensity and abstraction of the land.
Recordings from the region
were used as a point of departure in
the composition: archive tapes that
contained conversations or diaries,
short-wave / long-wave radio tran-
scripts, sonar and ultra-sound land
inspection studies, field recordings.
Ultrasonic frequencies were
transposed to their  fundamental
frequency denominators in the human
hearing spectrum to become hearable.
73
SOUNDWALK COLLECTIVE
The sounds of artificial origins
were laid out against the field record-
ings to create a counter point with the
sound of nature, both of them trying
to reveal themselves and progressively
growing into each other forming a drone
composition where all sonic sources are
melting together and create a medita-
tive aural space.
The outcomes of the project
are an album composition, a narra-
tive format for radio broadcasting on
Deutschlandradio Kultur and Radio
France Culture, and either an audio-
visual installation or live audiovisual
performance realised in early 2017 in
collaboration with DISK Berlin and CTM
Festival.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Jaume “Mal”
voice politics : masculinities
Ferrete
Residency Period: From 28/09/2015 to 15/10/2015
Invited by Q-O2 to work in the city of Brussels
For his research project Afónica/Masculinities, a document and conversation-based research and
creation project on the issue of masculinities, Jaume Ferrete took different interviews and dove
into archives in Brussels. Jaume’s project fits within the frame of a growing interest in this issue
within academia and social movements. Special attention is paid to the problem of unsaying
(from) a position characterized by the privilege of saying.

Afónica/Masculinities builds on the work Jaume Ferrete has done in recent years on the subject
of the political dimensions of voice as developed in Catalan, Spanish, Latin-American, and
European contexts.

Q-O2 is a place aesthetic practices. This approach could

where I return.  to unsay oneself from a position charac-
I
have returned several times
since my first visit in 2010, as part of
Sons de Barcelona - a sound-pedagogy
project related to the Pompeu Fabra
University and taking part in the Sounds
of Europe project.
The last time I was a resident
at Q-O2 was in October, 2015, with a
project around masculinities and the
voice and in June 2016, I again returned
to Q-02 to speak about the research I
had undertaken within this project.
Taking the politics or ideol-
ogies of the voice as a starting point, I
attempted an approach to the problem-
atic participation of the male/masculine
position in feminist activism, theory, and
be summarised with the question: “How
terised by the privilege of ‘saying’?”
It seems to be a social
given that any legitimate practices or
discourse around masculinity must
necessarily originate from a biologically
male body; that it is men, male bodies,
and male behaviour that form the
material basis of what we call mascu-
linity. A look at recent changes on the
perception and practice of masculinity,
however, would seem to suggest that
these are occurring, either in reaction
to or directly produced by the work
of feminist and LGBTQ theorists and
activists. I did not want my project to
reinforce the idea that the legitimacy
to address issues around masculinity
is contained only in the male voice.
Instead, I focused on speaking with

74

bio-women, trans women, trans men,
etc. all of whom had much to say on the
subject.
Attempting to find people to
speak with is always an important part
of my research process. In October
I received a good tip from Laurence
Rassel, who I knew from her work at
Fundació Tàpies in Barcelona. She
suggested I write to Sophia (sophia.be),
a Brussels-based organisation dedicated
to stimulating research and education
in gender studies. This was a huge help.
The people at Sophia were so kind as
to send me a list giving the names of
organisations, researchers, and other
people who they thought could be of
interest for the project.
Of the people I contacted, it
was Josephine Hoegaerts - a historian
of gender, politics, and vocal culture in
modern Western Europe – who was the
biggest influence on the development
of the project. In her texts, Josephine
has dealt with ideas around masculinity
and the voice in a way that I felt was
close to what I was trying to do.
75
JAUME “MAL” FERRETE
By the time I contacted
Josephine, she was living in Finland
but I had the opportunity to speak with
her via Skype. During our conversa-
tion, Josephine made a comment that
provided an important clue with how to
go forward with the project. Her words
suggested a possible turn from a poli-
tics of the voice to a politics of listening.
This lead me to the work of others,
including artists Fiona Whelan, and
Brandon LaBelle, and - in Mexico, where
I reside - Carlos Lenkesdorf’s accounts
of the language and cosmo-vision of the
indigenous Mayan Tojolabal people.
In June 2016, I gave a lecture
performance at Q-O2, which was a
helpful prompt for me to attempt to
recollect and present all the different
testimonies and ideas that I had
collected while researching the project.
It also allowed me a chance to experi-
ment with the format of a presentation
and how to approach the reading of a
standard text. The context of the festival
included the company of several other
artists and researchers whose work
dealt with a politics of the voice, and
their research was very interesting and
enriching for me as well.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Aurélie Lierman
composition : vocal art : radio art

Residency Period: From 01/10/2015 to 31/10/2015

Invited by Q-O2 alongside Dutch collective iii to MoKS in Mooste, Estonia
During the residency, Aurélie Lierman researched the speaking voice in an acousmatic context
by creating a vocal theatre piece exploring the boundaries between music and meaning. Her
composition in progress, Home as a Shelter, reflects on the idea of home as a symbol for ‘shelter’
and ‘safety’, and its shifting meanings in times of disaster. Several presentations were held in the
area together with the collective iii.

A musical affair fields and woodlands, walking each day

with nature:
Iwas invited for a one-month
residency with iii and Q-02 in MoKS,
Mooste, South-Eastern Estonia (about 2
bus stops from the Russian border). My
most vivid memories of MoKS are my
daily, solo walks right after breakfast
in the surroundings of the MoKS artist
residency. These were not sound-walks
like those I usually make in urban envi-
ronments, but walks without attitude or
microphone - walks whose only purpose
was to take some fresh air, to clear my
ears, and to relax my eyes before begin-
ning my day’s work. I travel often and
over the past 10 years, I have seen many
landscapes across several continents. To
date, Mooste in Estonia is perhaps the
second most silent place I have visited,
topped only by the empty desert of
inner Australia.
On my daily walks in Mooste,
I would explore the region’s fairytale
in a larger circle around MoKS. One day,
I went a bit further than usual, arriving
at an intersection with an earth road
for farmers, facing toward Russia. All I
could see in any direction was desolate,
ploughed fields and farmland vaulted
by a bright blue autumn sky. It’s there
that I re-lived John Cage’s famous anec-
dote from the anechoic chamber. There
was no wind. The whole scene was
so still and quiet that I could hear the
soundtrack of my own nervous system
and my blood in circulation.
On another of those walks, in
another part of Mooste, I experienced
the opposite. I began singing and
playing with the natural echo, which
created an unintentional acousmatic
effect in full nature. The sound acciden-
tally caught the attention of two passing
foxes. Both confused by my echo, they
would stop the middle of their course,
for tens of minutes, trying to under-
stand whether the echo was coming
from me or from another (invisible)

76

human being hiding somewhere at the
other side of the field, valley, or forest.
This was not an isolated incident. In fact,
Echo’s confusion was everywhere. I also
remember a watchdog near the village
of Mooste that would bark endlessly,
differently than the way in which dogs
usually bark. It was as if the dog had
gotten trapped in a perpetual cycle - an
ongoing, antiphonal game of question
and answer where the answer would
never come.
Echo was also there when I
walked into a dense, majestic forest
of birches and coniferous, right on the
shores of a fairy-like lake in twilight.
There, the natural sound effects touched
me on a different level. The long stems
of the plants all stood very close to one
another. When singing my first notes,
the stems would carry my voice with a
very pure and long-lasting reverber-
ation, as if I stood in a large, invisible
cathedral with perfect acoustics. While
singing to the trees and the lake, I finally
understood that every hi-tech DAW and
plug in, every concert hall and every
church is merely an imitation of natural
phenomena that have existed since
the beginning of time. Today, powerful
natural echoes and reverbs, like the
kinds I found in Estonia, have become
very hard to find (at least in Western
Europe). I have enjoyed (artificial) reverb
and echo so many times, but it was never
as mystical as it was when I was alone
next to that lake and old forest in the
remote woodlands of South-Eastern
Estonia.
Another (last) anecdote from
the Estonian countryside: this time,
there was no musical interaction with
echo and reverb, but a sort of musical
communication took place between me
and a herd of cows. Passing their large
77
AURÉLIE LIERMAN
meadow, I wanted to greet the cows.
Instead of human speech or mo-oing, I
felt like singing to them. At first some
Bach-like inventions, classical vocalisa-
tions, and improvisations in gospel style.
When I wanted to continue my journey,
I realised that the cows had become
fascinated by my vocal utterances. At
that moment, the cows closest to me
had all stopped their usual activities
and kept staring at me. I walked a little
further, continuing my vocal improvisa-
tion. As I continued singing, the cows
nearby would follow me, almost as if
they wanted something from me. Now
also those at the very far end of the
meadow would stop eating and come
closer to me. At one point the whole
herd (30 or more cows) was standing
still in front of me. I was impressed
by this, and I stood still and stopped
my singing. I looked over at the cows.
They were all looking at me too, I guess
waiting for me to continue my singing.
I hesitated a little. The herd was so big
and so close and the fence between us
not so high. At that point, I wasn’t yet
sure whether the cows liked what I was
doing. I started to worry that my sounds
may have intimidated them uninten-
tionally. I also had no idea if there were
bulls amongst the herd who may want
to protect the cows. I made myself
smaller; went down on my knees so that
they could see that I didn’t want to harm
them. The cows all followed my actions
with their eyes. Because I had stopped
singing, I guess, the cows came closer,
step by step, and waited for something
to happen, looking with patience at me.
At some point, I had the feeling they
were expecting me to continue to sing
and so I did. First softly, then with more
confidence. I was so intrigued at how
this spontaneous singing session had
turned into a kind of interaction, almost
like I were a snake charmer. I continued
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
my singing in baroque, classical, and
gospel style.
Finally, when I had to leave, I
carefully stood, all the while continuing
to sing in the same manner. As I quietly
sang and walked away, the whole herd
was quietly following me, step by step,
until the far end of their meadow.
Even when I had left the meadow
behind, hundreds of meters further,
the whole herd kept standing together
and looking in my direction. And when
they couldn’t see me because the road
would descend or turn, I was sure the
cows could still hear me because some
of the cows would go and stand on a hill
and continue watching me until I was
completely out of their sight.
Maybe communication is not
an accurate word for this experience.
Rather, I think my singing to the cows
had a therapeutic, emotional, trance,
or narcotic effect on the herd. I came
to Mooste for a completely different
research (to explore the speaking voice
and the correlation between speech,
music, and meaning), but since my
adventure with the cows (as well as the
foxes, the dog, the natural echo and
reverb) I am now more curious about the
effects of musically-organised sound on
animals living outdoors, in full nature.
I am most curious about what it can
communicate and what its psycholog-
ical impact may be. Perhaps a topic for
a future project…? Chance encounters
and anecdotes like those I described
above were only possible because of
this residency in a remote place like
MoKS, located at the South-Eastern
backwaters of Estonia. An unforgettable
musical treat and definitely a gateway
to something new!
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 AURÉLIE LIERMAN

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Tiina Laurila
field recordings : electronic sounds : movement : voice

Residency Period: From 06/10/2015 to 24/10/2015

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in Fataunços (Portugal) and proposed by
Hai Art
Finnish sound & media educator Tiina Laurila, who helps partner organization Hai Art in some
projects with children/youths, was proposed to take part in Playing the Rural Landscape series
of artist residencies, one of which took place in October 2015 in the rural village of Fataunços
(municipality of Vouzela). Tiina developed a series of workshops with local children using field
recordings, improvisations with electronic music and explorations with voice, movement and
expression. She created a final audiovisual piece using all these collected materials.

“Kids don’t remember what you
try to teach them. They remember what
you are.”
― Jim Henson
W orking with the local
children was, without any hesitation, the
best part of my residency with Binaural/
Nodar in the village of Fataunços. For me
it was wonderful to have the possibility
to witness evolving processes in these
kids, how they quickly learned to
listen, to tell stories, to react to stimuli
and generate ideas, and to see their
enthusiasm, liberation, imagination
and freedom of expression. That made
me become convinced that most of the
methods that can be used with kids are
universal and valid in any culture.
Children are naturally curious
and keen on experiencing new things
and perspectives. Bringing sound art
close to them and to familiarize kids with
the multiple possibilities of observing
and listening to their surroundings and
nature through modern technology yet
in the process retain something very
characteristic in all children’s move-
ment and action.
When not having a mutual
language, just being myself, present,
open and honest, turned out to be the
key to our successful communication.
Kids hardly never listen what you say
(although they sense everything), but
they will follow your example.
I find that being close to kids
and working with them, is probably
necessary for everyone who works as a
sound artist, since there is so much to
learn in ways of observing things and
life around. Hearing through children’s
ears, seeing through their eyes will give
everyone so much detail, tiny things
that in the end are very significant.
In Fataunços there is a beau-
tiful and diverse nature around, but I
found out that only few of the children

80

I worked with had ever played in the
woods or made a trip to the nearby river,
let alone knew about the significant
role of local agriculture and the interac-
tion between nature and people in the
village and in their family’s history.
For me, when observing reality
as an outsider, this came to prominence
quite in the beginning of the residency
and finding and testing the ways to
provide these children a deeper expe-
rience and connection with the nature,
became my goal and rather the essence
of the residency.
Hearing the forest whis-
pering, gnomes and fairies laughing are
universal substances associated with
childhood as part of an imaginary world.
In the rational world only kids have the
privilege of expressing their experi-
ences of the invisible or unseen as real.
81
TIINA LAURILA
At some point, one is expected to grow
up and start using the senses in appro-
priated and accepted ways, suitable to
the operating environment, oriented to
performance and achievement.
Seeing a tree as a tribe and
leaves as its people is a possibility for
understanding the importance of cher-
ishing life. Connection with nature and
seeing its fragile yet abundant renewal
is a gateway into understanding the
diversity in people and cultures and the
richness in them.
I hope that in my work,
connecting sound art to this invisible
world and environmental awareness,
could give people new perspectives in
understanding and appreciating child-
hood and how necessary it is to be more
aware of it in our existences, specially in
later stages of our lives.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Xabier Erkizia
oxcarts : sound anthropology : storytelling : radio

Residency Period: From 06/10/2015 to 24/10/2015

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in Fataunços (Portugal)
Basque sound anthropologist & artist Xabier Erkizia was invited to take part in Playing the
Rural Landscape, a series of artist residencies around the theme of sonic connections with
rural landscape, one of which took place in October 2015 in the rural village of Fataunços
(municipality of Vouzela). Xabier developed one interaction of his long-standing sound
anthropology project around oxcarts, one that has led/will lead him to such places like the
Azores Islands, Brazil, Africa and Asia. Xabier produced a radio piece (Os Eixos do meu Carro
Deixaram de Tocar) using some collected materials, like recordings of oxcarts in the fields and
interviews with some of their owners about the local traditions of using the oxcarts.

THE AXLES OF MY CART I arrive here looking for a

STOPPED PLAYING
A daptation of the original
script for a radio piece with the same title.
In the 60’s, the Argentinian sing-
er-songwriter, guitarist, poet and writer
Atahualpa Yupanqui (1908-1992)
borrowed from the Uruguayan poet
Romildo Risso (1882-1946) a poem that,
dressed with his music, became almost
an anthem to an entire generation. The
song in question is called “the axles of
my cart”.
Because I don’t grease the axles
They call me abandoned ...
If I like that they sound,
Why should I want to grease them?
Fataunços
(Vouzela, Viseu District, Portugal)
October, 2015.
sound that resists me. In all probability
this resistance is the main reason to
insist on this trip. It is known that impos-
sibility always gives better results than
easiness, even more so when it comes
to sound. And, in this case, the curious
silence surrounding this sound makes
my quest to be amplified by the frustra-
tion of not being able to listen to it.
A sound already turned into a
dream of which only an echo remains,
closely kept in the memory of people
who in most cases I don’t know, nor will
I; And, in other cases, people I barely
know but with whom I have listened
and tried to learn to listen. It is a sound
that, by its presence, mainly in rural
environments, has long ago lost its
original meaning and became just a
trace, a wound that reminds us of the
richness of all that knowledge that, by
being oral and not corrupted by written
knowledge (official, academic, formal),

82

has fallen into that sack that no one
remembers, claims or disputes and that
we call collective oblivion.
Luckily, my friends at Binaural/
Nodar, with whom I share geographic
distance and affective closeness in equal
measure, were able to help me with my
search. We share wounds.
Thus we came across Fernando
Lourenço da Silva, probably the last
cattleman of Fataunços. The last sound-
maker of that countryside.
This song was published in a record
album that, with time, became a classic
of South American music. It was the year
of 1968. The same year tractors arrived
in Fataunços. The same year Fernando
got married and settled in Fataunços. The
album was entitled “El hombre, el paisaje
y su canción (“The man, the landscape
and its song”).1
It is obvious that Fernando
likes to tell stories. He is more eager
to talk than to be interested in under-
standing what we are doing. Actually,
the latter has the least importance. So
it must be. Although we don’t share a
common language, we chatted at ease
between rescued jargon and improvised
Portuñol (a loose mix of Portuguese
and Spanish), understanding more by
intuition than by definition. Celebrating
every understood word, although that is
still the least important thing.
He tells dozens of stories
about the ox carts that used to cross the
Vouzela valley for centuries. He talks
about the importance of the old Roman
road and the squeaking, usually called
“singing” in that region, that the carts
made when they would pass on that
road. It touches my wound. Seeing my
1 2
RCA Victor, 1968
83
XABIER ERKIZIA
obvious excitement, he promises me
that we will go for a ride on the cart.
The same one that has been driving
for decades, since, after a traffic ticket
(he has never had a driving license),
he stopped using the tractor and went
back to the old cart. This time around it
is drawn by cows. A matter of economy.
Romildo Risso was born and lived in
Uruguay, in the capital Montevideo.
He was not a professional writer. He
combined his literary work with other
jobs such as clerk, lubricant salesman
and factory manager. He was not a
country man. He lived in the city. But
even so, he wrote several odes to the
peasant world, in which the references
to the ox carters were constant.
Crossing the salt flats
One dies of thirst
That is pure desert.
And there is nothing to do.
Work, I want work.
Because this can’t be.
I don’t want anyone to endure
The pains that I have endured.
I’m angry at the silence
For all that I have lost.
Do not remain silent
that who wants to live happily. 2
After several delays due to
the irregular rain, it seems that the
day has finally arrived. We drive to the
appointment at the plot that Fernando’s
family own a few hundred meters from
their house. There they have a shed and
a stable where Mourisca and Amarela
sleep, the two cows that pull his cart
every day. He treats them with the same
affection he shows when he speaks
of them. He tries not to yell, although
occasionally he threatens them, almost
affectionately. We notice that there
Atahualpa Yupanqui: Trabajo, quiero trabajo
(1968)
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
are people working in the cornfield
surrounding the stable. Only the random
movement of the plants warns us of
their presence.
While attaching the pair of
cows to the cart, Fernando recites with
good humour the name of the pieces that
shape the cart and the mounts. ‘Cocões’
is the name given to the pieces that
generate the much desired squeaking
sound. An old fixed brake system that
works by friction and depending on
the type of wood it’s made from and
the intensity with which it is actioned,
it “sings” in different ways. It is not the
result of chance or technical default.
It is a sounding that can be adjusted,
designed, and tuned. It is as much the
sound of the cart as it is of the cows but
it is mainly of the carter. The ‘cocões’ are
the key to a process of musicking that,
however old and obsolete it may seem,
is still alive, mutated into another shape,
but alive in the way we design our
everyday sounding. It’s a way of saying
‘Here I am, listen to me.’
Although the song was already well
known, “The axles of my cart” became
really known throughout South America
thanks to another singer called Facundo
Cabral. He was a very special person
since his childhood. At the age of nine he
escaped home, with the goal of arriving
in Buenos Aires to ask a question to the
then President of the Republic Juan
Domingo Perón, known for being the
president who “gave work to the poor.”
After getting past the police siege around
the President’s house, he got in front of
him and asked, “Is there work for me?”
Because I don’t grease the axles
They call me abandoned
If I like that they sound
why should I want to grease them.
It’s too boring
to follow and follow the trail
to walk and walk the roads
Without anything to entertain me.
I don’t need silence,
I don’t have anyone to think about
I had, but long ago,
Now I don’t have anymore.
I watch Fernando’s prepara-
tions, as if watching a cellist preparing
his solo concert, in that strange mixture
of rudeness and fragility. All kinds of
microphones are ready to record this
old ‘singing’. The expectation, however
few we may be, is remarkably great. I
am in the back of the cart that will travel
about 150 meters and arrive at the spot
where the maize plants are already
stacked and ready to be transported.
With my weight the cart should sound
even more.
Fernando calls and the cows
pull. However, no singing is heard other
than that generated by the rubbing of
the upper wooden pieces of the cart.
The cart sounds but it doesn’t sing.
Romualdo Risso died in 1946 in
Montevideo. He didn’t live to know the
tractors that silenced his beloved carts.
Atahualpa Yupanqui, died on May 23,
1992, far from his beloved Argentina,
far from the peasants and carts. After a
concert in France, he felt indisposed and
died suddenly.
Facundo Cabral, after becoming blind,
was murdered on July 9, 2011, in
Guatemala, by mistake. His assassins
wanted to kill a prestigious businessman
but instead they killed a blind singer
who used to sing to the carts.
84

Fernando Lourenço da Silva
didn’t remember that a few years ago he
had to add a piece of stainless steel (a
muffler) to the axles of his cart so that
it wouldn’t sound, so that his company
wouldn’t make the neighbours suffer.
And although I suppose disappoint-
ment is visible in my expression, he
doesn’t seem to be concerned about it.
So it must be. It’s been a while since his
concert ended.
85
XABIER ERKIZIA
I prefer to think that, in reality,
although the axles of his car stopped
playing, he continues to listen to them
singing.
The axles of my cart
I will never grease them.
“Silence is not the absence of sound but
the beginning of listening.” 3
3
Salomé Voegelin, Listening to Noise and
Silence: Towards a Philosophy of Sound Art. A&C
Black, 2010
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Tiina Sainila
& Mikko Kanninen
sound : movement : architecture

Residency Period: From 01/11/2015 to 15/11/2015

Invited by Q-O2 to work in the city of Brussels and proposed by Hai Art
The main objective of f Tiinas Sainila’s and Mikko Kanninen’s residency was a workshop for
children between five and nine years old. The workshop explored the relationship between
sound, movement, and space. It started from iPad music apps and was held at the community
house in Molenbeek (Huis van Culturen/Maison des Cultures Molenbeek).

Interview by Julia Eckhardt from our backyard. In Brussels, there

Can you tell me about the
workshop you organised in Brussels?
T he workshop was our main
project during our two week stay. The
first week we were hosting the work-
shop and the second week we edited the
video and went through all the material
that the kids had recorded. We wanted
to make a video that would be mean-
ingful for the kids who participated to
the workshop as well. Being heard, seen,
and noticed seemed to be really impor-
tant to all of them.
Can you describe how your host site
differed from your normal working
environment?
The environment is totally
different compared to our home, the
rural island of Hailuoto. Hailuoto is
very silent, peaceful. The forest starts
was a lot to see and experience, many
happenings going on. Brussels was
also really loud, a bit dirty, filled with
different kinds of people. We enjoyed
the contrast and the atmosphere but
it was also nice to come back home –
somehow calming.
The kids in the workshop were
speaking French or Flemish. We didn’t
have a common language, which was a
bit difficult. We had people helping us
though, and so despite the language
barriers we were able to create really
nice connections with the kids.
The lifestyle in Brussels was
very different compared to our daily life.
We were always eating out and meeting
a lot of people - a lot of events, a lot
of possibilities to choose from. We’ve
lived in Berlin, which was a little similar.
In Hailuoto there are two or three
options of places to have lunch, and
they are all at least 5km away, meaning

86

that we always cook for ourselves... And
there is not so much happening on an
island of 1,000 inhabitants. In Hailuoto
we fish, pick berries, chop wood, enjoy
the nature and the peace. Brussels
was so loud for us - sirens all the time,
traffic noise, constructions, people... We
needed ear plugs to be able to sleep. In
two weeks we got more used to it and
now since getting home, all this silence
seems a bit weird.
Did you gather “raw materials”,
specific to the local environment
of this residency, for new projects?
We are not really sound artists
and don’t currently make music or sound
art of our own. Our visit was a research
trip to try out some creative ideas with
the kids by combining sound, move-
ment, and space. As architects, we are
interested in combining architecture /
space with different art forms.
We got new ideas for future
workshops or social / communal art
projects, but also ideas for performances
combining sound, movement, and archi-
tecture. For us, it would be interesting to
work with professional dancers, to really
emphasize or play with the architecture
with sound and movement in a way that
the combination becomes really mean-
ingful, interesting, and touching.
In Finland, we don’t have so
many immigrants and the groups we
have previously worked with have
usually been quite homogenous. The
multicultural environment inspired
us and forced us to think in a different
way. The language barrier affected our
way of working too. It was interesting
to be ‘forced’ to give the kids free hands
to create. We learned that you don’t
always need to give a lot of advice, just
inspiration.
87
TIINA SAINILA & MIKKO KANNINEN
How did you experience the residency
on a practical level with regard to
lodging, eating, working etc?
We only slept and ate our
breakfast at our apartment. Otherwise,
we were out working or discovering
the city. The apartment was very basic,
enough for our needs - not a place to
hang around. We were always eating
out, which was great (and a bit hard
on our wallets). We really enjoyed that
part of Brussels. The workspace at Q-O2
was very nice. We got all the help we
needed. Everything was well organised
and we had some nice conversations.
Did the residency somehow
change your approach or under-
standing of sound art practices?
Yes. We must say this whole
field is kind of new to us because we
started to work with the sound as Hai
Art’s workshop leaders just two years
ago. We are outsiders. Experimental
music interests us and there was an
interesting event at Q-O2 while we were
there. Hearing the work and thoughts of
other artist was also mind-opening.
During your residency, you
immersed yourself in a new sound
environment and its surrounding
culture. How did it influence the sound
art you created during this residency?
Because the workshop with
the kids played such a big role during
our stay, the contact with the local chil-
dren was the main thing for us. It was
nice to discover that the kids enjoyed
the workshop and were truly excited
to create and try out different things –
something totally new. Even without
a common language, we were able
to inspire them and that was nice to
notice. We will remember each of them
and their different personalities for a
long time.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
We found the participant’s
different backgrounds really interesting.
How they behaved, how they worked
together, how they came really close to
us, touched. It is different.
Would you consider
the work you created
as a form of cultural hybridism?
Very much so. We were told
that our way of working is very much
different to what the kids are used to.
More free and creative, not so strictly
supervised. We had our way. The kids
were all different, but it worked out well.
We learned and they learned.
Did what you experienced during
the workshop change your working
concepts and thoughts?
Was the output different t
o what you had previously in mind?
Our own workshop concept
changed during the week. We had to
improvise and change some plans when
we saw what kind of group we had, how
things were working with the language
barriers etc. We had to give up on our
most ambitious thoughts of combining
architecture with sound and move-
ment. We felt that it was necessary to
simplify the concept, both because of
the young age of the participants (five
to nine years old) and because every
instruction had to be translated to two
languages.
This work gave us new ideas
for future workshops, we know how we
would like to develop them. It also gave
us ideas for different artistic projects
combining sound, movement, and
architecture.
88
 TIINA SAINILA & MIKKO KANNINEN

89
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Marija Bozinovska Jones

a.k.a. MBJ Wetware
radio : location : culture : gender : race

Residency Period: From 13/12/2015 to 22/12/2015

Invited by DISK Berlin / CTM Festival as part of the CTM 2016 Radio Lab
“GAD Technologies” is a project by Marija Bozinovska Jones a.k.a. MBJ Wetware, an artist
active in London and her native Macedonia. Jones collaborated with J.G. Biberkopf, an
emerging Lithuanian producer whose Ecologies EP recently launched Kuedo’s KNIVES label.
As a verb, gad is defined as “to move from one location to another in an apparently random
and frivolous manner”. It is also an abbreviation for General Anxiety Disorder. Floating in a
virtual realm where cultural markers, gender, position and race are symbolic and arbitrary, and
where subjectivity becomes divorced from the constraints of locality, GAD Technologies explores
fictional geographies by harvesting the overflowing streams of collective imagery.

Supported by Deutschlandradio Kultur – Radio Drama / Klangkunst and CTM Festival, in

collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, Ö1 Kunstradio, and ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen
herbst, the CTM Radio Lab winners held 2-week residencies in Berlin mid-January 2016, and
premiered their works at the CTM 2016 festival, which ran 29 January - 7 February 2016.
“GAD Technologies” was subsequently broadcast in its radio version via Deutschlandradio
Kultur in March 2016.

90
 MARIJA BOZINOVSKA JONES A.K.A. MBJ WETWARE
GAD* Technologies
G AD* is a concept initiated
by Marija Bozinovska Jones who through
MBJ Wetware as hybrid embodiment
examines media ecologies and archi-
tectures as open biological systems. For
Radio Labs, she invites J G Biberkopf as
a musical avatar collaborator; together
they premiered GAD Technologies at
the 2016 edition of Club Transmediale
in form of a diffused spatial perfor-
mance and produced a radio play for
Deutschlandradio Kultur.
* gad (verb) - to move from
one location to another in an apparently
random and frivolous manner * GAD
is an abbreviation of General Anxiety
Disorder.
GAD Technologies engages
with the concept of liquidity in an era of
amplified technocapitalism and complex
geopolitics. Creating simulations of
non-places as virtual landscapes, GAD
approaches subjects ranging from fluid
identities and diffused nationalities
within networked capitalism, to dromo-
logical state of existence and specula-
tions on future scenarios.
It draws on “deterritorializa-
tion” as liquified cultural globalization
aided by the effect of informational
hypercirculation. In the virtual realm
where nationality, gender, position and
race are symbolic and arbitrary, cultural
and national subjectivity become
divorced from the constraints of locality.
Disembodied identities devoid of
national representation become fluid
as the state of existence perpetually
accelerates.
With omnipresent technology
the citizenship of the liquid state allows
91
for free mobility across borders while
swimming through oceans of informa-
tion, albeit in waters that are murky,
unclear, opaque. Engaging in digital
capitalism work blends with play; the
data produced and consumed gets
analysed and monetised, behaviours
predicted and conditioned.
The citizens of the liquid
state are being pulled between two
polarities: one where limits initially
seemed washed away with promise of
democracy and the other where they
are being continuously re-established
via algorithmic rule and governed by
the coupling of economy and political
agencies.
We find ourselves in transit,
floating in ambivalent waters between
the two currents of freedom and control
of planetary scale computation. How do
we preserve our autonomy and sover-
eignty while being entangled in an
opaque power structures’ apparatus?
Our bodies are in transit,
shifting between their physical subjec-
tification and virtual representation; our
bodily fluids circulate, maintaining feed-
back with our environment – systems
within systems engaged in mimicry.
Everything appears in perpetual state of
flux and flow between aggregate states.
Psychoanalysis considers perpetual
change and uncertainty leading to loss
of control of the internal world often
contributing to mental disorders; it is
acknowledged as an unreciprocated
mental investment.
Eastern philosophy on the
other hand, offers a positive redefini-
tion of change in terms of flexibility
and as opening new possibilities. As
the global South leaks into the global
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

North and the local amalgamates the 2I FAST FORWARD

global, impermanence becomes a condi-
Dystopia
tion to be accepted. The transnational
macrocosm consolidates the personal state of acceleration, speed of informa-
microcosm initiating new non-solid tion exchange and perception of time
meta-narratives. Can we embrace a paradox: ever faster communication
liquidity without drowning? versus ever decreasing time availability
attention deficit through information
1| LIQUID STATE overload and interminable connectivity
overload and system failure
Heterotopia
tears, saliva, sweat, blood, semen, #epileptic state
plasma, streams, currents, rivers, lakes, #affective algorithms
seas, oceans, rain #overflow
#excess
life flows, time flows, information flows,
#overproduction
money flows
#doping
endless flow of reappropriation, #entropy
repurposing and transmutation #surplus
reposts, reblogs, comments, likes, #precarity
retweets, shares #BPD
#megastructures
washed away geopolitical context, #augmented reality
diluted history and temporality transna- #network analysis
tional hybrid existence, avatars #cognitive mediation
technocapitalist condition, capital flow, #HFT
‘liquidity’ as assets converted into cash #non-equilibrium economics
#big data
#amorphous #austerity
#movement #dissemination #reappro- #liquidation
priation #distribution #ABM
#liquidity #DDoS
#mobiliy #MITM
#autopoiesis #ADHD
#circulation #GAD
#bricolage #MDMA
#code, systems, processes #instability #K-hole
#immateriality #globalization
#fiber optics Time has taken control of us
#fusion Technology has taken control of us
#curated identities #branded nations No stability, no security, nothing to hold
#global market flows #permutation onto 0oll; ../l/.’;;’’’’’’’’’’’’’\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
#flexibility #prosumerism #exchange \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’’\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
#playbour \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
#fluid identities
The liquid reaches its boiling point
The liquid flows

92
 MARIJA BOZINOVSKA JONES A.K.A. MBJ WETWARE

3I OPTIMIZING ZEN implementation Tendency towards

equilibrium point.
Utopia
#contingencies
state of permanent flux
#uncertainty
predicting probable future #parallax
developments #probabilities
meditative states, not struggling against #impermanence
slowing down as disruption of #transit
acceleration #elasticity
#serenity
breaks as necessary breathing space #equanimity
awakening mindfulness, inviting #ephemerality
awareness #deceleration #resilience
focused approach challenging
The liquid evaporates into the air
dystopian vision of technological

93
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Daniel Brożek
a.k.a. Czarny Latawiec
field recordings : found speech : city folklore

Residency Period: From 04/01/2016 to 17/01/2016

Invited by Q-O2 to work in Brussels and proposed by A-I-R Laboratory
The main subject for Czarny Latawiec’s sound works is the process of tracing fragile correlations
between the past soundscapes of a place and memories of people hidden behind their beliefs
and daily rituals. During the residency, he collected city folklore, field recordings, and traces of
found speech and outlandish cultures.

Thanks to the rich catalogue was to dig into several radiophonic

of publishing houses such as Sub Rosa
or Metaphon, Belgian exploratory and
experimental music has been very close
to my heart for many years. Though the
work of Belgian composers and artists
such as André Stordeur, Henri Pousseur,
Léo Kupper, Arsène Souffriau, Thierry de
Mey, Théo Fleischman, Paul De Vree, and
Wim Vandekeybus (to name but a few)
includes some masterpieces of contem-
porary music and sound art, these artists
have never been as widely recognised
as their French colleagues like François
Bayle or Henri Chopin. Often dense
and demanding for the listener, Belgian
music and sound art of many different
periods and genres provides a good
example of how an apparently periph-
eral scene can evolve over long periods
of time into a strong and multi-dimen-
sional culture.
archives. Brussels radios-stations Panik
and Campus, not only offered me access
to their archives, but also an oppor-
tunity to take part in special sound
creation events. I was amazed at how
well established the sound creation
activity is amongst young radio art
enthusiasts, especially the community
working around Radio Moniek. It was
not only their great sonic imagination,
knowledge of the history of sound art,
and their passion for this less-than-pop-
ular form of sound art that impressed
me about these young artists, but
also their ability to work in a group, to
share a common passion, and to create
new things together. This is something
that seems at odds with the rest of the
modern and electronic sound culture
of the West, which tends to be more
focussed on individual careers.

A vast part of the research I Such patterns of cooperation

had planned for my residency at Q-O2 and work-sharing are also visible at an

94

organisation level among Brussels NGOs
focused on culture and art. At the same
time that I was working in Brussels, my
home city of Wrocław was beginning to
celebrate its title as the European Capital
of Culture. A huge number of specta-
cles, festivals, and big shows hosted in
stadiums were planned to underline
and highlight what Wrocław’s mayors
understand as “culture”. In order to be
able to organise the 1000 events and
400 projects connected to the European
Capital of Culture, the Wrocław city
council demolished many good, working
NGOs and independent cultural creators,
absorbing them instead into a single,
large, corporate-style festival office. As
a result, most of the independent activi-
ties in Wrocław stopped. We can observe
a similar pattern in Kraków, which held
the title in the year 2000 along with 8
other European cities. That same year,
Brussels also hosted the European
Capital of Culture. Here, however, the
approach was very different. The intent
was to create or make use of as many
independent organisations as possible
in order to share and participate in the
preparations for the ECC events, to allow
them to develop and to continue to
contribute to the city’s culture. In 2016,
many of these NGOs are still continuing
their contributions and together create
the reality of Brussels as a city with a
vivid and rich multi-genre, multi-layer
culture.
This may be one of the factors
which speaks for the healthy state of
sound art in Brussels. Though Brussels
is not as big as Berlin or London, the
amount of people and projects orienting
themselves toward sound art is, in many
respects, doing better than those bigger
European capitals of modern music.
Not only my great hosts Q-O2, but also
organisations like Overtoon, BNA-BBOT,
95
DANIEL BROŻEK A.K.A. CZARNY LATAWIEC
Constant, iMAL , MAAC, FoAM, STUK,
Werktank, Les Ateliers Claus, Argos,
and Musiques & Recherches are each
developing their own original programs
focussing on various aspects of sound
studies. None of these institutions has
big budget. In many cases they share
administration costs or rent, but they
manage well to maintain their curatorial
and organisational independency. By
focusing on constant development and
long term projects, they have together
managed over years to create a very
unique scene of contemporary sound
art in the city.
In the context of my own
research, it was very important to come
across the Parlez-vous Saint-Gillois?
project (www.parlezvous1060.be)
run by Constant. Over several years,
Constant has been working together
with local communities in the district
of St. Gilles to collect and catalogue
words from the unique, local dialect
which has developed there between
speakers of many different languages:
Flemish, French, Bosnian, Spanish,
Arabiac, Russian, etc. Based on their
linguistic studies, Constant has created
a variety of sound walks, word maps,
sound installations, and workshops
to document the unique language
and culture of this particular part of
Brussels. Parlez-vous Saint-Gillois? is
but one example of how interesting,
unique, and long-lasting results can be
achieved through long-term projects.
However, things during my stay
were not always easy. The beginning of
my research was to look further into
Iannis Xennakis’ and Le Corbusier’s
conflicts during their collaborative
work on the Philips multimedia pavilion
for the 1958 World Expo in Brussels.
This pavilion - one of the first and
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
most interesting examples in modern
music history of an architecture built
specifically for sound spatialisation and
granular synthesis - no longer exists.
There have been attempts to create
virtual versions of the work (e.g. http://
edu.vrmmp.it/vep/), and Xenakis also
extended the project’s idea of hyperbolic
paraboloids in later construction
projects, but the original Philips
Pavilion is lost. (As a side note, a very
similar building, the Warszawa Ochota
train station by Arseniusz Romanowicz
still exists in Poland). During my stay
in Brussels, I had a lot of difficulties
to get stories about an earlier world
exhibition in Brussels related to the
presentation of Congo culture, as well
as to missing documents relating to the
Belgian genocide in Congo. The Royal
Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren
was closed for renovation and their
archives and libraries were inaccessible.
At the same time, the Marolles district
is full of commercial galleries and
fancy antiques shops which sell African
traditional art, masks, and instruments.
How is it that these pieces of art ended
up in Brussels? To whom do their profits
go?
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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Caroline Claus
urbanism : sound design : mapping
Residency Periods: From 04/01/2016 to 06/02/2016
From 08/10/2016 to 29/10/2016
Invited by Q-O2 to work in the city of Brussels
The L_28 Urban Sound Design Studio, designed by Caroline Claus, was a research cycle on the
undeveloped open space along the Western ring railway L28 in Brussels, an area which has long
been marginalized in Brussels planning processes. Thanks to its natural, historical and ecological
richness the site is an excellent research object, especially in the context of urban sound design.
Four workshops explored the relation between the sonic environment and the landscape of the
area through listening experiences accompanied by reflections via site-specific performances and
a sound map. In dialogue with experts from fields such as field recording, acoustic ecology, and
urban planning, reflection was undertaken on how the current sound environment could be
improved in a participatory manner. Invited guest speakers were Nadia Casabella, Marie Poupé
(IBGE), Flavien Gillié, Stijn Demeulenaere, Peter Cusack, Burak Pak, Petra Pferdmenges,
Thomas Laureyssens, Robin Koek, Nicolas Remy (CRESSON).

Interview by November - mapping and observing

Caroline Profanter
During the first part of your
residency at Q-O2 in January 2016
you explored the connections between
techno music and the urban environ-
ment. You made field recordings, maps,
and created spectrograms of the urban
sound environment. What did these
practices reveal to you?
W hat I try to do is work with
very concrete material and look for
how experiments in electronic music
can inspire you to listen to the city. It’s
about reading a city. You have these
small elements that one can hear in
the electronic music that can help you
to open your ears when you are in the
city. I was already working on that in
the area through field recording. At the
time, I was living in the area too. I really
like these kind of open places in a city,
just before they start to transform.
For a long time now, I’ve been
working in very socially dense urban
contexts. Contexts where you have a lot
of people, a lot of text, a lot of collabo-
ration, politics etc. In the areas around
Brussels subway stations Weststation
and Beekkant, similar things are
happening but you also have this open-
ness. So if you’re in that area, you can
abstract yourself from the density of
the urban context that you work in,
more so than when you are working in a
square like here around the corner. You
can take some distance and observe a
city like Brussels in a different way, in
an abstract way.

98

Actually, for me, listening to
Techno music is similar to this. Techno
is about reading an urban space. There, I
think, you have a very spatial experience
in a way that you don’t have in other
music. If you would listen to hip-hop,
for example, it’s really about an interac-
tion between people; two people, more
people, a battle or something similar.
When you listen to Techno though (or
other types of urban electronic music)
you are dealing much more with a kind
of abstraction. You start to observe all
these mechanical sounds - not neces-
sarily industrial but mechanical sounds.
Techno, for me, represents a kind of a
possible observation / manipulation of
an urban landscape.
In Brussels, Peter Cusack and
I went to a place where the electricity
installation is. There you really get the
experience of a field of hum. Around
L28, these kinds of experiences are
more possible in such an area than in
the centre of Brussels neighbourhood
Molenbeek or somewhere. The area
around L28 is a rail field, so you have
this kind of openness. It’s a sonic quality
which I think is quite interesting to work
on, because it’s more like a volume you
can walk through, a sonic volume. Also,
an acoustic horizon, which is bigger than
what you have here – it’s on another
scale. This is something quite tied to
some experiences you can have when
listening to Techno, I think.
What do you mean by
another scale?
Well, you have a city, you have
a neighbourhood, you have a square.
This is a very local scale, where people
interact, and it’s meaningful. Above this,
you have another scale. You could think
about a city on the scale of a municipality
(like Molenbeek, for example) or larger
99
CAROLINE CLAUS
again even. You could see how all the
streets and squares are interconnected.
At this point you are thinking on a
metropolitan scale – but a metropolis
also includes railways, not just those
connecting the squares of Beekkant
with Weststation or Étangs Noirs, but
also those connecting Brussels to
Flanders. Then you might begin to think
about speed. You can read a city via
speed. For example, here in the centre
of Molenbeek, you see people walking,
moving by car, metro, busses, but at
Weststation you also have the train
and above that there is the larger sonic
impact of planes flying over.
These kinds of qualities of an
area, its speed and its connection to
other spaces, are something that I like
to explore and introduce into my work.
Sonically, it is something that allows
me to observe different elements and
materialities which might be interesting
for future experiences. Via the record-
ings, maps, and the spectrograms, I try
to identify some such experiences.
You were speaking about
taking distance; why is that
important for you?
To explore something in a
different way. Like I said, abstraction
is quite important to me. I think it’s
important not to always keep the same
relationship to what you are observing
or reflecting on – to change space / time
difference and to look for other rela-
tions (also sonically) to the object or
situation you are thinking about. What
interests me is the relation between
what is happening sonically and what
is happening on the ground. It’s not
only about what people are doing. It’s
about the area and it’s about the social
image. The landscape becomes really
important. If you are always working
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
on the ground and with people, you can
loose sight of that scale, of that relation-
ship with the landscape. I like to think
about working on an urban scale, like
most urban planners or designers do - to
take some distance and to observe the
transformation of a city at a distance and
think about what that means sonically.
Do the inhabitants understand
the work that you are doing?
Are they interested?
That’s another thing. For me
this work is also a way of dealing with
a complex social situation. As a sound
designer/artist you create a kind of
vacuum. Mostly, the people I meet are
outside of society, who are not so well
connected to the rest of society. If you
start to talk to people in these areas
(which I did for the Urban Renovation
Contract project) you start to have
discussions on work, on tensions with
the police and with soldiers, on tensions
with the social workers in their area, on
tensions with politics they don’t accept,
etc. And then, if you go on to talk with
them about sounds, you create an open-
ness, you have another discussion. I think
this openness is really interesting. In a
way, you can see the sonic environment
as a territory that is not yet claimed. This
is something that I want to follow more
in a future project – to look for ways
that these people can participate, that
they themselves are able to identify the
sounds of their environment that they
would want to manipulate or to keep. A
lot of the street workers and music-pro-
ducers in the area I met listen mostly
to hip-hop, but it’s not mainstream
hip-hop. A lot of these guys are living
under the radar. Their music is not so
popular. They listen to popular sounds,
I think, but I’m more interested in how
they are producing and sharing their
music, under social conditions which
are not really positive for them.
They really are interested too.
Sound is quite important for them in
their situation and their appropriation
of public space. They are mostly not
working with environmental sounds
as a material, but they are interested
in them. They are interacting with the
sonic environment, using their voice
to make some noise, or playing music
through their portable speakers, their
phones etc.
What are the sounds that you
most like in the Brussels environment?
What sounds do you dislike?
There is one spot at Gare du
Midi, just before all the trains enter.
You can stand in the belly of the River
Zenne, hear it passing you just before it
goes underground, and then it’s layered
with all these trains – up and down. It’s
a large area; Forest, St. Gilles, the art
centre Wiels – you can observe all of
that. And then Anderlecht too. Its really
big. There are a lot of different trains,
but not many cars because it’s really
the middle of a rail field. If you stand
there at 6 o’clock, when the train traffic
is really dense, you have a really layered
sonic experience of the city. I think it’s
that, and also the trains just passing
beside you. You really hear the details.
So what you maybe most
dislike are the sounds of car traffic?
No. It’s just a pity that they
dominate so much. What I really dislike
since the attacks in Paris and in Brussels
are the sirens. I react really emotionally
to their presence. It’s a stress factor that
I really don’t like.
100
 CAROLINE CLAUS

101
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Deena Abdelwahed
radio : culture : place : identity

Residency Period: From 15/01/2016 to 31/01/2016

Invited by DISK Berlin/CTM Festival as part of the CTM 2016 Radio Lab
Deena Abdelwahed was one of two winners of the CTM 2016 Radio Lab, an ongoing initiative
that seeks ideas for pairing the specific artistic possibilities of radio with the potentials of live
performance or installation. With All Hail Mother Internet, the artist asked “How would I
have ended up without having access to internet when I was a teenager?” as a starting point
to explore frustrations about feeling fixed by the constraints of a pre-defined culture, place,
identity, and the strategies employed to tackle them.

Supported by Deutschlandradio Kultur – Radio Drama / Klangkunst and CTM Festival, in

collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, Ö1 Kunstradio, and ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen
herbst, the CTM Radio Lab winners held 2-week residencies in Berlin mid-January 2016, and
premiered their works at the CTM 2016 festival, which ran 29 January - 7 February 2016.
Deena’s work was subsequently broadcast in its radio version via Deutschlandradio Kultur in
March 2016.

« All Hail Mother Internet » military form, prepares us to face up to

Thoughts Log:
CONTENT //
/Just after presenting All
Hail Mother Internet during CTM festival
in Berlin, the presentation unveiled
another angle for me in its meaning.
More than just a recognition/thank you
to the most used information tool in our
century: Internet.
/That experience proved to me
how much early education in our society
depends largely on pride of our ances-
tors and our blameless cultural identity.
This education, that sometimes takes a
the strangers or the unknown… leading
us to confront the “new”, in All Hail
Mother Internet’s perspective.
/Personally, this radio art
piece revealed the amount of frustra-
tion within myself toward these prim-
itive instructions and the behaviour
of my fellow citizens. Those who are
defending at all costs their tutored
convictions and are wishing or fighting
for conformism.
/According to “All Hail Mother
Internet” always, I made myself grow
up encased by internet to dodge the
intellectual and cultural limits drawn
harshly by my family and my society.

102

But in fact, I found myself facing these
limits instead [of avoiding them].
/I am not the only ungratified
here… most of my fellow youngsters
are gazing at the other side of the
Mediterranean Sea. Consuming the best
of foreigner artistic experiences in one
click through their internet browser.
/Like in any other 21st century
society, diversity is inevitable: not all
young people are the same. But I did try
to classify them in my radio art perfor-
mance and I figured out three types:
a/I will not talk about the
elders’ puppies, as it is not interesting to
me nor to my project.
b/ In this war of mentalities and
social values, some are experimenting
to find compromises to fit fully in their
entourage. When the old meets the new,
revalue the history and such initiatives…
it would be great if only their intentions
were respected and not accused of
nonsense by the seniors.
c/ Others rejoices over being
the only one finding unexpected /unfa-
miliar art or entertainment in this global
digital network, without referring to their
geographical environment. They are fine
with loneliness. They mistrust the system
installed in their country, anyways. It is
more safe to build its own fictive bubble
then facing the streets where no one will
understand them.
/Now it is clear that in this
piece, the young population are trying
to differ from their parents and their
system. In addition to internet which has
fully taken their attention and made it an
alternative reference. But these 20’s and
30’s women and men become as tend, as
firm, as violent as their ascendants when
you question their convictions. In other
words: the matter is different, say inno-
vative, but not the shape.
103
DEENA ABDELWAHED
CONTAINER //
-Music-
/As far as I saw, nothing is left
for generation Y but only already made
and evolved art from the internet. And
as I mentioned earlier about young-
sters’ different types, compromises like
blending the outer frontiers influences
and local cultural codes in art and enter-
tainment is booming. Maybe because
this generation tends to avoid provo-
cation. Nervous as they are, they prefer
peaceful and easygoing solutions. They
are mutating to adapt to a dual reality.
/My choice to use Club Dance
Music as a slip away from my daily
life reminds me of the factors that
were associated with House Music in
the United States. Particularly when
marginalized showed up and rolled
in warehouses, looking for the right
community, to be as loose as possible
and just dance the pain away.
/But I have seen a line between
my geographical environment and
my passion/entertainment: Gathering
around loud music to unwind; in oppor-
tunities like marriages parties and reli-
gious rituals. The method may resemble
but not the motivations. I think it is
obvious to play around this “link” in “All
Hail Mother Internet”.
/If we assume that in this link
we’ve got what I’ve heard, seen, felt and
desired (between the Internet and the
streets). What if I use this to break the
taboos and use traditional pop dance
music to criticise? In the most direct
and explicit way? It is the only way that
makes me familiar with my geograph-
ical environment.
/This “link” may lead me
also, indirectly, to invent a new tone/
stamp of electronic music based on or
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
defended by one person rather than a
predefined group of individuals. On the
contrary of the different music genres
out there in the world, nourished by a
muster (gathering) of followers.
-TV-
/Television had the same
attraction as the Internet at the early
age of our parents. Until today, it is as
present in living rooms and waiting
rooms as minarets in a city. We all think
that this box hosts the essence of human
foolishness.
/But it was only reflecting
the society of that time. Today, in my
opinion, TV is more sensationalist than
informative: It does dictate people’s
feelings.
/My astonishment of the effi-
ciency of this influence is present in
my radio art piece performance. I found
absurd that, with all the tools to informa-
tion and distraction in this hour, we are
still looking for ourselves and compare
ourselves in the images broadcast on
that screen.
-Politics-
/After 2011 in Tunisia…
Revolution? Maybe. But it was mostly a
second chance to implicate youngsters
and activists in a second level of fear. To
test their patience and efficacy. I ensure
you that what is going on the field is
a big arm wrestling! Money versus
moral. What should we expect from an
economically poor and robbed country?
/I do not need to be politicised
to observe what is going on. Since Ben
Ali has been removed, politics in this
country became as present as adver-
tisement screens in New York’s Times
Square. There is no way to have a break
from it as a simple citizen.
/Between the unstable future
of the country and the arrogance of the
elders, young people are getting more
and more discouraged.
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105
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Peter Cusack
field recording : performance : radio

Residency Period: From 17/01/2016 to 14/02/2016

Invited by Q-O2 to work in the city of Brussels
The aim of Peter Cusack’s residency was to explore the possibilities of using field recordings in
performance. This led to different reflections, which were shared during a workshop together
with Ruben Nachtergaele, a performance in the framework of La Semaine du Son at Point
Culture, and an emission through Radio Panik.

Peter also collaborated with Caroline Claus in her research on urban sound design and returned
to Q-O2 in October 2016 to participate at the related symposium, speaking about sonic
cartography. During the residency together with Flavien Gillié, they visited the neighbourhood
of Haren in the north of Brussels, which has a very particular soundscape due to its proximity
to the airport and several railway traces, but also due to activist activity against its controversial
urban developments.

Where did your interest in field

Interview by
Caroline Profanter
October 2016
I was interested to know
what you studied at university?
Did you study an instrument?
A t university I studied biology
and chemistry. I never went to music
college. I did study instruments, though.
I played clarinet at school when I was
very young and then I took up guitar
when I was a teenager, but I never really
studied either conscientiously. Anyway,
the music that I wanted to play back
then - blues and rock music - you don’t
go and study, you just play. Quite soon
I became involved in the improvised
music scene of the early 70s.
recording come from? When did you
start to get interested in this
as a technique?
I’ve always been interested in
the sounds of the environment. When
I was young, I was very interested in
watching birds. I learned to recognise
birds by their songs and their calls. I
think that most of my life I’ve been
listening to the environment for one
reason or another.
When I started at the Institute
for Sonology (those days in Utrecht),
they had a portable recorder. That was
the first time I had access to the tech-
nology to make field recordings, and so I
borrowed it and started recording then.
That was in 1976 or 1977.

106

As soon as the Sony
Professional Walkman was invented – in
1981 or ‘82, I think – I got one of those. I
used that for many years.
Your residency here in Brussels
was about making
field recordings “performable”.
Can you elaborate on this?
When I first made field record-
ings I used them for performances, but
after a while I moved onto other things.
For me, Brussels was a chance not to
‘perform’ field recordings so much as
to integrate my guitar playing back into
performances with the field recordings.
I played the guitar for a long
time, but about 10 years ago I stopped
doing so publicly. In the last 2 or 3 years
I decided to start again, so the residency
in Brussels was a good opportunity to
work on some new material (which is
exactly what I did).
Did you ever miss
playing guitar?
The reason I stopped originally
was that I became bored (also disap-
pointed) with what I was doing. It didn’t
seem to change very much, particularly
in improvised music. That was one
reason, at least. The other was that the
field recording projects I was doing were
taking up a lot of time and becoming
more dominant in my work.
After five years though, either
I don’t mind boring myself as much as
I used to or something has changed a
little. Not changed very much, mind you,
but a little bit.
For example, in Brussels I made
a guitar piece which I can play more or
less the same way each time. However,
the piece is designed to leave a lot of
space in which to hear the sounds of
107
PETER CUSACK
the environment. That could mean field
recordings or it could mean just opening
the window and letting the sounds from
outside come in. It depends on the
venue and the circumstances.
So you created this piece in
relation to the field recordings?
Yes. I also wanted to work on a
relationship with photography. Over the
years I have begun to take photographs.
I wanted to integrate image projection
into my performances too, so it became
a little more technically complicated.
I needed the time in Brussels to try to
work some of this out.
Do you think that it worked out?
Yes, I mean, I made the piece
I spoke about earlier in Brussels. I like
it. I still play it. I did some performances
in Brussels too which integrated these
things and for me they worked.
Did you write a score for
the guitar part?
No, I don’t write it down. I just
remember it. The pieces I write are only
for myself.
Nobody else could play them?
Lots of people could play it.
It’s actually not technically difficult to
play, but nobody else would know about
it... Well, I don’t know actually. Perhaps I
could make a recording of it and others
could learn from listening...
Do you think that the musical
aspects of the field recordings
are similar to how they
could be on a guitar?
They are different. The way we
listen to sounds from the environment
is different to how we listen to music.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
We tend to listen to environ-
mental sounds for their informational
content. We want to recognise what they
are, where they are, whether they’re
moving or not, whether they might be
potentially dangerous to us or whether
they might be telling us the time of day
or something like that. That’s how we
listen to such sounds.
We don’t listen to music for
those reasons. We listen to music for
more aesthetic, pleasurable, kind of
emotional reasons - but there’s a strong
overlap. There’s no reason that you can’t
listen to the sounds of the environment
for aesthetic or emotional reasons.
Obviously, that happens too. So there are
links, but I think going from one to the
other is actually quite tricky but because
of that it’s interesting, and that’s what I
spent my time thinking about.
Perception changes a lot.
If you hear both guitar
and field recordings at the same
time then you are not anymore
so concentrated on the information
of the field recordings.
That’s right. Playing a guitar
changes the way you hear the other
sounds and vice versa. It’s not so easy
though. You can’t play just anything
on guitar. You have to play something
which fits to the environment in some
way. I mean, lots of people use drones -
which I don’t find very interesting. I tend
to use space rather than drones. That
doesn’t always work either though.
Is there a particular musical aspect
that you follow, for example the
rhythmic aspect, or does that
depend on the recording?
After spending many years in
improvised music, where the idea of a
melody and harmony was down-played,
I actually do like melodies and harmo-
nies so a lot of the pieces that I do for
myself are actually very simple. They
are often very tuneful. They could be
songs. In fact, some of them are songs.
Pop songs, I mean, not Schubert-type
songs. So I am interested in melodies
and harmonies and I use those. And now
I use them in improvised music too, and
the other people just have to live with
it.
You perform both solo and with
others. How does the experience
change for you when there are other
people involved?
Well, it makes a big differ-
ence of course, because you have to be
attuned and sensitive to what the other
people are doing. For me, the interest in
group improvisation is in trying to make
something you would never imagine
as an individual. For me, that’s when
an improvisation is working, when the
group does things which you really
didn’t expect. I’ve been lucky enough
to play in several groups where that
happens.
Do you think that this kind of experi-
ence, in improvisation, is also possible
playing field recordings?
I think the relationship
between field recordings and impro-
vised music is closer than the relation-
ship between field recordings and lots
of other kinds of music, particularly
composed music. Not in the way that
you listen, but in the way you make
recordings. When you are making a
field recording you have to be very
sensitive to what the sound is. You have
to react very quickly sometimes. You
have to change your position. Making
a recording is a form of improvisation
and I think my experience as a musical
108
 PETER CUSACK

improviser was very helpful when I And you use images that are
began as a field recordist. For both, you taken from the places
need to be able to give attention to a where you recorded?
lot of different things happening at the
Yes, usually. I don’t go out and
same time and you need to react appro-
take photographs for the sake of taking
priately and often very fast. You need
photographs but I do take a lot of photo-
all that for improvising musically, too. I
graphs when I am recording, or in places
think they are related in that respect.
where I am doing sound projects.
One part of your residency project was
How did you experience Brussels?
creating a system to make these field
recordings more flexible. Brussels is an interesting place
Did you explore this further for sound actually. Berlin, where I live
after the residency? now, is rather quiet and London is much
noisier. Brussels is not quite as noisy as
I’ve had to reprogram and
London but there is a lot going on. In the
develop it a bit since then but I haven’t
area around Q-O2 you hear sirens all
explored it so much further. When you
the time. But they are not all the same.
get something that is ok and that works,
There are a number of different kinds of
then the question is what you do with
sirens and on occasion - if they combine
it, not whether you want a different
right, or if they’re at different distances
machine. That’s just a distraction. I
- it can actually be quite musical, just by
haven’t changed the technology so
accident in the environment. The sirens
much, but I have changed the record-
are rather special to Brussels.
ings, some of the pieces, and the
photographs. Also Brussels is like London
in that it’s very multicultural. You hear
I am working on the relation-
many different languages. Brussels
ship between the sound and the images.
has hills so there are places in which
When I was in Brussels, I couldn’t decide.
sounds are echoed, and there’s quite
The image was either there or it wasn’t.
a big contrast between places that are
But now, the sound can affect the image.
very quiet and places that are very
It can affect how long it’s there. Loud
loud. Brussels is a very atmospheric
sounds can trigger images to appear
place. Now that all the traffic is banned
so there’s a little bit more coordination
from the centre of Brussels, the centre
happening between changes of image
is quiet from traffic, but it is still noisy
and sound.
from people.
But you still use You can hear all the details
only still images? of the peoples’ sounds there, which
is much more interesting than traffic
Yes, I still stick only to photo-
noise. I think Brussels is an interesting
graphs. I am not interested so much in
place to be for sound. So that was a very
video. I think moving images actually
good experience.
get in the way of you hearing sounds.
Whereas still images leave room for you And the other very important
to hear. I prefer that combination. thing I did in Brussels, which we didn’t
mention yet, was to work a little with
Caroline Claus and with Flavien Gillié.

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Flavien took us on a walks to different to speak about it, because one of the
places in Brussels. He knows Brussels difficult things about field recordings is
sonically probably better than anybody that there is no real outlet. Most music
else. Brussels itself is a very interesting places are not interested in field record-
city, because it has this language divide ings. If you play them in an art gallery,
between the Flemish and the French. It most people will listen for ten seconds
has ridiculously complicated politics for and then go on to the next exhibit.
the same reasons. On the other hand,
So to present field recordings
though, it is also quite community-or-
to the public is actually not so easy.
ganised. Caroline knows a lot about that,
That’s what he was asking about. He
and Q-O2 is in itself a small commu-
thought about making a CD, which is
nity. All of those things are different in
fine, radio is a possibility, but all of them
Brussels than in other cities that I have
have pluses and minuses.
lived in.
It was very interesting Now you are here again,
speaking to Caroline. We walked around because you are participating in
Molenbeek and couple of other places. the seminar on urban sound design,
We made recordings together and she organised by Caroline Claus and
spoke about her projects, which I think Q-O2. Are you happy about this
are very original. More than that, they collaboration?
are important in developing ideas
Yes, I think what Caroline does
around the relationship between sound
is really interesting and her perspective
and the people who live in the place. So
is completely different from anybody
for me that was as important as the work
else that I know. And its important,
I did on my solo-music.
because she has a lot to say about the
more disadvantaged / disassociated
How did the workshop at Q-O2
people that are in this area. She speaks
with Ruben Nachtergaele
to them and works with them and
work for you?
nobody else I know is doing anything
It worked well. If you are doing like that. So I think it’s very good, and I
field recording workshops, they are am very happy to be taking part.
very dependent on the weather and the
Caroline is involved with
weather was terrible in February. On
social planning and part of her job is to
both days though, people came and did
take part in discussions about proposed
what was planned. Interesting people
city developments with planners,
came. One person, I don’t remember
government officials, and developers.
his name [Willem Sannen] came with
Most of the people I work with are artist
recordings he had made in Brussels.
colleagues or academics, who have
Nobody here had met him before, I think.
little connection with the real world of
He was a new person for Q-O2, and
planning and development. In working
everybody else, but his recordings were
with her it’s very nice for me to glimpse
extremely good. And he came asking
these other perspectives, which are so
how he should make these public. We
different.
had a discussion about how do you make
field recordings public, which of course
is a necessary thing to discuss. We need

110
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DISK Berlin
Micro-Residency
CTM 2016 Festival, Berlin
sound : exchange : research

Micro-Residency Period: From 29/01/2016 to 07/02/2016

Ten international and five Berlin-based sound art students and emerging practitioners were
invited to participate in a SoCCoS Micro Residency during CTM 2016 Festival. Apart from
visiting the festival’s concerts and daytime talks, the students took part in a programme
developed together with the Humboldt University Chair of Transcultural Musicology. A special
thank-you goes to Dahlia Borsche and sound art curators Carsten Stabenow, Eric Mattson,
Davide Tidoni, Carsten Seiffarth for helping create the programme, and Bianca Ludewig
and volunteers Kyra Crisp and Salomé Stressing from SAE’s Music Management class for
coordinating hospitality.

with: Anabela Veloso, André Guerreiro Pinto, Andrew Simon Miller, Benjamin Düster,
Carlos Humberto Ortiz Ariza, Caroline Profanter, Dejana Sekulic, Diana Combo, Mateusz
Śmigasiewicz, Niklas Meier, Olli Aarni, Philipp Koller, Primoz Sukic, Raimonda Žiūkaitė, Sini
Silveri

“A vibrant experience of Berlin,

of personal and collective discoveries
of its sonic surroundings. An inspiring
place to conceive and imagine further,
all the way to the non-existent, and to
get inspired to make the imaginary real.”

Dejana Sekulic

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 DISK BERLIN MICRO-RESIDENCY

“For me, Berlin is a very

relaxed metropolis. I experienced some
kind of shock when I came there from
Warsaw and for the first time went for a
walk in Kreuzberg. The mix of different
people and their spontaneity can also
be heard when we listen to Berlin. Cars,
trains, noise of thousands cumulated
spontaneous talks is making a layer-like
kind of construction. Spontaneity is a
key word here.”
Mateusz Śmigasiewicz
“a few things i learned/noticed during
the micro residency:
never judge your sonic environment
just listen and interact
be aware of elitism, isolation and apathy
amazing how group dynamics develop in
such a short time
i very much appreciated the visit to
the Lautarchiv and the library of the
Humboldt University and definitely will
come back to it.
i will not forget the cry of keiji haino and
his white hair (a wig?) and the impres-
sive sound system and acoustics of
berghain.”

Caroline Profanter
“As a participant of this resi-
dency, I accepted the challenge to make
a short presentation about my solo work
as Eosin. In preparing, the reflections
around the project’s start and its route
opened the way to great new devel-
opments. More sure about what Eosin
means, I have been playing often since
coming back to Portugal and I’m now
preparing my first solo publications, one
K7 and one online record. Just before
this experience, I couldn’t imagine to do “Ymmärsin jälleen hieman paremmin,
so.” ettei minun tarvitse olla ymmärrettävä.”
Diana Combo “Just being exposed to the
huge variety of approaches at the
festival makes me feel good and confi-
dent about whatever the heck it is I’m
doing myself.”
Olli Aarni

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“Here is my part, I like to
contribute the title of my Sound and
Performance Piece that I am working on
at the moment and that I will first perform
on 13th of May in New York. I received
a lot of inspiration for this work while
meeting awesome artists from the SoCCoS
group and seeing performances like Bread
Woman, Keiji Haino or Stephen O’ Malley.“

(Digital Life)
ア クティブ Rudimentation

“This is a performance focus-

sing on the imprints that a digital life
is leaving on the physical human body.
Along the path of this examination there
are idiosyncratic questions and thoughts
that are picked up and transformed into
movement and sound: Sounds of a fleshy
and bony object that spend a quarter life
sitting in front of a computer. Composing
a gender-neutral body by guiding it to
the extremes of physical Interasexuality
and Digi-intra Hypersexuality. Working
towards an identity of the self by creating
multiple persona and genders sharing the
same physical object. Gaining conscious
of the body through intentionally splitting
it into pieces. Naturally moving one foot
after the other into an active formation of
the rudimentary.”
Benjamin Düster

“Not only was it great to attend the festival but also, through the micro residency,
to have the immediate opportunity for exchanging thoughts and ideas based on a mutual
appreciation and shared understanding of the importance of sound in contemporary culture.
Within a diverse group of mindful and articulate artists this, for me, brought a lot of things to
the table that I still think about. Be it the relation between the expectations towards and the
presentation of performances or between the material properties and the contextualisation of
sound-based art, especially with the festival’s theme.
Also it was quite nice to get to know about the modes of operation of the other partic-
ipants – their motivation to get ideas across versus the struggle of getting by in an environment
that may not always share the their values. In that respect, everybody was glad to share infor-
mation about networks, scholarships and other possibilities of funding related to their artistic
undertakings.”
Philip Koller

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 DISK BERLIN MICRO-RESIDENCY

“I choose to describe my time

there through these pictures.

First one is from Nico’s grave
(I escape from program swell to spend
a day in the forest. A kind of place
wandering around in a hope to found this
grave. There it was. Silence and sunlight,
birds. Peaceful place to write and record
sounds. To work.)

Second and third picture Escape place.
describe this question that came into my
mind there. It came up in many conver-
sations with other residence people and
also from performances. Inside of music
I heard: Do we have one identity or
many? Or are we now in spot to choose
our self our own identities?

If we have one is it including

many. How ego and identity meet, whom
leads whom? Do I own identity. Is it
something that I can left behind? During
this spring I have been concentrated
more on improvisation itself. How to
Are we now in spot to choose
really leave everything behind. our self our own identities?

start new.
discover.
this circle.”

Sini Silveri

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Maciej Kierzkowski
& Jarosław Urbański
ethnomusicology : sound sculpture : communal music

Residency Period: From 11/04/2016 to 30/04/2016

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in Santa Cruz da Trapa (Portugal)
Polish folk musician and ethno-musicologist Maciej Kierzkowski and Polish sculptor Jarosław
Urbański were invited to take part in Playing the Rural Landscape, a series of artist residencies
around the theme of visceral/tactile sonic connections with rural landscape, one of which took
place in April 2016 in the village of Santa Cruz da Trapa (municipality of São Pedro do Sul).
Their project followed an holistic approach towards artistic work with children, involving
both the construction of musical instruments made in stone, clay and bamboo and later
improvisation with them, using local folk music scores as melodic and rhythmic inspiration.

116

Da Trapa
Sound Sculpture
W e are two artists from
provincial Poland: Maciej Kierzkowski,
musician and ethnomusicologist living
in Marynin, central Poland; and Jarek
Urbański, sculptor and cook, from
Chojnice in the north. In April 2016, we
spent three weeks together in residency
at Santa Cruz da Trapa in Portugal. During
our stay there we created a sound sculp-
ture, conducted artistic workshops, and
performed with members of the local
community.
Before arriving in Portugal the
two of us had worked together on one
joint project, which was called Coloured
Trees. Together, we created a set of tree
sculptures from recycled materials and
conducted musical workshops. The
final presentation of the work included
concerts on musical instruments made
from recycled materials with the
involvement of participants from the
local community.
Based on the success of this
project, we decided to develop the
ideas further. The opportunity to do
so came with the possibility of a joint
artistic residency in Portugal. Initially,
we planned to make a big udu-drum
sculpture (the ‘udu-pture’) which could
be put in the public space so that locals
could play it any time they wanted. We
planned to conduct ceramic and music
workshops, record sounds, and burn
the final piece during public event with
music and dances.
After coming to Santa Cruz
da Trapa, however, our plans had to be
modified. The weather conditions of
the first week in residence (permanent
117
MACIEJ KIERZKOWSKI & JAROSŁAW URBAŃSKI
rain), as well as delays getting all the
necessary materials (clay), forced us to
reconsider our project. We decided to
construct a sculpture which could be
played by the local people. We worked
with the local stone, conducted work-
shops with children, and organised
common music performance during the
final presentation of our work.
During the two last weeks of
the residency, our vision took complete
form. The main element was a sound
sculpture made of marble from the
south of Portugal. Using its acoustic
qualities, we created a musical instru-
ment, which could be played with sticks
made of bamboo from the area. During
the residency we organised several
jam sessions with musicians from the
neighbourhood. During these sessions,
we discovered that the sound sculp-
ture could be played by one person
or by several. At the same time, we
began to work with bamboo (which was
everywhere in Santa Cruz da Trapa) in
different musical ways. We used it to
make flutes and as elements of small
xylophones we made for children.
The workshops were organ-
ised in a local primary school. Over
three sessions, we worked together with
young participants to create several
udu-drums. For this, we used the green
clay of Molelos – a local ceramic centre.
We taught the children how to play
udu-drums, bamboo flutes, and small
portable xylophones. Finally we created
an orchestra with different instrumental
sections, soloists, and a conductor. For
the final presentation of the common
work, we invited the children as well as
their teachers and parents.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
The presentation was a
spectacular music performance. We
collected all the instruments outdoors,
next to the art gallery of a local cultural
centre. We were really happy to see
participants from the workshops,
teachers, parents, and other members of
the local community there. They really
wanted to take part in the presentation.
We performed one improvised /
composed piece for an orchestra
of udu drums, xylophones, bamboo
sticks and flutes, metal parts, and the
sound sculpture. Later, we stayed and
jammed a little. After the presentation,
which was a shared social and artistic
performance, some participants took
the instruments home. The main
instrument made from stone and metal
became a part of an exhibition in the
local gallery.
www.facebook.com/
datrapasoundsculpture
118
 MACIEJ KIERZKOWSKI & JAROSŁAW URBAŃSKI

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Frederik Croene
& Lilia Mestre
composition : performance : video scoring

Residency Period: From 21/04/2016 to 01/05/2016

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in Santa Cruz da Trapa (Portugal) and
proposed by Q-O2
Belgian composer/musician Frederik Croene and Portuguese performer Lilia Mestre were
invited to take part in Playing the Rural Landscape, a series of artist residencies around the theme
of visceral/tactile sonic connections with rural landscape, one of which took place in April 2016
in the village of Santa Cruz da Trapa (municipality of São Pedro do Sul, Portugal).

W hen we arrived in Portugal

we were exhausted from the everyday
(working) life in the city. Starting the
residency with a series of long walks
amplified the feeling of being on a
holiday. In the second part of our stay,
we began to develop the idea of making
a score. We had much more mental
space in the residency context than we
would have had at home. It doesn’t seem
likely that we would have been able to
finish the piece in such short timespan
at home. Not only did the lack of daily
responsibilities generate new energy for
us both, we suspect the vastness of the
rural landscapes opened up a different
feeling of time. Even now, months after
the residency, this wider, three-dimen-
sional perspective still lingers in the
brain as a promise that our working
atmosphere at home is the exceptional
situation and that the rural landscape is
the real working space of the artist.
A video-score was the result
of our short residency at the Binaural/
Nodar space in Santa Cruz da Trapa
where we worked between April 21 and
May 1, 2016.
The video begins with a
spoken introduction and follows
with a photo montage that serves
as the piece’s score. This montage is
composed from a series of changing
images which alternate against a black
screen. The pictures, taken during walks
in the surroundings of the village, form
the basic working material of the score.
As the piece progresses, the rate of
alternation between the images and
the black screen increases, following a
structure comparable to that of a Rondo
form.
Throughout this form, the
voiceover remains present – offering
an ad-hoc explanation of the internal
structure of the score. The text is

120

bilingual. It alternates between English
and the local language of the place
where the work is performed (in this
case Portuguese).
The piece has an open
instrumentation, with a minimum of 2
performers required. Playback consists
of a click-track on the left channel (for
rehearsals only) and on the right channel
a soundtrack with recordings from
around Santa Cruz da Trapa supporting
the voiceover. The basic principle of
the piece is for the performers move
or make sound during the sections of
black screen and then to be still and
silent while the images are displayed.
121
FREDERIK CROENE & LILIA MESTRE
However, the left corner of each picture
includes is a black square which can be
interpreted freely via sound or action
without taking the pictures into account.
We came to this concept while
thinking through what it means for us,
as artists living in cities in Belgium, to
come to such a beautiful, bucolic village
in Portugal. Our first, primal reaction
was to collect sounds and images of
the landscape. Later, we tried to find a
way of ‘performing’ our impressions of
the material after it had been digitised.
The Rondo form, offered a cleat grid on
which these impressions – as sound and
movement – could play out.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Ryoko Akama
found objects : diy electronics : text scores : installation

Residency Period: From 25/04/2016 to 30/04/2016

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in Santa Cruz da Trapa (Portugal)
Japanese sound & visual artist Ryoko Akama was invited to take part in Playing the Rural
Landscape, a series of artist residencies around the theme of visceral/tactile sonic connections
with rural landscape, one of which took place in April 2016 in the village of Santa Cruz da
Trapa (municipality of São Pedro do Sul), where she developed a set of “object compositions”,
meeting with wild and found objects, fetching and attempting to transform them through
composition, installation and text scores.

O n my arrival to Santa Cruz da

Trapa I was very intrigued by evidences
of stone structures such as pedestrian
paths, walls and houses. I took many
photos and thought of using them as a
standpoint. However I began to scav-
enge an incredible hall of memory: trash
from the residency space’s owner, an
immense amount of old objects, and
after I connected my sound sculpture to
his objects. I like these accidental occur-
rences to which I always expect to be the
best outcome of residency, rather than
deciding what I would do beforehand.
When I achieved a first compo-
sition outside the residency house,
alongside the stairs, that became so
familiar that I decided to place also
some paper balloons in the air, which
eventually reminded me of Japan, or
made me understood why I had chosen
that place. The place looked so familiar
because the stairs had a similar struc-
ture to stone steps to shrines in Japan,
as I am a half Korean and Japanese but
lived in England for one third of my life.
I was trying to make a balance
between ‘memories’ as romance and
‘memories’ as objects through texts and
found objects. My work was presented in
the outside landscape and then brought
into a gallery space which composed an
utterly diverse experience.
In the meanwhile I joined in
other artists’ school workshops and the
children were so active and energetic
wanting to do more with sound instru-
ments they were provided to perform
with.
On the last day, after the
gallery performance, I exchanged some
discussions with local people who I had
met before in the village. One woman
was very pleased by my work that she
came out of a driving car and thanked
me, which was very touching. It is a
pleasure to connect with human beings
though experimental sound art.

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 RYOKO AKAMA

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Heimo Lattner
& Judith Laub
whistling language : translation : archives

Residency Period: From 07/05/2016 to 29/05/2016

Invited by Q-O2 to work in the city of Brussels in the framework of ‘the other
the self’ festival and proposed by DISK Berlin
Judith Laub and Heimo Lattner continued their work around the whistling language Silbo
Gomero, addressing the voice in a political sense through the phenomenon of translation.
Starting from the plan to involve the expat community of Brussels through this project, they
ended up diving into their own archive, explaining that everything they had hoped to realise in
Brussels was already there.

T he core of our practice is an the presentation – be it an exhibition,

interest in how the human voice plays
a role in the formation of (cultural)
identity. Since 2012, our artistic and
scientific collaboration has been based
around an investigation into the whis-
tling language Silbo Gomero. Typically,
where the fields of art and research
diverge from one another is in the
visibility of their processes. While the
paradigm of art is still mainly that of the
finished work, science is more bound
to a methodology in which the process
is always traceable. Our initial research
is undertaken in a manner that is non
result-oriented – beginning concretely
with extensive field-work. The sound
and images which we collect (inter-
views, field-recordings, video, photo-
graphs), are then analysed in terms of
their formal and conceptual potentials.
Further artistic considerations then
depend on the respective format of
performance, or lecture.
Our proposition for the resi-
dency in Brussels rests on an interest
in the ‘Voiceover’: voice-over-voice,
voicing out, giving voice. The foun-
dation for this interest was a series of
experiments which we conducted in La
Gomera, during two research trips in
2012 and 2014, in which the whistle
language Silbo Gomero was also used to
modulate a variety of different spoken
languages. This immediately suggested
many possible angles to investigate: to
what extent is a sound-based transla-
tion of languages into whistles actually
possible? To what extent can we docu-
ment this cultural phenomenon without
representing it? The cycle closes itself
with the key question of voiceovers:
who speaks?

124

When we work, we follow the
principal of ‘staging’, in that the changes
between the entrance and exits of roles
both mark these roles as well as bringing
them into question; facts, theories and
anecdotes are interwoven through
different styles of speech. The title I am
ready to recite my lines (a continuation
of a setting in Festpielhaus Hellerau –
Dresden, May 2015), implies both that I
know my role as a performer within the
staged piece and that I am also a part of
the story – that is, the identity to which I
am anchored is not my own.
Q-O2 encouraged us to take
the more risky path in going forward
with our work. For us, the essential
aspect of an artistic residency is time:
time to look back and to follow a work
with full concentration. This is what
Q-O2 so generously allowed us. During
an intensive investigation of our
archives, we were surprisingly struck
by forgotten texts, fragments, concepts
and recordings which had been made
previously and were partially forgotten.
These findings were newly arranged and
developed into a performative setting. In
125
HEIMO LATTNER & JUDITH LAUB
the context of the other the self festival,
from 4 – 5 June, 2016, we finally had the
opportunity to present a new version of
I am ready to recite my lines and to test
it with a public.
The infrastructure of Q-O2
allowed us to experiment with audio-
visual technologies to a new extent in
collaboration with Q-O2’s technical
expert Ludo Engels. The three-week
residency and the resulting artistic
work made a new set of potentials clear
with which to bind the two strings of
our collaborative practice together.
This was enabled by the generous
allowance of time, the possibility to
work without external expectations, the
many inspired conversations, technical
resources and know-how and, not least,
by the hospitality with which we were
treated.


We are thankful to Q-O2 and
wish them all the best for the future.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Q-O2 Micro-Residency
the other the self
voice : gender : language : identity

Micro-Residency Period: From 29/05/2016 to 05/06/2016

The micro-residency took place in Brussels the framework of Q-O2’s project the other the self
on the connection between voice, gender, language, and identity. Participants were Izabela
Smelczyńska, Julia Dyck, Radoslaw Sirko, Carlos Ortiz, Isabelle Stragliati, Laura Tack, Owen
Roberts, Micaela Maia and Albano Ribeiro. Three related workshops were offered, by Peter
Westenberg (Backgrounds and practice of the language projects Parlez-vous Saint-Gillois? and La
Langue Schaerbeekoise), Myriam Van Imschoot (Inside outside - voice workshop - on physicality
and vibration of the sound of one’s own voice in relation to other voices), and Marc Matter (Speech -
Voice - Sound: Who is speaking? What is speaking? And how? - sound poetry).

126
 Q-O2 MICRO-RESIDENCY

“I’m usually more used to
solitary work, but through the residency
at Q-O2 I also discovered how much
I enjoyed working in a group. I really
liked the collective energy of the group
and the rich variety of the resident’s
backgrounds. The residency drove me to
confront areas of sound practice that I’m
usually uncomfortable with - working
with the body, improvising... not usually
my thing. Since I naturally felt safe
within the group, I experimented with
these things without resistance. I just
went with the flow and I loved it. This
was the first time I had really enjoyed
improvising in a group. I feel like this
was a big step in my work and will open
new possibilities for me in my practice.”
Isabelle Stragliati

“For me the Q-O2 micro-residency was a very difficult experience. On the third day, I lost
my laptop at the metro station and was pretty sure I wouldn’t get it back. The whole stay became
a torment as I realized 5 years’ work was gone. A lot of thoughts came to mind in the next days as I
tried to reconstruct my work from scratch, on a piece of paper. I learned a lot about my addiction to
digital media. Amazingly, after a few days someone found and returned the computer. I didn’t par-
ticipate much in the workshops because I was visiting police stations and lost-and-found services
and moving between depression and feeling super lucky. Finally, the experience turned out to be
somehow purifying. Apart from the experience with the missing laptop, for me, the residency was
mostly about meeting other people working with sound, but with very different approaches. I didn’t
find Brussels very inspirational as a city. It seemed to be somehow frozen in time and melancholic.” 

Radek Sirko

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“Inspired, intrigued, and nourished; this is how I felt after one week of the Micro-
Residency - as if someone wiggled a little wire within me. Enough nutrition for a week but
a week of residence is just too short. The workshops from Myriam, Peter, and Marc were a
perfect platform for exercise-in-practice.
The discussions worked for me as a trigger to explore new thoughts on a personal
and a social level. The pace of the workshops and the week had a very natural flow because
of the dynamics of the group (an openness which cannot be overestimated in these times).
The moments after, in between, within, and before the workshops were always moments to
connect on a practical, musical and philosophical level with the other residents.
Spontaneous collaborations and jamming through the night were beautiful and
nourishing. There wasn’t really space for internal fog or distraction. I felt very present. The
structure of the residency definitely gave us time to explore on our own terms. However, at
times there was a lack of specific ideas as the context, space, and timing of some workshops
were very fluid. At times, a feeling of aimless wandering.
In their individual practices, every resident had a strong sense of awareness and this
provided a good context within which to function. My ears are sharpened. The new ideas and
connections made during SoCCoS are only the beginning of more to come for me.”
Laura Tack

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“SoCCoS was a good oppor-

tunity for new artists to get to know
one another, and Q-O2 was an ideal
place, providing us time and space
for creative work. I made new friends
and was inspired and challenged by
colleagues to try new things. I feel
that all of the residents were open
to new experiments and to test the
boundaries of intimacy. The work-
shops were relevant and contributed
to a deepening of knowledge in
music and sound. All sessions were
open for creative minds that seek
time to reflect, discuss, and create.
Brussels is a city of
contrasts. Despite the grey rainy
weather we had all week, the people
in the subway, on the bus, and on
the streets were friendly and good
humoured. Like any good tourist, I
had the opportunity to taste some
great beers, eat the famous fries, and
buy some chocolate. If the weather
had been better, I would have really
liked to participate in Kaffe Mathew’s
Sonic Bike project - maybe next
time.”
Albano Leal Ribeiro

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
“It was a complete and at times
unexpected experience for me to come
to Brussels and to feel so welcomed in
the Q-O2 residency. Never before had
I had the opportunity to work together
with artists coming from so many
different parts of the world, with such
different backgrounds and expectations.
The workshops we had around the city
were an interesting chance to really
see how the week’s topic (the other the
self) are present in the everyday life of a
multicultural city like Brussels.
Personally, I had the impres-
sion of a lot of tension and contrast in
the city, and a richness to be explored
around these issues. The voice work-
shop with Marc Matter was the session
I most liked. Through this workshop,
I was exposed to a lot of interesting
ways of dealing with the voice which
I could apply to my own artistic prac-
tice. Working in such a diverse group
was not always easy, but I guess these
difficulties depend on the personal
perceptions and experiences of the
group. I had a bad experience while
catching a tram near to our apartment in
St. Gilles when someone stepped out of
a car and tried to violently rob me. No
one around helped me and I ran away
with a lot of fear. This reinforced my
impression of the tension in the city and
added an element of insecurity to my
experience there. Even though this was
a very personal and specific experience,
it nevertheless influenced my overall
impression of the week.”
Carlos Ortiz
“For me, this residency was a
transformative experience at a pivotal
point in my emerging art practice. I
found the opportunity to discuss my
work with peers outside of my usual
community hugely beneficial in devel-
oping my understanding of my own
artistic intentions. Discussing and
interacting with the work of the other
residents in a casual manner over the
course of the week was very productive;
finding common threads and differ-
ences among one another’s technical
means and theoretical frameworks was
exciting and inspirational. Miriam Van
Imschoot’s workshop on the physicality
of voice, and Marc Matter’s workshop
on the politics and theory of voice were
both extremely relevant to my practice
and I left both sessions feeling stim-
ulated and excited to apply what I had
learnt. The opportunity to collaborate
and present work with a dynamic and
international group was a fun challenge
and a rare opportunity. I do wish we had
slightly more time to work on producing
work, but overall the residence was a
rich experience.”
Julia Dyck
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 Q-O2 MICRO-RESIDENCY

Molenbeek guardiens of the peace

paix, pays (a failed discussion)
walkwords the pretty shop
(workshop by Peter Westenberg)
love pretty girl (pink clothes)
asprl
1) the beautiful words:
diamant hair shop “yes you’re beautiful”
moror
gemeenschapswacht
achator (everyodies garden)
(...)
malik (a beautiful young woman)
when I walked I just listened
amarok (a special kind of beauty, that can
I ended up with words that didn’t mean
not be described only felt)
anything at all.
2) the funny words:
words that i heard:
mennuisserie (art of making a menu)
halteki
slaapkamers (schlephammer)
wie owie wiowi
apotheek (character in an Asterix book)
grum
la fonderie (a place for lost things such as
toro
love and .... )
chalki
vergunning (it is definitely a verb, the act
of bending) bachikoooo
ramada: the girl who I loved, the lover toiletzzzsszsz
prado: name of a street, museum, green, a chauke
meadow in spanish and in portuguese tsjep
zen zen boutique ! nakooo
repetition, da da poker
bees inside the boutique, black and videoclub
yellow animals rido
hobas: visual graphic (...)
horeca: matras brand, meaning; now is the I have no words, just big sentences:
time to sleep little hour cheap car parts, free entrance
H: a letter with no sound la sonnette ne fonctionne pas just toquer
buurt pas poubelle
voor arrêt et stationement même pas 5
matensa: meet the professionals (in minutes j’appelle la police tout de suite.
portuguese: the killing, massacre)
la passerelle, la passerelle, la passerelle,
la passerelle: a construction schaffolding
amei: passed sense of love
(...)
english word salad confusion
toitteur: looks like torture
pain (bread): pain (hurt)
traitteur: traitor

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Donia Jourabchi
& Davide Tidoni
protest sounds : politics of sound

Residency Period: From 01/06/2016 to 19/07/2016

Invited by A-I-R Laboratory CCA Ujazdowski Castle to work in Warsaw
In 2016, the sounds of demonstrations and political protests became a very important part
of the sonic environment of Warsaw. Organisers of these events were rarely aware of just how
important a role sound can play during protest. The activities of sound artists Donia Jourabchi
and Davide Tidoni, invited to partake in the residency at A-I-R Laboratory in June and July
2016, were linked to the topic of the acoustic design of demonstrations, politics of sound,
and the critical potential of sound art. The sound, in this case, is considered a tool that can be
used by the citizens to express their political opinions and stand up for their rights. Residents
cooperating with Warsaw artist Edyta Jarząb and Cafe Kryzys were searching for new strategies
of designing the sound of political protest and protesting through the use of sound; they
organized workshops and improvised sound interventions in public space, but also actively
participated in the ongoing demonstrations. In December of 2016, bilingual Polish-English
collective publication Warsound|Warszawa by Donia Jourabchi and her collaborators Taufan ter
Weel, Edyta Jarząb and Dorian Batycka was published by A-I-R Laboratory CCA Ujazdowski
Castle.

132

The proposed plan of action
for wildcat communities and sonorous
mobile exploration consists of a
temporary autonomous zone formed in
the streets of Warsaw, as non dualistic
social resistance and collective
experimental sound intervention.
Low-power radio transmission is
easily accessible and requires low-cost
equipment. The self-made 1-watt radio
transmitter is a portable sound system
that can play any of the activists’
sounds, radiating the message over an
area larger than the physical location.
The potential to bring the sounds of
resistance to the streets, from within
protests and marches, expresses
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DONIA JOURABCHI & DAVIDE TIDONI
Donia Jourabchi
strong mutual support and functions
as a gathering place by the simple
fact that it provides a signal to anyone
informed, tuned-in and within reach
of the station. It can multiply listening
sources in public space, but it can also
deviate to include isolated spaces. It
modulates the transmitted signal, not as
a conceptual solution for social change,
but rather to define an experimental
approach by which sound practices
amplify clandestine infrastructures of
resistance. It forces building the direct
space of knowledges together, engaging
listening and transmitting local
content in a radio intervention, joining
together the voices of those affected by
oppression and marginalisation.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

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Camera Sonora
improvisation : performance art : installation

Residency Period: From 14/07/2016 to 21/07/2016

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in Montorio al Vomano, Abruzzo (Italy)
Camera Sonora (a collective that includes Italian performers/sound artists Marialuisa Capurso
and Adolfo La Volpe and Danish sound artist Morten Poulsen) were invited by Binaural/Nodar
to take part in Suoni di Monte d’Oro (“Sounds of Golden Mount”), a one-week artist residency
co-organized together with Italian organization Bambun from Abruzzo, Italy. The residency
took place in the rural area of Montorio al Vomano (province of Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy) as an
integral part of both Interferenze/Liminaria Festival and SoCCoS network.

CAMERA SONORA #3-4 the resonance of the room on both a

(Montorio al Vomano,
Ginestra degli Schiavoni)
C amera Sonora is a long-
durational performance that combines
music, performance art and installation
with an aim to explore aspects of time as
a method to venture into thoughts and
emotions.
Camera Sonora uses the
surroundings of the performers and the
audience as inspiration and stimuli for
the subconscious travels, to dive into
a liminal process of constantly passing
through or arriving at different states
of mind, using sound and rituals as
guidance through the many phases. By
performing and improvising for several
hours (or several days), the performers
invite the audience to immerse
themselves in their personal experience
and to be spectators and participants by
the way their bodily presence changes
physical and metaphysical level.
Camera Sonora often follow a
chosen theme from which they create
new concepts and rituals to be explored
during the extended performances.
New rituals are then carried over
into the next performances, and
Camera Sonora is therefore constantly
expanding every year, gathering ever
more history and echoes of past
performances. Through extended live
musical improvisation, the performers
use themselves and the music to get
into trances, with the use of music
loops, rituals, objects, an open minute-
to-minute written documentation of
events, keywords to trigger new ideas,
and much more. Through durational
performance, the artists decorate and
alter the room with lights, spontaneous
and ritualistic art, objects, colours and
words. Using the room as an emotional
resonance chamber, the performers

136

create intimacy to channel energy and
reach levels of subconsciousness. In
addition, other interactive tactics are
being used, depending on the theme of
the particular performance.
In July 2016, the Camera
Sonora team was invited by Binaural/
Nodar to participate in the Suoni di
Monte d’Oro residency in the mountain
area of Montorio al Vomano. For that
particular instalment of Camera Sonora,
we decided to use the theme “Rituals”
as the basis for both the site-specific
artistic research and the performances
that took place both in Montorio and in
Ginestra degli Schiavoni.
We asked ourselves several
crucial questions:
- What is a ritual?
- How and why do we use rituals, both on a
individual and collective level?
- Which rituals are present in both natural
and urban (man-made) environment?
- How can we monitor the manifestation of
these rituals?
During the residency we
investigated the both hidden and
obvious rituals of the surroundings of
the specific location, we interviewed
the great Catholic priest Don Nicola
Jobbi, who made recordings of the local
culture in the 1960’s, made several
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CAMERA SONORA
field recording trips and gathered
information to translate into artistic
material to be used as source of
inspiration to modify and shape the
official Camera Sonora performances
by the end of the residency, which took
place in an old cloister in Montorio, and
subsequently in the small rural town of
Ginestra degli Schiavoni, a few hundred
kilometres south.
One of the most interesting
aspects of doing Camera Sonora is to
collectively participate in the creation
of A ROOM, a very special place, every
time different and yet the same, that
grows before our eyes and ears, from
moment to moment more disconnected
from the reality outside, and at the same
time being its mirrored image.
This time the curious task was
that we had to take a landscape, an
environment (or at least fragments of it)
inside the room; we had to translate the
rituals of this environment and incorpo-
rate them into our performance (which
is in many ways a ritual itself).
Whether we succeeded
is left open, but during the process
some beautiful and unexpected things
occurred and, furthermore, we had lots
of fun in connecting with the environ-
ment surrounding Montorio al Vomano.
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138
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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Giorgio Mega
& Marta Romaszkan
field recordings : performance : photography

Residency Period: From 14/07/2016 to 21/07/2016

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in Montorio al Vomano, Abruzzo (Italy)
Giorgio Mega and Marta Romaszkan were invited by Binaural/Nodar to take part in Suoni di
Monte d’Oro (“Sounds of Golden Mount”), a one-week artist residency co-organized together
with Italian organization Bambun from Abruzzo, Italy. The residency took place in the rural
area of Montorio al Vomano (province of Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy) as an integral part of both
Interferenze/Liminaria Festival and SoCCoS network. BIOS seeks a de-hierarchisation of the
subject-background system in both landscape and soundscape and the project applied a field
study process based on an active observation through body awareness techniques, movement
research and site-based sound interventions.

The residency for Suoni di

the mountain territory around the town
of Montorio al Vomano, set between
Monte d’Oro had been a very good
Monti della Laga and Gran Sasso.
opportunity to apply and condense the
kind of processuality we had already
We chose three areas in the
experienced in our former research for
surroundings: one is a little wood in the
BIOS project.
middle of cultivated hills in Valle Cupa,
the crofting hamlet where we actually
By application we mean
stayed nearby Montorio; the second
getting to a sensible result, such as the
is the natural park along the river
audio-photographic installation that was
Vomano on the valley floor, which starts
presented both in Montorio al Vomano
close to the last houses of Montorio
and at the Liminaria festival in Fortore;
and continue up, rich in biodiversity;
while the condensation appeared as
the third area is around the path that
an effort to bind together quite various
connects two villages on the other side
passages, and in a relative short period
of the valley, and which is definitely
of time.
wilder and located higher than the
The first step, observation, is other two.
therefore a direct perceptive experience
In our work, observation is
of the environment that we encountered,
anything but passive: it’s involving our
in the proximity of the place where the
whole body in its presence, through
creative part of the residency occurred,

140

sounds, smells, orientation, climatic and
geomorphic context, when being in a
dense forest, lying under a carpet of ivy,
or reaching a peak to lean on the trunk
of a tall chestnut.
The touch itself, is just the
purest and more archaic form of observa-
tion, being that all senses evolved from
there (seeing is touching from a distance,
and just like listening, is perceiving
other bodies through an interpretation
of vibrations or frequencies).
After this collection of undisci-
plined impressions and sensations, that
brings a kind of non-structured knowl-
edge (unlike botanic), it’s time to enter
literally inside plants spatiality, namely
their proper domain, given that they
stay outside of the temporal that ethic
and philosophy normally consider as the
dimension of subjectivity.
Adapting the body to a place,
to the forms of other bodies and to the
bodies of other forms of life, in a state
driven by what we described above
talking about observation as neither
active nor passive, is entering in the
choreographic level of BIOS.
In an article published online
in 2011, called “Vegetal anti-meta-
physics: Learning from plants”, Michael
Marder poignantly argue that is from
the vegetal world that commence a
“fundamental re-conceptualization of
Being” which gives access to a different
perspective to the end of metaphysics.
“[...] the plants […] articulate themselves
spatially: in a body language free from
gestures,‘‘they can express themselves
only by their postures [ils ne s’expriment
que par leurs poses].
In using the word ‘language’ to describe
vegetal self-expression in all its spatial-
ized materiality, I am not opting for
141
GIORGIO MEGA & MARTA ROMASZKAN
a metaphor. What I propose, instead,
is that contemporary philosophy
include the plants in the tradition of
treating language neither as a means
of communication, nor as something
exclusively human, the tradition that, in
Heidegger’s ‘totality-of-significations’
and in Benjamin’s ‘language of things’
or ‘the language as such’, is attuned to
the spatial relations and articulations
between beings, whether animate or
inanimate”.
It’s by tuning with the plants
spatial horizon that our body research
enters in a togetherness with the
vegetal bodies, a field in which we see
plurality more than singularity, whereby
the body is de-individualised and
de-unified in a tactile dimension.
This specific perception of
space is then translated (and reinforced)
into photography and sound work.
Our challenge in the field
of photography is to maintain and
make visible this world in the form of
a balance research, where the human
body is declining from the position
of being the only subject that shines
above a green background, moving back
but without disappearing, trying to find
the critical point in which all the bodies,
human and plants, are balanced in their
exposition.
Caught in this double move-
ment, plants are fore-coming. The
soundscape, at the same time, is playing
a similar role on another plan, where
our sonic intervention (being acoustic
derived by movements or by subtle
playing instruments directly on the
field, or even electronic manipulation)
are in search of the same kind of equi-
librium in the sound field.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
We are just joining a very
large orchestra, in terms of concept
and number of performers, or in other
terms, birds and cicadas are the same as
a musician.
Submerged in the midst of
river canes, we raise questions.
We are trying to challenge
an established phenomenology of
landscape by imaginative exploration,
loosing our habitual points of reference
in the space, adapting to and adopting
other spatial conditions.
The body reveals itself in the
contact with other bodies – as in the
sound of crackling and swishing moving
among canes and ivy.
The condition of contact, and
this double moving in the hierarchy in
image and sound is therefore making all
bodies’ bios, and this kind of movement
is shared with other thoughts in philos-
ophy, more-than-human anthropology
and avant-garde political rights.
But what does it means that
we want them to be political bodies?
And what about the opposite
movement, are we aiming to depoliti-
cize ourselves as humans?
“[...] plants [...] extend themselves in
space, exposing their vegetal bodies in
utter vulnerability to being chopped off
or plucked, harvested or trimmed. Ethical
humanism will interpret such selfless-
ness as an unattainable ideal only if
the possessive model of subjectivity is,
ultimately, undisturbed by the critique of
metaphysics. But, as soon as ethics sheds
its humanist camouflage, the subject
will join plant life in a self-expropriating
journey toward the other.”
M. Marder,
Vegetal anti-metaphysics:
Learning from plants.
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 GIORGIO MEGA & MARTA ROMASZKAN

143
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

David Birchall
& Vicky Clarke
a.k.a. Noise Orchestra
sound : movement : architecture
Residency Period: From 07/08/2016 to 21/08/2016
Invited by Q-O2 to work in the city of Brussels through ‘meet and greet’ at
CTM/DISK Berlin
During the Q-O2 residency, Noise Orchestra developed prototypes of noise machines and
created new oscillator circuits to create a new performance/assemblage researching the
interactivity of the circuits and light/movement sources inspired by the urban and rhythmic
environment of Brussels.

Reflections by Vicky Clarke and and an arduino programmed LED ‘drum

David Birchall machine’. With this material, I wanted to
spend some time working together with
David: gathering things Vicky and improvising with whatever
systems she had built.
A s I began to think about
coming to Q-O2, I started to gather all Vicky: before arriving
the things I thought might be useful
My time at Q-O2 was contem-
and to formulate ideas I could propose
plative and productive. Before arriving
as departure points in our process. I
at the residency, I had originally aimed
knew Vicky had brought some electronic
to develop new circuits that would
gear and would be already building
echo the rhythms of the city and to
circuits in the week before I came, so I
think about how such rhythms could
concentrated on thinking about ways
potentially be translated into light
we could begin to play together. I put
input to feed my noise machines. I also
together a simple system of circuits the
wanted to explore Brussels - to make
days before I left and played with it a bit
field recordings and be inspired by
at home. The system put into practise
the city and to see how these explo-
an idea we had been discussing about
rations would impact my work on the
developing circuits in chained/tree
electronics.
systems. I brought a Steim cracklebox
circuit, a tremolo unit, volume pedal,

144
 DAVID BIRCHALL & VICKY CLARKE A.K.A. NOISE ORCHESTRA

David: playing around materials. I was surprised and a little

awed that the event had become an
In the first days we began
opportunity for spectating and noise
experimenting by playing with the
appreciation.
circuit systems we had built and getting
speakers set up. I also made some super
noisy straight-to-tape field recordings,
mainly in the area of Molenbeek around
Q-O2. Listening back to these record-
ings, the most interesting seemed to
be those of children’s games, cricket,
football, shouts, clapping – short, sharp
reverberations off buildings around the
squares where playing takes place.

Vicky: sound walks

For my first week in Brussels
I took several sound-walks throughout
the city. I made a recording of a demo-
lition/construction site in the heart of
town, next to the Bozar art centre at Mont
des Arts. As I approached the area, I was
arrested by the loud sounds pinging back
and forth and reverberating between
the giant buildings. The juxtaposition of
the brutalist office block being demol-
ished right next to the prestigious art
gallery was visually striking. Positioned
around the site, giant billboards by local
street-artists depicting faces (maybe
of Brussels citizens) were supposed to
provide a visual softening of the harsh
world of construction, but nothing could
soften the reality of the violent crushing
noises. The location’s sound-field was
immense, with the digger taking giant,
individual pieces of steel girders and
parts of internal walls and pounding
them slowly with creaking power,
piercing metal sounds, and crushing
booms as the loads were dropped to the
ground. The gap between the entrance
and art boards was large enough that so
I could record the sounds.
Next to me was a family who
had also stopped to watch the demo-
lition and to sort through the leftover
David: light and
electromagnetic signals
After a few days, it suddenly
seemed as if we had a really good
opportunity to explore the ways in
which we could use lights to trigger and
play our circuits. We began to explore
using fluorescent light fixtures as a
signal source by passing them through
guitar pickups and into various home-
made step sequencers to some nice
divisions of signals and rhythms. This
idea of using guitar pickups to capture
input from electromagnetic signals
was a new and interesting develop-
ment for us. A basic aim of our work in
general is finding ways in which light
can be translated into sound. Usually
this is managed by working with
light-dependant resistors in circuits.
We have previously used pickups as
microphones for field recording, to
record electromagnetic signals, but the

145
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
experiments at Q-O2 were our first with
taking a direct input from lightning as a
signal. This development allowed us to
add another layer of complexity to our
working process by arranging 3 separate
lights in a triangular formation.
Vicky: flea Market and found items
The flea market was a source
of inspiration for the enclosures of my
noise circuits. I wanted the individual
pieces to be sonically and visually
constructed of items from Brussels. For
example: I constructed a siren circuit
using a 40106 and a 4051 chip, with a
Sample and Hold button. The dial on the
left is a Voltage Controlled Oscillator
that varies the frequency. The dial on
the right varies the speed of the siren.
The enclosure is made from collage
materials and an old cigar box found in
the flea market.
David: acoustic and
electrical elements in balance
In performance, I feel we found
a good balance between the acoustic
and electrical elements. Acoustic sound
came from the sound of the relay switch
and the switching device in the fluo-
rescent tube. The electrical output was
picked up by stereo pickups placed very
close to two of the lights. By adding a
third light, we found we could bring in
a distant layer of electromagnetic input
creating a beautiful overall effect at low
volume - a diverse set of small rhythmic
sounds popping, clicking and droning in
the stereo field. We found sonic analo-
gies in the sounds of our light array to
the sound of the tongue on the roof of
the mouth in certain languages and to
the hypnotic crackles of a camp-fire.
Vicky: new performance
installation concept
Having access to such a large
space at Q-O2 was fantastic for my
music partner David and I. Our studio
in Manchester is quite small, so it was
great to be able to work in a space the
size of Q-02. Physically and mentally,
the space broadened what we were
able to achieve. Recently, our work with
noise machines has involved thinking
of different light inputs with which
to trigger sound. We’d wanted to use
fluorescent lighting tubes for a while
and were amazed to find a stack of them
at Q-O2. Ludo Engels, the technician
at Q-02, helped with the arduino and
coding and together we were able to
hook up a new performance system.
For us, this was a new direc-
tion in our work: a performative sound
installation. To date, we have been so
concentrated on building the circuits
and machines that we haven’t had the
proper time to consider how to perform
with them as instruments. It was inter-
esting for us to discuss how an installa-
tion could be a performance, and what
our role in it could be. We liked the idea
of the audience watching us set up the
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 DAVID BIRCHALL & VICKY CLARKE A.K.A. NOISE ORCHESTRA
installation, of the sound field evolving
and unfolding over time to a point where
we are happy to let it play. I also liked
to think about how the sculptural set up
of the lights would affect the sounds.
We have since used our experiments
to apply to the 2017 CTM Radio Lab call
out, and we want to further pursue this
performance/installation concept. This
was something unexpected and inspira-
tional that came directly out of the resi-
dency at Q-O2. We felt it was a powerful
sound world that we had created and
can’t wait to explore this further.
David: meeting
people and ideas
There was also a parallel social
element to the residency; speaking
about the work with Joris Vercammen
who was doing a residency at the same
time as we were. Joris pointed out that
the triangle shape we had made from
lights resembled the Platonic symbol
for fire. From this point on, we began
to explore some new questions about
whether it was possible to use what we
had made in a performative way. I tried
to make object- and spatialised- improv-
isations with the light arrangement and
we considered inviting others to work
with the set up. I worked around simply
opening and closing different windows
in the building to see how sounds from
outside could be mixed in with the
sounds of the machines. Finally, Vicky
and I worked together using the system
as a non-linear rhythm generator with
various delays, reverbs, and samples
from YouTube self-actualisation videos
- pushing the system toward a realm of
electronic music. All these areas remain
open as places of research for future.
Vicky: noise reading
An important element of the
residency for me was having the space
147
and time to read. The resources of the
sound art library at Q-O2 are wonderful
and it was a joy to me to take time to
reflect on my work. This reading was
really important as it enabled me to
further contextualise our work with
noise and to think more deeply about
the motivations for making the work we
do. I particularly enjoyed reading chap-
ters from Brandon La Belle’s Background
Noise and Paul Hegarty’s Noise Music: A
History, and I now have lots of further
reading and new departure points for
my thinking about our practice.
David: location reading
Another great part of the
residency was the chance to explore
the excellent library at Q-O2. Michael
Vorfeld’s Glühlampenmusik (lightbulb
music) was concretely useful and
inspiring. Digging deeper in Christina
Kubsich’s works with electromagnetism
in the Electrical Drawings book was also
very useful. Vicky and I had initially
been interested in exploring envi-
ronmental sound in Brussels, so I was
pleased to find a text by Jason Kahn in
which he describes spending days at a
time in various specific sonic locations,
including in Galerie Ravenstein just
beyond the Brussels Central Station.
This was a location I had wanted to
revisit since spending a really nice few
hours there some years ago as I waited
for a train to the next stop of a tour and
where back then my colleagues and
I spent a lot of time throwing sounds
into the space - voices, claps and so
on. Unfortunately I didn’t make it back
there, but it was interesting to read
about Kahn’s measured, long-form
listening exercise in the same space
that my colleagues I had activated as
performers the last time we were there.
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Binaural/Nodar
Micro-Residency
Vougascapes: Around the water dam
rurality : change : water dam : holistic sound research

Banks of River Vouga, Municipality of Oliveira de Frades (Portugal)

Micro-Residency Period: From 21/08/2016 to 27/08/2016
In the context of a long standing series of artistic interventions around one of the rivers that
passes along its region, the river Vouga, Binaural/Nodar hosted a one-week micro-residency
where international young artists proposed by SoCCoS partners together with a social researcher
developed both individual and collective works influenced the geographical and social impacts
of the recently built water dam of Ribeiradio/Ermida. During the residency participants went
through different in-the-field workshops about the local geo-ethnographical context, sound
recording/editing/mixing techniques, ethical/moral questions of site-specific artistic practices
and cooperation methodologies in order to enhance collective artistic work.
Participants: Henry Andersen, Ian Kühling, Jakub Krzewiński, Lucrecia Dalt, Niklas Nybom,
Paulina Miu Zielińska, Sebastian Dingens and Kelli Rose Pearson.

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The Joyful Replacement

by Luís Costa Novelty comes from everywhere,
Translated by Kelli Rose Pearson  why not from water, carrying us as we
embark on this river of milk and honey?

The dam arrives I don’t know.

just alongside a village on  Will boats, jet skis, noisy leisure, and
the edge of the Vouga. frantic shuttles
be the light that illuminates our new
These hinterlands, way?
forgotten since the dawn of time,
approach a paradox I don’t know.
by accepting all changes with joy. Perhaps the joyful replacement of old
with new
The burden of memory needs to be is a curse to which we must become
released, they say. accustomed.

And then they speak of poverty,  Or is it just a matter of time?

unemployment, and abandonment,
in the form of a litany of As soon as I am not here anymore,
(under) development. I don’t care
what they will decide to do.

Niklas Nybom

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During the micro-residency
many improbable connections were
established. One of them came after a
guided tour to the inside of the Ribeira/
Ermida Dam, where its head Engineer
explained the group that the dam belongs
to a Portuguese private company, EDP,
which ultimate shareholder is a Chinese
company called China Three Gorges
Corporation, named after the gorges of
the Yangtze River where a giant dam was
built years after having been imagined
by Mao Tse-Tung on his poem Swimming
(1956):
 
This poem was proposed by
Ian Kühling and Niklas Nybom to be
read by some tourists visiting the dam,
which came to be the basis of their final
audiovisual piece.
“I have just drunk the waters of
Changsha
And come to eat the fish of Wuchang.
Now I am swimming across the great
Yangtze,
Looking afar to the open sky of Chu.
Let the wind blow and waves beat,
Better far than idly strolling in a
courtyard.
Today I am at ease.
“It was by a stream that the Master
said--
‘Thus do things flow away!’ “
Sails move with the wind.
Tortoise and Snake are still.
Great plans are afoot:
A bridge will fly to span the north and
south,
Turning a deep chasm into a
thoroughfare;
Walls of stone will stand upstream to
the west
To hold back Wushan’s clouds and rain
Till a smooth lake rises in the narrow
gorges.
The mountain goddess if she is still
there
Will marvel at a world so changed.”
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 BINAURAL/NODAR MICRO-RESIDENCY

“A lot of farming lands were submersed by the dam.”

“In the 70’s and 80’s all the fields were farmed, the
forest was clean as we needed the bushes for the
animals, and we would go shepherding sheep to the
lands and forest.”

“We would walk barefoot everywhere,

without any fear.”

“Boats were used to cross to the other margin of the

river, specially by people who had corn to mill… one
day the corn would be crossed and on the following
day bags with flour would be transported back.”

“When I was a kid I would pick little stones and throw

them to make them slide throughout the water,
making little jumps.”

“Today I see a desert lagoon with no trees and with

many promises yet to fulfil, namely for authorized
river beaches that were promised.”

“The dam is very profitable for the hydro-electrical

company to produce electricity, and also for boat
rides, fishing and many other things that would come
in the future to make our place even better.”

[Opinions about the Ribeiradio/Ermida dam collected by Luís Costa & Paulina
Miu Zielińska, and later used on Paulina’s final vocal performance]

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Ian Kühling Paulina Miu Zielińska

Paulina Miu Zielińska

Nely Ferreira (Binaural/Nodar)

Kelli Rose Pearson Jakub Krzewiński

Henry Andersen
Sebastian Dingens

Lucrecia Dalt

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 BINAURAL/NODAR MICRO-RESIDENCY

Paulina Miu Zielińska

Jakub Krzewiński

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Hai Art
Micro-Residency #2
Sonic Wilderness Camp
augmented wilderness : instrumentality : mushrooms : networks

Hailuoto Island, Finland

Micro-Residency Period: From 23/08/2016 to 30/08/2016

• sonic wild{er}ness or music outside

• instrumentality of mobile sonic interventions
• sonification of matter & environment such as earth, stones, vegetation
• mycelium - networks underground

with: Anja Erdmann, Annie Goh, Darsha Hewitt, Inge Vanden Kronenberg, Jacob Remin,
Katharina Hauke, Lee Patterson, Peter Kirn and Till Bovermann

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 HAI ART MICRO-RESIDENCY #2

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Anja Erdmann and her

piezo - copper experiments can be
listened to on soundcloud: Acoustic
Diary (Hailuoto, Soccos micro
residency 2016).

Darsha Hewitt
”I really had no idea what to
expect but the experience will stick
with me very strongly. To develop ties to
a new group of very interesting artists -
it has inspired me to incorporate some
new methods and techniques into my
work. Hai Art has developed something
special - the island location is a big
part, but the energy and enthusiasm
for collaborating and making music
together and the unique   concept
of ‘sonic wilderness’ expands as it
continues to gain momentum”.

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 HAI ART MICRO-RESIDENCY #2

Keskiniemi light tower by Annie Goh

“One day during the residency we took a day trip to the northwestern shore
of Hailuoto. There are two white towers there: the Keskiniemi beacon tower which
was wooden, shaped like a long pyramid and 20m high, and the Keskiniemi light
tower made of metal and less than 10m high.
Earlier on in the residency I had been experimenting using contact mics
and hand-held speakers making feedback on large objects such as a boat, so on the
metal tower I was curious how it would sound. Katharina and I began making feed-
back on the structure, particularly on the oddest part hanging off one side - a strange
composition of flat surfaces welded together at various angles, like a modernist
or futurist sculpture, we later found out that it is a radar reflector. We played the
structure tenderly and it created mournful but beautiful sounds which pierced the
landscape and mixed in with the sounds of the wind and sea around us.”

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Inge Vanden Kroonenberg

“I came to Hailuoto with a
small idea, a little tape recorder and
some old speaker cones.
I wanted to listen when
sounds become signals and when
signals form a composition and make
minimal acoustic gestures and experi-
ence how it changes the environment.
When I exchanged thoughts with
Jacob [Remin] the ‘Sonic Wilderness
Mushroom Synth’ was born.
Being in such a remote and
unspoiled environment made me feel
very present. But is also made me
aware that every sound I hear makes a
great presence. The long walks and the
interventions made me very sensitive
to the sound and silence on the island.
The laughs and talks at the table and
down by the fire made me feel very
fortunate.”

Jacob Remin and the Sonic Wilderness

Mushroom Synth which he developed along with
Inge Vanden Kroonenberg.

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 HAI ART MICRO-RESIDENCY #2

Anemos Sonore Maaum Siilium:

Instrument designed during residency by

Till Boverman and Katharina Hauke

An artificial plant of the wind plant variety. As
an inhabitant of the boreal forest and meadows, Maaum
Siilium exhibits solid conductive roots and delicate weed-
like stems with swinging fruiting bodies.
The plant is sensitive to both aerial flow and soil
conditions which it translates into alterations of its sonic
behaviour.
Maaum Siilium can be found in the Gulf of
Bothnia, where it grows on meadows, along the shore,
and in the open forest, occasionally rooting on caps of
mushrooms.

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“Hailuoto forest work/walk, south shore”,

a retrospective score by
Lee Patterson
Soccos/HaiArt Residency, Pöllä, Hailuoto,
25th August 2016.

An acoustic performance for small

ensemble using found materials.
A member or members of the group will
lead a walk into the forest.
The ensemble should listen intently to
their surroundings.
There should be no verbal
communication.
Along the way, each member of the
ensemble is to select and collect one, two or a
few objects that can be played or used to make
sounds.
Obvious examples include pine cones,
branches, leaves, stones and roots but may also
include human detritus, animal bones, leaf litter
and the trees themselves.
Upon finding a suitable location within
the forest, such as a clearing, a ride, or simply
somewhere amongst the trees, stop and distribute
yourselves around that area.
Continuing to listen intently, make
discrete sounds with your objects, exploring
the possibilities of each as instruments - from
percussive or rhythmic playing to variations in
timbre.
Explore the dynamic and durational
possibilities, from short, sharp and loud to long-
form and subtle playing.
Interact with any resident sounds or
those from outside the forest and respond to the
sounds of your fellow performers.
Allow space and time to have equal
importance in your sound making decisions,
moving around to explore and play the spatial and
acoustic properties created by the forest canopy.
For the duration of this performance,
the ensemble is a sounding mechanism or body
within the forest and when it ceases to wish to be
so, the performance is over.
Take great care so as to minimise your
impact upon the forest.

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 HAI ART MICRO-RESIDENCY #2

Peter Kirn
“The notion of wilderness may
be a somewhat romantic construct, but
we can at least view it as an opposite
to the insular bunkers in which
electronic music was first incubated.
Now, thanks to sophisticated mobile
recording technology, battery-powered
synthesizers, DIY electronics, and
mobile sound computation, sound
performance can happen anywhere.
It’s an interesting test of how to push
live sound exploration to its limits – all
the while with self-sufficient objects,
no longer tethered to wall warts and
power sockets. Being on batteries with
portable instruments means the ability
to go where you want. Paying attention
to the environment means the chance
to mine the world around you for
inspiration.”

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Juan Duarte Regino

& Sébastien Piquemal
field recordings : fm radio : diy electronics

Residency Period: From 09/10/2016 to 29/10/2016

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in the town of Vouzela (Portugal) and
proposed by Hai Art
Mexican Juan Duarte Regino and French Sébastien Piquemal, both sound artists and
technophiles, were invited to take part in Playing the Rural Landscape, a series of artist
residencies around the theme of visceral/tactile sonic connections with rural landscape, one of
which took place in October 2016 in the municipality of Vouzela (Portugal) and was developed
around a set of children and youth workshops of field recordings, pd language and construction
of portable fm transmitters of the recorded sounds, randomly mixed with sounds from radio
stations from all over the world.

B etween 9th and 29th of possibility of running a first version

October 2016, we carried out a series of
activities during the SoCCoS Residency
at Binaural/Nodar. For us, as sound
practitioners, our interest was to begin
a practice based research on the use of
FM radio transmission as a medium for
playful exploration1. The radio medium
entails a grassroots technology that
invites for appropriation in art. We
proposed a project that would include
a workshop with the local community
of Vouzela, to experiment ‘hands on’ the
social, artistic and technical aspects of
FM radio transmission. The project also
allowed to explore the development of
activities related to sound technology
and field recording with students
from different schools of Vouzela. The
of this project as part of the program
of Sound of Culture - Culture of Sound,
enabled to gather in the same place all
elements required to experiment within
a transversal action between artists,
Binaural/Nodar, and the community of
Vouzela.
In the present text we review
some starting points of the project,
including historical relevance of the
FM radio. We also tell about potential
engagements as a ludic practice of
sonic exploration within a community
of participants. In this sense, during
the residency we could work out a
series of potential interactions with
sound transmitting in aerial and aquatic

1 The artistic approach includes sound instrument making and performative aspects (related to
games in space) that are created first in the laboratory and then used in the field as instruments for
sonic ludic interaction.

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 JUAN DUARTE REGINO & SÉBASTIEN PIQUEMAL

mediums. On the other hand, the format personal use, for example to play music
of radio production invited us to create from an mp3 player wirelessly. The fact
some content for radio broadcast, that these low power radios are allowed
including organizing workshops with constitutes a legal loophole allowing
students where they would document hyperlocal pirate radio broadcasting.
the local community through field
recordings and interviews. Our initial project during the
residency was therefore to design and
build a series of low-power portable
Radio parasites FM Radio parasites : units which are
affordable, compact, and solar-powered.
Our research started by
They would have worked as pervasive
reviewing cultural uses of FM radio
units of sound transmission that can be
broadcasting. However, rather than
placed in public space, freeloading on
studying its history as a mass media, our
the existing infrastructure, while taking
interest is placed on the cases where
control over a particular radio frequency
radio transmission is used (or misused)
in that space. The FM transmitter is a
as a tool for transgression, like in the
self made project that can be finished
case of pirate radio. We therefore started
in few hours of work with participants,
to plan a series of experiments with self-
and it is based on a design that uses
built units for sound transmission that
simple electronic components. Later on,
can be placed in public space, in order
this device would be used as a tool for
to bring participants into the dynamics
art interventions, such as performances
of performance and installation based
and spontaneous sound installations
on FM radio technology. The relevance
contained in a limited FM spectrum.
of this goes further than merely learning
Finally, the design would also been
about the technology itself, and instead
open-sourced, with full instructions on
is focused on the sonic experiences
how to build the device.
coming from re-purposing a medium,
participatory art, cultural sonic identities
and media empowerment.

Pirate radios emerged in
the early twenties as states started to
regulate radio broadcasting throughout
the world. In most cases, the state would
not only rule on assigned frequencies,
but also acceptable content. Pirate
radios offered an alternative to music
and content that were not provided by
licensed broadcasters, and thus became
an important vector of the counterculture
movement in the 60’s. While FM radio as
a mass media is slowly disappearing, it
is still forbidden in most countries to
broadcast without a license. However,
low power transmitters are legal
almost everywhere. These are aimed at

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FM radio as
sonic material
Through exploration, we
realised that FM radio comprises multiple
configurations with a strong potential for
artistic use. For example, in a context of
live performance we experimented with
the physically perceptible manipulation
of acoustic events and ethereal radio
signals. Another configuration is when
simply used for broadcasting audio,
while enabling a community to craft
media tools and transmit own created
contents, as hobbyist approach to
enable short length independent radio
transmission.
Moreover the multiple
configurations, found along the
simultaneous study and practice of FM
radio, were addressed through an artistic
approach to wrap around the many
forms of the social and geographical
space in Vouzela. The artistic approach
includes sound instrument making and
performative aspects (related to games
in space) that are created first in the
laboratory and then used in the field as
instruments for sonic ludic interaction.
The games would feature the principles
of locative media, in particular
geo-cashing where hidden sonic objects
in the nature would be discoverable
with the help of FM radio transmission /
reception.
Workshops and
activities carried-out
In an effort to produce audio
content that could be broadcast through
FM radio, we started with several
activities. A first exploratory work
used the archive of Binaural/Nodar by
mashing-it up with live streams from
Internet radio stations in a generative
manner, creating a striking sonic
contrast between field recordings
from the region around Nodar and pop
music and radio shows from around the
world. In a second exploratory work, we
organized a workshop with students
from the middle-school of Vouzela.
The workshop started with a short
introduction to field recording, and
children were then instructed to choose
a set of questions and walk around in
the village to interview residents. The
goal was then to edit these interviews
into a small show, which unfortunately
didn’t happen by lack of time. We then
planned to edit this material ourselves,
but quickly realized that it was
meaningless without understanding
Portuguese. This prompted us to work
on a small sound piece which only
makes use of the ‘trash sounds’ of these
interviews, i.e. sound that would have
been left-out in a proper edit, such as
laughs, jokes from the children, sound
checks and failed interviews...
Binaural/Nodar offered us the
possibility to present a second workshop
with students qualified in electronics.
Therefore we were confident to engage
directly with participants into building
a range of sonic tools: hydrophones,
electromagnetic field detectors and
contact microphones to be used on
the field. The possibility to build a
short length FM radio transmitter from
simple electronic components helps to
understand how radio transmission can
operate on a rural environment, as in
the case of the geographical location of
Vouzela.
This workshop was presented
for the first time during the residency in
Binaural/Nodar. We prepared a circuit
166

that included two main modules. First
module is an Amplifier that can adapt
to different sound sources, including
contact microphones, electromagnetic
field sensors, and even hydrophones.
Second module is the FM radio
transmitter, which receives input from
the amplifier, and then sends the
resulting signal to an air antenna. The
transmitter can be fine-tuned with a
screwdriver and the signal received by
any regular radio receiver. The workshop
was therefore arranged in two parts
to help understanding each process
separately (signal amplification, and
signal transmission). Despite some
final complications on the transmission
part of the circuit, which needs further
rework, the amplification was successful
and most of the participants were able
to build and test microphones and
hydrophones.
Diagram of the circuit developed for the
workshop:
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JUAN DUARTE REGINO & SÉBASTIEN PIQUEMAL
Performance with
Hydrophones
For the results and
presentation day, Juan Duarte Regino
prepared a improvisation set with
hydrophones and radio transmitter
and receivers. Despite the transmitters
not being fully functional, the
intention was to play with the tangible
manipulation of radio signals, as part of
a small ecosystem of sound feedbacks
between hydrophones, pickups and
radio transmission. This performance at
Binaural/Nodar was documented with a
portable recorder.
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Marialuisa Capurso
field recordings : site-specific : vocal performance

Residency Period: From 09/10/2016 to 29/10/2016

Invited by Binaural/Nodar to work in the municipality of Vouzela (Portugal)
Italian vocal performer and sound artist Marialuisa Capurso was invited to take part in Playing
the Rural Landscape, a series of artist residencies around the theme of visceral/tactile sonic
connections with rural landscape, one of which took place in October 2016 in the municipality
of Vouzela where she developed a field recordings based score (Rural Tableau) for voice and
improvisers, influenced by her personal experiences and recollections in the area, one she will
propose to future artistic collaborations.

Excerpts from the diary

of a residency in
a beautiful place

Black bodies on the same boundary Un cane abbaia.

identities, over-crystallised.
Do the giant lords ask for passport?
Do you smell the animal’s insanity
aiming for perfection?
Vouzela/Calvos, Portugal
Wednesday 19th October : 15.20 h
Recording at the bridge
(the green iron one).
Cars passing under the bridge, trucks,
cocks.
Youths from school screaming, talking.
Birds to the left on the roof/antennas.
A guy cycling.
Sheep around the hills.
This is an old men’s passage, one man
asks me what am I doing, he wants to
listen with my headphones.
How do we perceive the time?
Through our body or through external
effects?
What is nature?
What is the rhythm?
What is truly needed?
What is Rural Tableau?
It’s the observation and its recording of
what I see and what I need to perceive.
Re-activation of a path.

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 MARIALUISA CAPURSO

Thursday 20th October No choice to change pitch. Loudness is

requested. The stones are the Lords.
Video shooting in They shape my voice.
three locations near Penoita

Third place
First place
I have been here before, yes,
Do I need to find a comfort
in my dreams.
zone or not? Am I feeling at home here?
A lot of questions come to my mind
before finding the door to get closer to
Saturday 22th October
this place. I think I’ve lost my home. I am
not sure if a physical place exists where Reflecting on the soul of
you can easily feel yourself. The viscera this place, on its secret rhythms and
of the earth would host my/our body? memories.
No silence in my head, only Travelling to the landscapes, I
questions. need to perceive the soul of the places
The dreams reveal our fears or where I go. By being here, I get to know
the place for freedom. another me.
Soft leaves, wet not cold, the The malaise of not feeling at
hair one by one disposed on this soft home anywhere gives me the need of
carpet, the jelly brown layer is holding getting in touch with the soul of a place.
me. The movement and the silence
My body is made of bones, are together. Time and space meet in
organs, cerebrospinal fluid. My eyes are this moment of reconciliation. My soul
connected to my brain, to my hands, to feels it. Deep transformation of my
my belly. instant. When we are out of touch with
the place where we are, we loose the
The carnal land fuses together
connection with ourselves.
with my blood. I leave my feelings to
this land. Empting my entire being,
preparing and immersing myself for the
It’s not easy to stop my brain.
listening and understanding of a new
What am I doing? Am I being unnatural?
place.
How am I moving my body? Where am
I moving to? The place and me are two I want to experience of
different things. capturing the essence of the place. I
want be aware of it.
Second place
We now arrived at the most
powerful place I have ever seen: a big
space made of huge stones, one on
top of the other. Silence prevails. No
questions anymore. Nothing is more
important than the strong connection
between my voice and the huge Lords.
I never experienced this strong demand
of a place for me to sing a certain song.

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RURAL TABLEAU
the lived, the perceived,
the present
The need for hearing, the need
for listening to the places where we are
in order to orient our bodies.
I am landing in a place where I
need to recognise myself. I perceive the
surrounding space with my body, with
my ears, with my touch, with my sense
of smell.
The act of listening is inter-
active with the space. I exchange infor-
mation with the sound around me. It’s
a relation between sound, space, and
myself, which brings me to observe that
all of these need the conscious presence
of the listener.
///
Sound can bring us to our
self-consciousness.
The act of listening requires
a high level of presence. The acknowl-
edgement can come later.
Desires, fears, ambitions some-
times confuse our existence. We close
our ears, we forget our inner voice, we
give space to random thoughts coming
from the past, coming from far places.
These obfuscate our present.
///
It seems we have silenced the
natural soundscape and replaced it with
loud noises.
Sound is in the present which
offers itself plenty of rhythms.
The rhythm of sunlight, the
smell of rain, the smell of cabbages
along the way home. Traces of everyday.
The breath remains.
///
Shall we ask ourselves how
does our place sound? Does the soil
have a rhythm when I cross it?
How does the wind sound
when crossing the rooms of my house?
Movement and silence are
together. My soul and me, I reconnect
myself with the Universe. I think the
forest is the last place where the soul
goes to see the sunset.
“The present offers itself in all
innocence and cruelty: open, evident,
here and there. It can wear a smile, or be
tinged with melancholy.”
Henri Lefebvre
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Rima Najdi with

Kathy Alberici
& Ana Nieves
radio : anxiety : control
Moya
Residency Period: From 24/10/2016 to 07/11/2016
Invited by DISK Berlin / CTM Festival as part of the CTM 2017 Radio Lab
Together with musician Kathy Alberici and visual designer Ana Nieves Moya, performance
artist Rima Najdi was one of two winners of the CTM 2017 Radio Lab. Developed during a
residency in Beirut in October 2016, Najdi’s proposal, Happy New Fear, aims to explore an
environment of anxiety and control via a narrative built around Madame Bomba, a persona first
created in 2014 when Najdi wore a fake cartoon TNT bomb around her chest while roaming
the streets of her hometown Beirut protesting the normalization of death in Lebanon.
Supported by Deutschlandradio Kultur – Radio Drama / Klangkunst and CTM Festival, in
collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, Ö1 Kunstradio, and ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen
herbst, the CTM Radio Lab winners premiered their works at the CTM 2017 festival. Rima’s
work was subsequently broadcast in its radio version via Deutschlandradio Kultur in March
2017. Happy New Fear was developed in part at the 2016 Sundance Institute, Theatre Lab in
MENA, with additional Post-Lab Support funds made possible from the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation.

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 RIMA NAJDI WITH KATHY ALBERICI & ANA NIEVES MOYA

(1)
Lebanon, Lebanon, Lebanon…what
was I expec5ng? Lebanon. I didn't
really….did I have an expecta5on?
I suppose some kind of expecta5on
does always exist.

All I know is when I got on the plane, (2) (3)

I had this kind of fizzy feeling. The "They fall in love with the The noise.
feeling that comes from the chaos," they said. That's what I can't explain the intensity of the noise. It's never silent in
an5cipa5on of an adventure. An they kept telling me. "People that city. Never silent. The empty street, the empty living
adventure for which I had no frame come here, and they fall in love room, the empty night. It is not empty.
of reference at all. Just an ignorant with the chaos!" - I don't I've always associated the sound of ci5es with the sound of
imagina5on of colour and warmth know why they think that. people. Hustle and bustle would be the very English way to
and exo5cism. put it. The noise in Beirut is different. The noise in Beirut is
not of people. It is not human. It's mechanical.

(4)
Imagine the sound of a generator. Imagine that kind of
(5) droning monotony that demands your aSen5on as you
Constant honking. walk past. Now imagine it mul5plied, so that the drone
copies itself, and con5nues on, and on, and on. Infinite.
'Toot Toot…Hey! Hey, you! I'm here!! Right behind you!! Hi! Hey! Viral. Repe55ve. And it's everywhere. It's everywhere,
Yeah! Yeah, you! Look! Look in your mirror!! Don't you know I'm here? and you CANNOT escape. It's high-pitched, it's rumbling,
Maybe you don't know I'm here. I'm gonna honk again, just in case' it's psychosoma5cally omnipotent. It's like sonic warfare,
More and more. And more and more. And more and more. A but a bizarre, warped, domes5cated version. It's the
cacophony. It's as if without raising the volume, no one is gonna hear pumping of water to fill up the roof tanks on the buildings.
you above all of this sta5c. It's the chugging of diesel. Old motors. It's like having
5nnitus. Chronic 5nnitus. It's invasive. It's helicopters,
(6) waking you up in the morning. It's creaking and it's
They ask: 'SO…your first 5me? How do you like it?' desperate, and you cannot get away. You can never get
away. There is no peace.
And you tell them it's wonderful, and everyone is taking such great care
of you and you are being fed such great food, and the land is so
beau5ful, and the food is so fresh and everything is so fer5le, and they
smile.

(7)
They ask: 'SO…your first 5me? How do you like it?'
Tension. Tension without bounds, so as you're walking around, with
everything and everyone shou5ng louder and louder; the dysfunc5on of
the city invading you with droning, difficult frequencies, you just wanna
shout 'PLEASE!! Please, stop! Just….SHUT UP!!'

And you want to breathe. You want to breathe unpolluted air, free of the
stench of decomposing trash piled up in the streets. You want to listen to
the wind, to the ocean. You crave for the gentle rhythms of nature. A
(8)
nature that is all around, but that is drowned out by the chaos of
I didn't fall in love with the chaos. I fell in love
instability.
with the crazy hearts.
A city in a state of emergency. A city with complica5ons.
And then, you admire the people, their resilience, unbounded posi5vity,
humor and hospitality.

175
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

176
RIMA NAJDI WITH KATHY ALBERICI & ANA NIEVES MOYA

177
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Julian Bonequi
radio drama : sci-fi movies : humanity

Residency Period: From 09/11/2016 to 25/11/2016

Invited by DISK Berlin / CTM Festival as part of the CTM 2017 Radio Lab
Hybrid artist Julian Bonequi was one of two winners of the CTM 2017 Radio Lab. Developed
during a residency at ZK/U Berlin in November 2016, Bonequi’s The Death of the Anthropocene
is a project inspired by radio drama and sci-fi movies. The work imagines a series of one-on-one
encounters between ordinary people and mysterious visitors. Mutants, composite human-robot-
animals, aliens… these visitors are met with aggression, shock and disbelief as they paint grim
pictures of the future of humanity. In the text below, Bonequi layers snapshots of this imaginary
world over his daily work, thoughts and unexpected struggle with sciatica while in Berlin.

Supported by Deutschlandradio Kultur – Radio Drama / Klangkunst and CTM Festival, in

collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, Ö1 Kunstradio, and ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen
herbst.

Simulation of reality and sound incidents

By Julian Bonequi

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 JULIAN BONEQUI

1. Imagining a device for hunting spirits and catching

ghosts
Cut the wood forming the conceptography of the actions scattered on the ground.
You stack the pieces in columns as if they were scores by drawing the silhouette of
a pyramid. The weight and volume of the sound is equivalent to being seated in an
imaginary armchair while observing the rippling of the fire’s flames and thinking
about how to isolate the doors and windows.
You prepare the space like a box with strings, reflecting on the possibility of an
important conversation or any relevant sound event within a resonant space. The
studio feels like being upside down inside a contrabass.
A long and continuous note rips the lower vocal cords with a rough and metallic
texture that makes your pipe-like throat itch.
The frequencies of a cymbal are altered by the mist of vague dissonance brought
by the swaying of deteriorated microphones beating a pendulum. The alienating
voice is immersed in vibrated sighs and shivers with the broken polyphony like a
note on the edge of a tear.
You stop for a second and you’re silence. The choral from the submerged waters
arrives with the astounding winter.
From the bottom of that second, from an even smaller fraction of that time, you
arch your body in slow motion as an hourglass and as if someone held your hip
up. With a deep gong from the bottom of your belly, you hammer 180 degrees out
all the force inside, from the funnel that contains the whole of your skin as liquid
presence, as if wanting life to go through you drop by drop.
The second elapses.
A new pause freezes you in the next moment, displacing accents into a new irregular
cadence.
Imagine instead, a device to soundproof the anxiety or an analogue machine for
teleportation of impossible sounds and emotions.
A landscape of dead letters plagued with living organisms as if they existed in some
hidden place of meanings — gurgling through your nerves… glump — glummpt
— gllluuummt.

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

2. Do we really understand the mystic in music?

Perhaps this will be the intention of a first movement. A simple test of a symphony
of the living or a rehearsal on how the interpretation of the end of the world could
sound.
Observe the apparent ‘nothing’ and listen to how the silence moves:
SHHHH! The whole millennial cascade of concepts will unfortunately not save the
human race.
That’s right, you remain sceptical of the future of the world and of what the present
tells you, but you prefer to return to the shelter of the listening and pay attention
just in case of rebooking faith.
Watch while you drink orange juice or chew a truffle. Stay attuned to how the
chamber of your body shakes your lips, teeth, throat, chest and stomach while reso-
nating your skull and your bile. I think you’d better go for a walk before the time
machine brings you new appetites from the future.
If music is tied to emotions, whether or not this is true. If humans are stuck in the
experience of extremes and perplexed radicalism, or in between, via our bewilder-
ment and lack of trust, our idiocy and arrogance as civilisations, our enmity with the
world… bla bla bla bli — stop blabbering please and relax.
Warm up the heat of the throat, and sing a deep ohm (Ω).
Electrical resistance versus analogue insistence.
Repetition is always good for legs.
Music has to move.
Contemplation is cool when you enjoy all your full range of senses.
But what if not?
What if the sensation of feelings stops.
Chimps evolved. Technology evolves. Humans, in a harsh sense, concretely and
historically, don’t.

180
 JULIAN BONEQUI

3. The absence of the human = silence

Yesterday I was crawling on the floor, simply wanting to go from my bed to the floor.
I was speaking with an unexpected visitor about saving the world and what else
can’t art do.

There is a tendency towards drama that boils in the blood, a puzzle in the moments
of weakness, but nothing is articulated like with the word music. Then I close my
eyes and I can teleport my anxiety to reassure myself. The mirror of the living
touches the skin dressing each joint. Now a leg is inside the other leg as a trouser.
Now the fingers use the cartilage as gloves, and the music of that body is hosting
the nerves exploring distensions.

From the deprivation of human events, from their absence or dilation, in the
refreshing state of anthropomorphic experiments, primitive and basic thoughts are
lying calmly in the ground while the sun is clouded in fog. Where are the dogs? It’s
always cool to have a scene with barking dogs while beings contemplate as simple
dust through the light.

Aaaanthroooppooooceene!!!! a brute voice sings.

- What do you see when you look in the mirror?

- _________________________

- Are you sure?

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SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Francesca Saraullo
& Cabiria Chomel
movement : audio : portraits

Residency Period: From 14/11/2016 to 11/12/2016

Invited by Q-O2 to work in the Flemish village of Buizingen, Belgium
Choreographer Francesca Saraullo and sound artist Cabiria Chomel collaborated with the actors
of Theater Tartaar on Dancing Auto Portraits, a sonic and choreographic research project. Theater
Tartaar is a long standing group of actors who are mentally disabled and are coached by Lotte
Spittaels. It is linked to the day centre Zonnelied in Buizingen in the Flemish countryside, about
20 kilometres from Brussels. This project was realised in collaboration with arts lab De School
van Gaasbeek.

Interview by Julia Eckhardt

Could you just very briefly
explain how it has been?
How would you describe this
group of people you worked with?
Francesca: I feel that they are
people with a really special sensitivity,
thanks to their special nature, the hand-
icap. The fact that they have a particular
handicap means that they are more
open to a kind of sensitive listening, and
a sensitive way of entering into relation-
ship with people, sounds, bodies.
Do you think that
they are aware of that?
Francesca: I don’t think that all
of them are aware of those capacities
or abilities that they have due to their
handicap. This is the paradox. Some are
though. One in particular, a blind girl,
I think that she is aware of her sensi-
bility. The fact that she is blind, forces
her to develop other ways to perceive
her environment. One thing that really
surprises me is that she really knows
the space where she is very well. She
listens to all the small sounds. I’m
curious how she imagines what she
listens to because she recognises the
people through their voices, through
their touch. One day, I stayed close to
her to see how she would react to my
presence without knowing me. I just
went next to her, very discretely and she
said, ‘I don’t know who you are, I don’t
know you.’ She didn’t recognise me but
felt somebody next to her, even though
I didn’t say anything.
And so what did she do to perceive
you? Did she want to speak to you?

182

Francesca: She just felt a pres-
ence. I wanted to play with her a little.
She asked me who I was and I connected
by touching and speaking to her. It’s very
surprising, very strong and powerful,
this sensibility which develops out of
necessity.
Was the project also a new
experience for you?
Was it the first time you worked
with such a theatre group?
Francesca: Yes. I learned to be
very patient.. In a process of research or
of creation you can project images and
forms immediately because you feel
the potential of the ideas. With a group
like this you need to find a different
form to lead them there, another form
which can’t be so physically direct. You
can be physical, but slowly. I saw that
everything went slowly. You have to
explain slowly. You also have to touch
them softly. They show immediately
when they are not content.
Francesca: They are very trans-
parent. In the beginning, I was afraid
because people who have worked with
handicapped people told me that they
can have animal reactions - very direct.
There is no filter with them. When they
like you, they like you; when they don’t,
they don’t. There is no niceness, no
politeness. But that’s also very beau-
tiful. I think this undertaking has been
something very true.
Did you feel that some of them liked
you less? Or is it rather that if you are
honest with them then they like you
without judgement?
Francesca: Yes. I think that if
you are honest, if you do it with your
heart, with humour, with generosity
- they feel it. Also to guide them by
183
FRANCESCA SARAULLO & CABIRIA CHOMEL
respecting their time, their way of
working, will help them. It was helpful
for me and Cabiria to propose a mode of
listening to them, without imposition. It
was also because of this that we got a
positive reaction.
Could you explain how you worked,
with what methods and processes?
Did you work for one month?
Francesca: We had six sessions
of one day each: six mornings of two
hours and six afternoons of two hours.
The time was very tightly implemented
into their daily rhythm. They have the
habit to work from 10 to 12, and from
2 to 4. Cabiria is more from a domain
of sound, and myself from dance and
theatre – from choreographic creation.
We decided to play with the possibility
of a sound choreography.
What do you mean by sound
choreography?
Francesca: An inscription in
the space. Bodies in motion which at the
same time make sounds with the body
only, or with objects.
So each movement is linked to a
sound, or to the sound
the movement makes?
Francesca: Yes, exactly. The
first step to a ‘body-sound’ was to
invent a sound produced by the body.
Then naturally the body has to get
into a state or a form which produces
this sound. This is not a form which
is defined beforehand. You can also
produce a gesture and this gesture will
lead you towards a sound. This was
more-or-less it. Then we proposed an
imaginary, which was the forest.
SECTION 2 | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Did you go to the forest or did you
always stay inside?
Cabiria: We went one after-
noon to the forest. It’s not really a forest
though, just some trees. But we did have
this experience outside.
Did you look for sound which would
correspond? What were the steps
toward this performance?
Cabiria: We first worked on
personal sound signatures. Which means
that everyone proposed a sound and
an accompanying a gesture. That was a
ritual in each encounter. We started each
session in a circle with that signature
each time. And then once we had staged
that, we exchanged the signatures. After
this we tried to make a small orchestra
with all those small shouts, sounds, and
noises that we had chosen. But there
were other points of focus which we
returned to in each session. For example
the ‘single body’, because we wanted to
achieve the feeling of unity amongst the
group - not to stay individuals. The indi-
vidual is present in his/her signature,
but we try to balance these in the ‘single
body’, to fuse the energies and to find a
breath...
Francesca: … together. Also, in
relation to the rituality which Cabiria
mentioned, we started each day with
some physical exercise which was func-
tional to what we were planning to do.
It was very simple, just playful ways
to make the body available. Mostly we
worked on the relations in pairs. We
introduced a light element of tango,
as a way to get from individuality to
a relation with somebody else. But
it was important to us to continue to
listen to the group and to try to create
this ‘single body’ through these undu-
lating movements. In this way we tried
to get the group into a listening mode
without imposing it. It’s about working
toward cohesion. Once we introduced
an element into the space they almost
immediately get to this ‘single body’.
To me, they looked very
comfortable with the interaction. They
know each other very well, have worked
as a group for some time. Getting back
to the sound signature, how did you
explain it to them? This term ‘sound
signature’ sounds a little complicated.
Cabiria: We started off with
a personal presentation in which each
person presented him- or herself with
their first name and a gesture. Then we
repeated this presentation, but with
a sound which the participants chose,
and which they presented to the others
as something personal, like a signature.
I didn’t anticipate it but each presenta-
tion was really singular and nice.
Francesca: Yes I think they
integrated really quickly.
Was the communication difficult?
Some have their own language, and
as a group they are mostly speaking
Flemish.
Cabiria: We had very precious
help from Lotte, their usual coach. She
was really an intermediate for us- not
only between French and Flemish.
She has experience which only years
of working with this special group can
provide.
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 FRANCESCA SARAULLO & CABIRIA CHOMEL

185
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS

SECTION 3
Texts by Invited Researchers

186

Migrational listening
by Annie Goh
Migrating Bodies,
Migrating Ears
H ow do we orient ourselves in
the world? How do listening experiences
contribute to feelings of placement
or displacement? How do past memo-
ries overlap with present situations to
position us in contradictory complexes
of space, place, and time? Sara Ahmed
reflects on the experience of migration
in her work Strange Encounters (2000)
as a process of, “re-inhabiting the skin:
the different “impressions” of a new
landscape, the air, the smells, the sounds
[...]. Such spaces “impress” on the body,
involving the mark of unfamiliar impres-
sions, which in turn reshapes the body
surface.” (Ahmed, 2006, p. 9). The experi-
ence of migration is thus theorised as
an embodied process of estrangement, a
transition from one register to another.
The memory of what it is to be ‘home’,
in comparison to being ‘away’, unfolds
along lines of social relations that are
specific to the body’s transition from
one socio-political and spatio-temporal
situation to another.
187
MIGRATIONAL LISTENING
The centrality of sound and
listening to bodily experience has, in
recent years, led to conceptualisations
of the sonic as a vibrational, dynamic,
affective force for thinking and knowing
(Henriques, 2003) becoming more widely
accepted. In his phenomenological
investigation into listening, Don Ihde
refers to how the Ancient Greek word
for theatrical masks, persona, which
designate the moment an individual
actor assumes a voice and character,
would later come to mean ‘per-sona’ or
‘by sound’ (Ihde, 2007, 14). The actor takes
on a certain role, or ‘persona’, as known
by sound - stemming from the Latin
sonus (‘sound or noise’), and sonare
(denoting the verb ‘to sound’). Given
sound’s etymological proximity to the
legal category of ‘person’, it would seem
apt to attempt to understand processes
of migration as personal, embodied,
multi-sensorial experiences in which
sound and listening play an integral
role.
In the movement of bodies
across geographical areas, both
nationally and internationally, sonic
experience can function multifariously
- sometimes grounding the body in
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
familiarity, sometimes exposing it to
a feeling of alienation. In discussing
the Sound of Culture - Culture of Sound,
(SoCCoS) project, what is afforded to
us by placing bodies into a context that
is ‘foreign’ over one which is familiar?
Do listening experiences lead us to
different perspectives or better under-
standings? Do they open us up to new
unknowns?
Masking
and Re-masking,
Sounding and
Re-Sounding
Working with the analogy of
actors on a stage, wherein masks as
persona each embody both a sound
(voice) and a character, we might see the
transitions that occur during migration
as a multi-layered process of masking,
de-masking, and re-masking. Much as
it may seem incongruous to conflate
masking and listening (the mask which
the actors put on to designate their
character surely links more easily with
the actor’s ‘active’ speaking voice than
the supposedly ‘passive’ process of
listening), I would suggest that any agent
known ‘by sound’ must be conceived as
being involved in manifold processes,
including both those of listening and
producing sound. As Kate Lacey argues,
listening has long been unjustly written
off as a merely passive process. In fact,
the role of listening as a pre-condition
for political action has consistently been
constructed implicitly, and should thus
be considered a crucial category within
public life. “[L]istening [...] is at the heart
of what it means to be in the world, to be
active, to be political.” (Lacey, 2011, 7).
The importance of listening as
a communicative and political act can
be seen in the conception of the public
sphere as an auditorium. The audito-
rium, rather like the theatrical stage, is
a communicative public space. As audi-
ence theory has taught us, audiences are
not merely passive observers of what
is on stage but are actively involved in
the construction of meaning. Following
from postmodern linguistics, there are
multiple interpretations at work in the
observation of masked actors on stage,
just as there are multiple meanings at
play in any active listening experience.
As Lacey states, “the sonic qualities
of transmission, resonance, vibration,
reverberation and echo emphasise the
inter-relationships of objects in space
and the possibility of transference,
movement, conversion, synaesthesia
and transgression of boundaries.” (Lacey,
2011, 17).
Listening is the
experience
of multiple
inter-relationships
Let us imagine the constant
masking, de-masking, and re-masking
of listening experiences as not only the
passive reception of sounds, but rather
as a constant oscillation between the
reception and projection of ‘meaning’
onto sounds by their listener - a casting
of multiple, messy, overlaid masks
onto what we hear. As Lacey says, the
ear is capable and generally tolerant
of perceiving a plurality of signals at
once (Lacey, 2011, 17). This continuous
exchange of signals and affects between
multiple senders and multiple receivers
make up our experience of listening.
188

Such experiences become noticeable or
remarkable when we move from familiar
to unfamiliar places. This is where audi-
tory experiences of migration come to
the fore.
Greater and lesser
degrees of estrangement
In an age of mass movements
of populations under global, neolib-
eral capitalism, Avtar Brah poses the
question, “ is [it] not simply about who
travels but when, how, and under what
circumstances? What socio-economic,
political, and cultural conditions mark
the trajectories of these journeys?”
(Brah, 1996, 179). Migrational journeys are
experienced variously. Transitions are
mapped by and map onto social cate-
gories such as race, ethnicity, language,
gender, class, sexuality, and ability. To
speak of global, migrational listening
experiences then, is to encounter great
cultural, racial, ethnic, linguistic, and
socio-economic difference. Focussing
on inter-European migration therefore
means that much of the scope of these
differences is mitigated.
Since its inception, the
European Union has tried (with consid-
erable success) to foster a transnational
European identity through a variety
of directives including ease of cross-
border trade, travel, and via arts and
cultural initiatives (such as the SoCCoS
project). Whilst the focus of this essay
is on inter-European migrational
listening, it is necessary to acknowledge
that inter-European initiatives such as
SoCCos have affected the global distri-
bution of wealth and power. In times of
severe political unrest in Syria, as well
as more largely in the Middle-East, and
189
MIGRATIONAL LISTENING
northern Africa in recent years, the
many thousands of deaths annually at
European borders makes the effects of
such inter-European policies palpable
for those on the outside. In these
cases of migration outside of Europe,
the migrant is too often reduced to an
expression of “bare life” (to borrow from
Giorgio Agamben’s well-known frame-
work) – unlike within Europe where
migration more generally remains
within “qualified” ways of political life
(Agamben, 1998).
Even given the relative posi-
tion of privilege and protection from
such extreme conditions within Europe,
the essentially public nature of listening
as a political category still rings as true
here as it does in a global context.
Although migration within Europe is
less estranged than it is on a global
scale, it still involves the bodily impres-
sions of estrangement such as those
theorised by Ahmed and Brah (albeit
with concepts such as ‘home’ and ‘away’
usually present in less life-threatening
forms). In the embodied experience of
migration, the range of experiences
(including security and danger) depend
greatly on gendered, racial, and ethnic
categories of both what is considered
‘home’ and ‘away’.
Listening-in,
Listening-out,
and listening
Migrational listening can
engage many forms of listening.
Commonly contrasted with the “merely”
physiological process of hearing,
conceptions of listening usually focus
on the listener’s ability to interpret
information (see, for example, Barry
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
Truax’s Acoustic Communication (Truax,
2001)). There have been a number of
writers who have sought to catego-
rise modes of listening: Barthes’ three
types of listening – “alert” listening,
“deciphering” listening, and “intersub-
jective” listening (Barthes, 1985); Michel
Chion’s “causal listening”, “semantic
listening”, and “reduced listening”
(Chion, 1994, . 24, 25, 28); or Truax’s “listen-
ing-in-search”, “listening-in-readi-
ness”, and “background listening”
(Truax, 2001, 22) to name but a few. Most
of these categories circle around the
attention devoted to listening: Truax’s
“listening-in-readiness” overlaps with
Barthes’ “alert listening” to denote a
listening for certain indices; “listening-
in-search”, “deciphering”, “semantic”,
and “casual” listening all imply active,
interpretative, and conscious forms of
listening; Chion’s “reduced listening” is
bound to specific ideas from modernist
avant-garde music. It is perhaps Barthes’
“intersubjective” listening which best
characterises migrational listening.
Although Barthes’ reflection on listening
and the voice dwells primarily on
psychoanalysis, the oscillation in space
between discourse and embodied voice
describes listening’s unvocalised affects
and effects; “what such listening offers,
is precisely what the speaking subject
does not say” (Barthes, 1985, 255). The
in-betweenness of listening functions
both as a bridge between a body and
its environment and as a space of fluid
inter-relationships in and of itself.
As feminist geographers from
Gillian Rose to Doreen Massey have
theorised, the conceptualisation of
space is typically enacted in similar
ways to dominant Western modes of
conceptualising gender, with public /
masculine space often privileged over
the familial and traditionally feminised
domestic space. The embodied expe-
rience of space is both gendered and
racialised, as well as encoded along a
number of other vectors. In terms of
listening, this could range from noting
a peculiar clicking sound at a foreign
pedestrian crossing, to the unusual
sound of a siren in a foreign country
echoing off a particular architecture, to
the “alert” listening of a trans-woman
for a slow-travelling car as she walks
down an unfamiliar street, to the deci-
phering of a racist slur in a noisy metro.
These auditory situations all serve to
reify the out-of-placeness of the body
deemed “other”. Depending on the
body in question, the results can vary
from a simple feeling of amusement
and temporary displacement, to a more
visceral shift in atmosphere.
Nirmal Puwar speaks of “disso-
nant bodies” as “space invaders”, cases
when “other” bodies occupy spaces
implicitly or explicitly reserved for
white, masculine bodies (Puwar, 2004).
Women and racial minorities embody
this dissonance when they disrupt
spaces which have been inscribed as
normative and institutional over centu-
ries. As Frantz Fanon describes in Black
Skin, White Masks, the colonial gaze
is the visual imperative which desig-
nates “Otherness” and still serves as
the primary method of distinguishing
bodies as “other” today (Fanon, 2008,
82). It is the musical metaphor of
“dissonance”, however, which best
encapsulates the multi-faceted nature
of feeling alien within a space - neither
as merely a two-dimensional image
of difference nor the simple casting of
a mask, but instead as the embodied
feeling of being “out of harmony” with
one’s environment, a multi-directional
flux of sounds and auditory signifiers
which captures this displacement. The
190

“per-sona” is, crucially, not merely an
image, but a lived experience, one that
may shift constantly between harmony
and disharmony with its environment
(or even both at once).
Exile and creativity
Reasons for and experiences
of migration are infinitely diverse. It
is thus difficult to generalise what the
term ‘migrational listening’ might mean
over such an incommensurable range of
experiences. As Ahmed says, “getting
lost still takes us somewhere” (Ahmed,
2006, p. 7) and it remains to be asked how
and when experiences of being-alien
can lead to novel or personally grati-
fying realisations.
Vilém Flusser’s writing
was formed by his experience as a
Czech-German Jew emigrating first
to London then to Brazil in the face of
the impending Nazi invasion of Prague.
Against personal feelings and amidst a
climate of complete desolation, Flusser
nevertheless conceives of a hope for
creative discovery in an essay on Exile
and Creativity, “the expelled has been
torn out of his customary surroundings
(or else he has done it himself). Habit is
a blanket that covers up the facts of the
case. [...] In exile, everything is unusual.
Exile is an ocean of chaotic information.
[...] One must transform the informa-
tion whizzing around into meaningful
messages, to make it liveable. One must
“process” the data. It is a question of
survival: if one fails to transform the
data, one is engulfed by the waves of
exile. [...] The expelled must be creative
if he does not want to go to the dogs.”
(Flusser 2002, 104). Flusser describes the
often traumatic, uprootedness of exile,
and extracts from it the possibility of a
191
MIGRATIONAL LISTENING
dialectical process which can culminate
in creative transformation.
Where Flusser speaks of the
freedom of the migrant, he seeks to
transform feelings of being alien into
a creative, productive power, viewing
this as a necessity for survival. Given
the inter-relational qualities afforded
by listening as a crucial communicative
and political act, it follows that migra-
tional listening enables the forging of
spaces characterised by the forms of
freedom Flusser refers to. Within the
personal (in the sense of being known
by sound) experience, the multiple
masks which are cast upon one and
which one casts upon one’s experiences
in unfamiliar spaces are fundamentally
open to the unknown and thereby open
to internal and external dialogues of
transformative creativity. For Flusser,
“the discovery that we are not trees
challenges the expelled to struggle
constantly against the seduction pleas-
ures of the mud bath. [...Freedom for the
expelled means] the freedom to remain
a stranger, different from the others. It
is the freedom to change oneself and
others as well.” (Flusser 2002, 107 & 108).
Being expelled into the unknown, and
grasping the feeling of being-alien as
an embodied experience gives space
to unforeseen realms of possibilities.
Listening’s role in migration, in disori-
entation, and re-orientation cannot be
underestimated as part of a creative
praxis.
References:
Agamben, G. (1998) Homo sacer: sovereign
power and bare life. Stanford, Calif: Stanford
University Press.
Ahmed, S. (2000) Strange encounters:
embodied others in post-coloniality. London:
Routledge.
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS

Ahmed, S. (2006) Queer phenomenology:

orientations, objects, others. Durham: Duke
University Press.

Barthes, R. (1985) ‘Listening’, in Howard, R.

(tran.) The Responsibility of Forms: Critical
Essays on Music, Art, and Representation. New
York: Hill and Wang, pp. 245–260.

Brah, A. (1996) Cartographies of diaspora:

contesting identities. London: Routledge.

Chion, M. (1994) Audio-Vision: Sound on

Screen. Translated by C. Gorbman. New York:
Columbia University Press.

Fanon, F. (2008) Black skin, white masks. New

ed. London: Pluto-Press.

Finger, A. K., Guldin, R. and Bernardo, G. (2011)

Vilém Flusser: an introduction. Minneapolis,
Minn.: University of Minnesota Press.

Flusser, V. (2002) Writings. Edited by A.

Ströhl. Translated by E. Eisel. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.

Flusser, V. (no date) ‘Die Melodie der Sprache

(Unpublished Manuscript)’.

Henriques, J. (2003) ‘Sonic Dominance and

the Reggae Sound System Session’, in Bull, M.
and Back, L. (eds) The Auditory Culture Reader.
Oxford, UK and New York: Berg, pp. 451–480.

Ihde, D. (2007) Listening and voice:

phenomenologies of sound. 2nd ed. Albany:
State University of New York Press.

Lacey, K. (2011) ‘Listening Overlooked: An

Audit of Listening as a Category in the Public
Sphere’, Javnost - The Public, 18(4), pp. 5–20.
doi: 10.1080/13183222.2011.11009064.

Puwar, N. (2004) Space invaders: race, gender

and bodies out of place. Oxford: Berg.

Truax, B. (2001) Acoustic communication. 2nd

ed. Westport, Conn: Ablex.

192
 SOUNDING EUROPE: NATIONALITY AND THE AFFECTS OF LANGUAGE
Sounding Europe:
Nationality and the
affects of language
by Angharad Closs Stephens
What does Europe sound like?
On the 23rd of June 2016, 17,410,742
people in the UK (51.89%) voted to
leave the European Union. It is not yet
clear what this might mean – whether
it will lead to increased border controls
and of what kind, and whether it will lead
to greater restrictions on people moving
between the UK and other European
countries. What is certain is that this
was an ugly and noisy referendum
campaign, one that included inflam-
matory and racist slogans, images and
gestures. These jostled with the sounds
of football match kick-offs as part of the
2016 UEFA European Championships, of
crowds, fans and hooligans, and singing,
cheering and heckling across French
cities. There was also the sound of the
gunshot that killed Jo Cox, member of
the British Parliament, on the 16th of
June 2016, in a far-right misogynistic
attack, and the quiet mood of collective
shame that followed.
In Sound of Culture – Culture
of Sound, specifically in the many
artistic residencies documented in this
book, the sounds of Europe emerge
very differently. The artists speak
of traveling to unfamiliar cities and
environments and of the effects this has
193
had on the sounds which they produce,
compose and record. They describe this
process of traversing Europe - crossing
from side to side, and establishing
connections between two or more lines
- from Hailuoto, in northern Finland, to
the Gralheira and Caramulo mountain
ranges in central Portugal, to the cities
of Brussels, Berlin, and Warsaw. In these
recordings of streetscapes, lighthouses,
radars, and mountain ranges, which I
have listened to and followed through
the recordings, photographs and blogs
featured on the project website (www.
soccos.eu), we never get the sense of
only one place – or of place as something
discrete and separable. Rather, place
is here a matter of connecting (Casey,
1997: 48). Several of the artists mention
how their residencies brought them
into contact with other European
languages (often, more than one foreign
language). Just as sound is by definition
transducive – crossing from antennae
to receiver, amplifier to ear, from the
lightness of air to the thickness of water
(Helmreich, 2016: xix), the places of this
project are those in which experiences,
dreams, languages, habits, and customs
cross. The sounds of these places are
the sounds of crossings.
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
In the short history that led
to the UK vote to leave the European
Union, much noise was made about
the ‘sounds’ of foreign languages. The
leader of the far right UK Independence
Party lamented the fact that he no longer
heard English around him and said that
he felt uncomfortable hearing mostly
‘foreign’ languages when traveling
by train from London to Kent (Sparrow,
2014). It’s curious to think that hearing
a foreign language should make some
people uncomfortable. In this case, we
can also assume it was insincere. As
someone who previously worked at the
City of London and as a Member of the
European Parliament, the leader of UKIP
is used to being in multilingual envi-
ronments. What he was doing with this
description was painting a picture of a
nation under threat from those who are
‘not like us’, and inviting us to feel rage
at those ‘others’ that are deemed to be
the source of all that’s unsettling (Ahmed,
2004). This is in marked contrast to the
statements of the SoCCos artists in resi-
dence, several of whom give accounts
of the joy and nourishment found in
encountering other languages – and,
through these encounters, other ways of
living and engaging with the world.
Nevertheless, as Agata Lisiak
(2016) argues, xenoglossophobia (the
fear or hatred of foreign languages)
forms a real part of Europe. According
to Lisiak, though it manifests in attacks
on Polish speakers in Germany and in
the UK, xenoglossophobia is also not
an exclusively right wing phenomenon.
For example, in Berlin, Lisiak argues that
the sound of English is often associ-
ated with gentrification, touristification
and the increasing “takeover of public
space”. Whilst these two examples of
rage against a foreign language carry a
very different politics - one against the
movement of people, the other against
the privatisation of public space by
multinational corporations - in both
examples, blaming the presence or the
sounds of a foreign language distorts
the analysis from the core of the prob-
lems facing Europe. These problems
include the enormous disparities
between the wealthiest and the poorest
in Europe; the ways in which mobility is
made easy for some whilst others are
left to die in pursuit of safe passage;
and the rapid growth of a precariat class
that has little economic security and for
whom, common spaces are increasingly
under threat.
Still, why would anyone fear
or hate a foreign language? And what
counts as a foreign language? Or rather,
how does a language come to appear
as foreign? Foreign means to come
from a country that is not one’s own;
it also refers to something strange and
unfamiliar (Collins English Dictionary, 2007).
A speaker of English might sound or
feel foreign in Berlin or Brussels, but
English is not a minority language (in
the sense of it being without power). It
is not simply a matter of the number of
people who speak a language then, but
a matter of that language’s histories,
transnational geographies, its connec-
tion to the state, and to empire. Yet the
languages that the leader of the UK
Independence Party was hearing on his
train are foreign presumably because
they are only spoken by a minority
within that context. But why fear those
who are small in number? Why fear
those that are likely to be politically
and militarily weak? (Appadurai, 2006) The
question of how we distinguish between
a ‘native’ and a ‘foreign’ language is
ultimately a political one, argues Adam
Ramsay (2014). He points to the traveller
languages of Romani communities –
194
 SOUNDING EUROPE: NATIONALITY AND THE AFFECTS OF LANGUAGE
which are minority languages in the UK
but have been spoken in Europe since
the Middle Ages. Yet these languages are
rarely discussed or cited in arguments for
linguistic representation within govern-
ment. Ramsay also notes that there are
around 30,000 speakers of Yiddish in
the UK today as well as three main sign
languages. All these examples challenge
the distinction between ‘native’ and
‘foreign’, in that a language might sound
foreign but have longstanding histor-
ical connections to this piece of land. A
sign language, furthermore, challenges
the very ways in which we think about
language at all – could anyone fear or
hate a sign language? The point to high-
light here is that many people today
live in a language that is not their own
(Deleuze and Guattari, 1986: 19). European
cities are increasingly migrant cities (De
Genova, 2015), where more than 25% of
the populations of several European
cities are foreign born – London, 37%;
Geneva, 46%; Lausanne, 40%; Malmo,
30%; Amsterdam, 28%, Brussels, 28%;
Frankfurt, 28%; and Rotterdam, 26%
(De Genova, 2015: 4, citing figures from the
Migration Poliy Institute). Europe is neces-
sarily a multilingual, plural space; it is
this reality that seems threatening to
the far right.
Language functions as one
route through which a nation secures the
impression of unity – i.e. the idea that
‘the people’ share something in common
(Balibar, 1991: 96). It is used to establish
hierarchies, and to exclude and injure
those deemed to not to belong. It is
scripted as a way of belonging properly
to the nation – both in civic and ethnic
senses. For example, Yaron Matras (2016)
points to the example of the former UK
Secretary of State for Communities and
Local Government, Eric Pickles, who
complained that translating documents
195
into other languages “undermined
community cohesion and encouraged
segregation”. The UK Labour party, both
in government and in opposition, has
repeatedly stated that immigrants to
England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern
Ireland need to learn English to guard
against segregation. This has been
a way of insisting on the necessary
homogeneity of the polity. But whilst
languages are understood to operate
through the medium of representation
– as providing access to some meaning
and as the essence of a culture and/or
territory, there is also the matter of how
languages make us feel. Indeed, there
is, as Denise Riley puts it, “a forcible
affect of language which courses like
blood through its speakers” (2005: 1).
Language carries not only a symbolic
but a sensory meaning (Houen, 2011: 216;
Riley, 2005: 3). It has an affective force.
It is this affective tone that
seems to characterise the encounters
with foreign languages described by
the far right. For in these anecdotes,
the subject is not listening to another
language but can only hear it. Jean-Luc
Nancy distinguishes between ‘hearing’
and ‘listening’ by delineating sounds
that already have meaning from those
in which the meaning is not yet identifi-
able to us. For example, to hear a siren, a
bird, or a drum is already to understand
at least the rough outline of a situation;
to listen “is to be straining toward a
possible meaning, and consequently
one that is not immediately accessible”
(Jean-Luc Nancy quoted in Bonnett, 2016: 73).
In the process of hearing an unfamiliar
(foreign) language – there may be an
effort to listen – to strain towards iden-
tifying meanings through the distribu-
tion of vowels and consonants. Hearing
another language might make us more
aware of all the parts of the world that
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
we don’t know; it might awaken our
interests and our senses but it might
also remind us of all the ways in which
we are not in control. In all these cases,
language stops being representational
and is understood affectively (Deleuze and
Guattari, 1986: 23). My aim here is not to
prioritise listening over hearing, but to
consider the ways in which encounters
with something strange and unfamiliar
can inform another kind of politics, and
this is what we can learn through the
arts, through projects such as the Sound
of Culture - Culture of Sound.
This is because artists gener-
ally work within the idiom of the affec-
tive, with what is not yet identifiable or
recognisable as having a meaning. To
some degree, we might say that artists
are always working to listen to foreign
languages. Rather than respond to
unfamiliar sensations with fear or rage,
art grabs them and works with their
materials, energies, territories, and
subjects in order to offer new framings
of the world (Grosz, 2008). In contrast to
an approach to music or art that seeks
to discover intentionality or arrive at an
essential culture, in SoCCoS “art is the
art of affect more than representation”
(Grosz, 2008: 3). That is to say, the aim
of these projects is not only to portray
and capture the new scenes that they
encounter but to explore what emerges
at these crossings. Just as we can feel
our way into different languages, art
and music borrow from the excesses
of languages and cultures to produce
new affective sensations (Grosz, 2008: 9).
The materials, atmospheres, recordings,
canvasses, sounds, rhythms, and colours
in the SoCCos projects are therefore
composed of mobile geographies. In
these ways, they assert another kind
of Europe and hold the promise of an
affirmative politics.
References
Ahmed, S. (2004) The Cultural Politics of
Emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press.
Appadurai, A. (2006) Fear of Small Numbers.
Durham: Duke University Press.
Balibar, É. (1991) ‘Racism and Nationalism’
in Immanuel Wallerstein and Étienne
Balibar (eds) Race, Nation, Class: Ambiguous
Identities. London: Verso: 37-67.
Bonnet, F. (2016) The Order of Sounds. A
Sonorous Archipelago. Falmouth: Urbanomic.
Casey, ES. (1997) The Fate of Place: A
Philosophical History. Berkeley: University
Presses of California.
Collins English Dictionary (2007). Glasgow:
Harpercollins.
Deleuze, G and Guattari, F. (1986) Kafka:
Toward a Minor Literature. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (2008) A
Thousand Plateaus. London and New York:
Continuum books.
De Genova, N. (2015) ‘Border Struggles in
the Migrant Metropolis’, Nordic Journal of
Migration Research. 5(1): 3-10.
Houen, A. (2011) ‘Introduction: affecting
words’, Textual Practice. 25:2, 215-232.
Grosz, E. (2008) Chaos, Territory, Art. New
York: Columbia University Press.
Helmreich, S. (2016) Sounding the Limits of
Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Lisiak, A. (2016) ‘Fearing the Foreing on
Europe’s Streets’, Public Seminar blog,
posted 23 September 2016, last visited 20
October 2016, http://www.publicseminar.
org/2016/09/fearing-the-foreign-on-eu-
ropes-streets/#.WAi7yYWf9Ko.
196
 SOUNDING EUROPE: NATIONALITY AND THE AFFECTS OF LANGUAGE

Matras, Y (2016) ‘The Case Against

Linguphobia’, http://blog.policy.manchester.
ac.uk/posts/2016/09/the-case-against-lin-
guaphobia/ ‘Manchester Multilingualism’
project blog, published 29 September 2016.

Ramsay, A. (2014) ‘The many languages

native to Britain’, Open Democracy website
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourk-
ingdom/adam-ramsay/many-languages-na-
tive-to-britain 8 January 2014.

Riley, D. (2005) Impersonal Passion.

Language as Affect. Durham and London:
Duke University Press.

Sparrow, A. (2014) ‘Nigel Farage: parts of

Britain are ‘like a foreign land’’, The Guardian
28 February 2014, https://www.theguardian.
com/politics/2014/feb/28/nigel-farage-
ukip-immigration-speech. Last visited 20
October 2016.

197
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198
 SOCCOS: CRITICAL CARTOGRAPHIES OF SOUND IN EUROPE
SoCCoS:
Critical cartographies
of sound in Europe
by Leandro Pisano
I n recent years, practices
and discourses on art have increas-
ingly tended to consider sound art - in
connection with its politics, its cultural
and technological critiques, and its
epistemologies - as a relevant part of
the theoretical reflections and experi-
ences developed by artists and curators.
Research into agency and materiality,
which connects sound art studies with
the social sciences, establishes a novel
interdisciplinary approach and fosters
critical spaces that cut across diverse
disciplines – from philosophy to critical
geography, gender studies, anthro-
pology, and new media studies. In this
way, sound reveals itself as a phenome-
nological tool, a potent language, and a
critical device for the unveiling of other
spaces and the construction of other
narratives. Sound crosses territories and
rediscovers stories, enabling a multiple,
critical questioning of the way in which
we experience and inhabit post-global
spaces and geographies.
Sound, as a powerful aesthetic
and phenomenological tool, is a vector
that leads to discovery. It reveals what
is hidden and precarious in reality,
opening different spaces, dissimilar
199
visions, and different approaches to
our experience of world. Changes in
the perception of space and time in the
wake of new communication technolo-
gies have modified the concept of ‘terri-
tory’ in the post-global age (Farinelli,
2014). This changed conception reveals
the emergence of spaces and geogra-
phies which until now had remained on
the margins of modernity’s narratives.
This process defines a mobile ground
on which sound (art) is experienced as a
set of methods which enable the critical
crossing of territories and reveal invis-
ible or removed layers. Both ephemeral
and material, sound invites us to experi-
ence rural areas, abandoned places, and
urban peripheries as spaces in which
to interrogate our approach to history
and landscape, our sense of inhabiting
a territory and our relationship with it.
The attention of artists
to the plurality of ideas generated
by such processes, produces new
areas of possible intersection and
investigation. Particularly where
this attention is oriented towards
issues of the community and other
social groups, sound art practices
can generate unexpected relational
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
and epistemological cartographies
that produce “social knowledge”
(Papastergiadis, 2011), building an
augmented space in which it becomes
possible to experience singularity,
alterity, and sharing as forms of
‘being together’ in the context of an
“experimental community” (Basualdo and
Laddaga, 2009).
As Mark Peter Wright has
argued, by extending itself through its
resonances and dissonances, sound can
be reconfigured as a territory (Wright,
cited in Cowley, 2015)1, opening the way to
a re-orientation of listening practices.
As an aesthetic approach to listening
becomes a political approach, it provides
the possibility of other ways to enact the
complex experience of crossing territo-
ries and inhabiting place in the contem-
porary era.
Christabel Stirling recently
wrote that sonic practices have produced
and exposed:
the existence of resilient personal,
social, and cultural differences as
well as institutional milieus, and
thereby revealed people as histor-
ical. [...] The dissent and negotiation
arising between relatively robust
individuals and groups as they
came into contact with the sound-
works itself portended a politics.
Conceptually, then, rather than erad-
icate social differences and stabilities
by advocating an always-emergent
social space, it surely makes more
sense to sustain and empower those
differences. (Stirling, 2015)
1“
The classic scientific field study would be to throw a quadrant on the ground and analyse
that particular area in detail. How do you throw a square around sound and listening? You
can’t really, and that’s the beauty of it – sound is always escaping its situation.” (Wright, cited
in Cowley, 2015)
Sound confronts us with the
“ineradicability” (Mouffe, 2000: 17) of
differences and asks us to consider the
tension and precariousness emerging
between them as the element on which
the public space configures itself. If it
is true that culture transgresses terri-
torial borders and “must, therefore, be
disengaged from cartographic impulse”
(Obert, 2006: 2), then auditory space, free
of boundaries in a visual sense (McLuhan,
196: 68), thus reveals itself as a produc-
tive environment in which to think
about cultural identifications and disar-
ticulations - not only in oral and musical
discourses, but also in the broader
soundscape in which we are immersed.
Overcoming a pure musical
approach, a broader culture of sound is
one which would empower cross-cul-
tural relation - enhancing encounters
and forms of cultural translation; config-
uring a practice of border crossing;
re-routing the discourse on gender,
race and difference; and making new
sense of concepts such as “identity”
and “community” (Pisano, 2015). Projects
such as SoCCoS are based on the idea
that distinct cultures of sound art and
experimental music can be brought into
dialogue with one another in a process
aimed at “reveal[ing] the culture of
Sound” (Sound of Culture - Culture of
Sound: A European Sound Art Residency
Network). In this framework, sound - as
matter necessarily linked with both
affect and the public sphere - invites
us to deal with new forms of connect-
edness and multiculturalism. Especially
at a time when the notion of Europe is
“under fire, both as a result of resurgent
200
 SOCCOS: CRITICAL CARTOGRAPHIES OF SOUND IN EUROPE
nationalism and Euroscepticism that
challenge the ideal of supra-nationality
and cooperation and as a result of its
contested border politics” (Ponzanesi and
Leurs, 2014: 4), such an invitation is vital.
Whether we think of Europe as a histor-
ical, political, geographical, or emotional
concept, there is an urgency now to scru-
tinize and to re-configure its notion, to
listen to the “ruins” that it has produced
through the creation of unequal cate-
gories and regimes of human rights,
citizenship, and hospitality.
By critically crossing the
diverse cultures that result from the
varied sounds and histories of sound in
a European context, we can create the
conditions within which to make other
positions perceptible - not by adhering
to every utopian notion of connectivity
and borderlessness, but by highlighting
the dis-symmetries and tensions
produced by the listening process.
Such a practice can lead us to think and
feel, to continue to learn, to produce
agonistic tensions that challenge the
authorised knowledge. Sound unveils
the invisible relations and movements
between objects, bodies, and matter.
It invites us to imagine the possibility
of other truths, values, and realities.
As an act of affirmation on a number
of different levels - social, historical,
ecological - the practice of listening can
be considered as a political and cultural
action that opens up “liminal spaces
that disturb the historical stability of the
landscape” (Stirling, 2013). The complex
archive of soundscapes configures a
critical cartography that questions and
exceeds the authorised and accepted
vision of history, politics, and culture.
2
Careful listening allows us to relate with sound as a mode of knowledge. Anja Kanngieser
defines ‘acustemology’ as “the possibility of redefining, through listening, the relationship
with space, territories, and geographies in an epistemological (and political) sense.”
201
At the same time, sound allows for
a participation that is unstable and
demanding. It introduces a semantic
challenge for those elements involved
in the associative network that is
created by a practice of listening.
Flows, vibrations, and echoes
fill the acoustic space with movements
between different forces, transforming
the sound itself into a shared property
and leading to an “associative and
relational understanding” (LaBelle, 2010:
xxiv). This ‘acoustemological’ (Kanngieser,
2014: 263)2 and affective (Goodman, 2009)
approach to a sonic sociality is strictly
connected to a critical reassessment
of the notions of “community” and
“identity”, as well as to an experience
of how these notions participate in
social and spatial stratifications and
how such stratifications may be actively
re-configured through sound.
Even as the practice of
listening, through its emphasis on
presence, determines an affective
relationship between space, place,
sound, and memory, sound also
possesses a latent, spectral counterpart
(Toop, 2010: xv) ‘community’ is, similarly,
not a coherent and homogeneous entity
but rather an “unstable and ‘inoperative’
specter” (Kwon, 2002: 7). In any case, it
is a notion that must be re-defined in
terms of a fluid and dynamic ‘being in
common’ rather than as a static state.
This coupling of concepts (the
spectrality of sound and the presence
of sound; community as a spectre and
as a dynamic being in common) closes
its loop by referring ‘being in common’
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
to the active and extensive mobility that
characterises listening within spaces,
places, and territories – a listening that
exceeds the borders of global, local, and
discrete digital environments. Because
of this, it is today impossible to locate
a sonic consciousness in a discrete,
physical location.
In the uprooted condition
of the contemporary soundscape,
we could argue that it is no longer
possible to infer any kind of “locative”
identity from sound because of its
constantly transitional nature. As a
result, in a historical moment in which
mobility is increasing, every “sense of
‘rootedness’” dissolves into a perpetual
nomadism by itinerant sonic interaction
with semi-unknown and/or unknown
places and pseudo-locales perceived
in the mind” (Chattopadhyay, 2014). To
scrutinise the notions of community and
identity through a culturalistic approach
to sound leads us to question how it is
that Europe defines itself. A practice
of cultural listening dispels the idea of
Europe as:
a concrete notion, a geographical
space, a linguistic unity, or a
sovereign state. [Europe] is to be
intended more as an idea and a
project than a coherent entity.
Therefore, unpacking the many
possible meanings of Europe
and resignifying Europe from
different perspectives [...] is
crucial for understanding Europe
as a contemporary notion in flux.
(Ponzanesi and Leurs, 2014: 6)
By focusing on the plurality of
the European sound cultures in all their
‘new’ and experimental forms, SoCCoS
implies both the material and immaterial
movement of people, thoughts, and ideas
towards sonic practices. It contributes
toward a definition of Europe that is not
only historical and traditional, but also
imaginary and diasporic.
In this project, the idea
of connecting places and networks
produces a tension on different
(affective, aesthetic, and political) levels
that develops itself through encounters,
differences, and conversations, and
gives way to productive acts of
individual and collective listening.
The ‘network’ is here not only a bind
of different points in space, but rather
a constellation of subnodes - a mise
en abîme of subnetworks built on
smaller scales and linked with the main
network through a practice of collective
reflection. It allows a focus on all
territories connected by the project.
This relational context is
structured on a lattice of sonic practices
and is developed through the format
of the artistic residency – a format that
allows for a displacement of thought
and of art-making. It is an approach that
claims the possibility of taking sound
art beyond the walls of museums and
galleries. It invites artists to experience
different geographies. The movement
from an urban environment to a remote
or peripheral one, for example, can
produce an artistic process enhanced
by the dialectics of movement and of
difference. The format of the residency
draws on the possibility of a slower
creative process, one that urges the artist
to move away from his or her normal
social representation to be displaced
into a context far from their everyday
practice. It enables a (re-)negotiation
of the terms of art and knowledge
production, empowering new relations
and cross-cultural debates.
202
 SOCCOS: CRITICAL CARTOGRAPHIES OF SOUND IN EUROPE
The practices outlined in this
book demonstrate how travelling with
and inside a culture of sound, through
a consolidated network, can testify
a new engagement between artists
and testifies to the value of travel,
movement, and connectivity in Europe.
The SoCCoS project offers a particular
point of listening from which to immerse
ourselves in the intersecting movements
of bodies, ideas, and cultures in the
post-global milieu, tracing the many
legacies and remains of the past as they
are reconfigured in sonic practices. In
this way, SoCCoS reveals the sense of a
continuous cultural translation, where
territories become spaces of passage,
shifting terrains of a newly-possible,
critical cartography of Europe.
Bibliography
Basualdo, C. & Laddaga, R., (2009).
‘Experimental Communities’. In B Hinderliter
et al., eds., Communities of Sense – Rethinking
Aesthetics and Politics. Durham: Duke
University Press pp. 197-214.
Chattopadhyay, B., (2014). ‘Object-
disoriented Sound: Listening in the Post-
digital Condition’, [online] Available at:
<http://www.aprja.net/?p=1839> [Accessed
30 October 2016].
Cowley, J., (2015). ‘Listening as Territory’,
[online] Available at: <http://www.
musicworks.ca/featured-article/sound-bite/
listening-territory> [30 October 2016].
Farinelli, F., (2014). La crisi della ragione
cartografica. Turin: Einaudi.
Goodman, S., (2009). Sonic Warfare: Sound,
Affect, and the Ecology of Fear. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Hardt, M. & Negri, A., (2001). Empire,
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Kanngieser, A., (2014). ‘A Proposition Toward
a Politics of Listening (Geographies and
Atmospheres)’. In R. Castro & M. Carvalhais,
eds., Invisible Places | Sounding Cities. Sound,
Urbanism and Sense of Place, Proceedings of
the 2014 Invisible Places | Sounding Cities
Symposium. Viseu: Jardins Efémeros, pp.
462-468.
Kwon, M., (2002). One Place after Another.
Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity.
Cambridge/London: MIT Press.
LaBelle, B., (2010). Acoustic Territories.
Sound Culture and Everyday Life. New York,
NY: Continuum.
McLuhan M., (1960)., ‘Acoustic Space’. In M.
McLuhan & E. Carpenter, eds., Explorations
in Communication: An Anthology. Boston:
Beacon Press.
Möntmann N., (2010). ‘New Communities’.
In N Möntmann, ed., New Communities, pp.
10-19. Toronto: Public/The Power Plant.
Mouffe, C., (2000). ‘Deliberative Democracy
or Agonistic Pluralism’, [online] Available
at: https://www.ihs.ac.at/publications/pol/
pw_72.pdf [Accessed 30 October 2016].
Obert J. C., (2006). ‘The Cultural Capital of
Sound: Quebecite’s Acoustic Hybridity’.
Postcolonial Text, vol 2, no 4.
Papastergiadis, N., (2011), ‘Collaboration
in Art and Society: A Global Pursuit of
Democratic Dialogue’. In J. Harris, ed.,
Globalization and Contemporary Art. Oxford:
Wiley-Blackwell pp. 275-288.
Pisano, L., (2015). ‘Comunidad acústica
y identidad sónica’. Panambí, vol 1, pp.
129-145.
Pisano, L., (2017) (forthcoming). Nuove
geografie del suono. Spazi e territori
nell’epoca postdigitale. Milan: Meltemi.
Ponzanesi, S. & Leurs, K., (2014). On digital
crossings in Europe. Crossings: Journal of
Migration and Culture, vol 5, n. 1, pp. 3-22.
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS

Stirling, C., (2013). ‘Listening in Ruins: Aural

Atmospheres of the Historical Present’,
[online] Available at: <http://kaganof.com/
kagablog/2013/08/30/christabel-stirling-
listening-in-ruins-aural-atmospheres-of-the-
historical-present/> [Accessed 30 October
2016].

Stirling, C., (2015). ‘Sound Art / Street Life:

Tracing the social and political effects of
sound installations in London’ [online]
Available at: <http://sonicstudies.org/jss11>
[Accessed 30 October 2016].

Toop, D., (2010). Sinister Resonance: The

Mediumship of the Listener. London/New
York: Continuum.

‘Sound of Culture - Culture of Sound:

A European Sound Art Residency
Network’, [online] Available at: <http://
kreatywna-europa.eu/fundedprojects/
the-sound-of-culture-the-culture-of-sound-
a-european-sound-art-residency-network/>
[Accessed 30 October 2016].

204

Connecting flights,
common sounds
by Elen Flügge
I sonic commons, which sound artists
Berlin airspace, October 2
For what seems the hundredth
time this year, a voice crackles from
an overhead intercom telling me to
prepare for take-off. Fellow passengers
shuffle, clapping tray tables and shutting
mobiles.
Settling in the compact plane
seat, I remind myself that traveling is
a privilege. Lately my ears have visited
more places than ever before – often in
the name of a sound-related workshop,
conference, or event. But each flight,
as I look out of the oval window onto
the particular urban geography below,
I remember that I’m also being heard
at this moment; softer or louder, as a
different overhead roar in someone else’s
ear.
A familiar ‘ding ‘interrupts -
seatbelt lights off. Sounds of unbuckling.
Being concerned with sound
leads to a concern about sound spaces
and why they have the auditory qual-
ities they do. This can lead, in turn, to
a disconcerting awareness of how I
might resound within my surroundings.
We are hearing and being heard in a
205
CONNECTING FLIGHTS, COMMON SOUNDS
O+A (Sam Auinger and Bruce Odland)
describe in their Reflection on the Sonic
Commons as “any space where many
people share an acoustic environment
and can hear the results of each other’s
activities, both intentional and uninten-
tional. [...] Just as we share the air we
breathe, we are submerged in a sea of
shared sound” (O+A, 2009: 64).
A ‘commons’ emphasises that
we are sound-making participants,
directly and indirectly, and thereby
complicit in the character and quality
of our sonorous surroundings. We hear
fellow passengers or people bustling on
public streets, but we also experience
indirect sounds produced by traveling
and import, such as the trains or lorries
bringing goods to local supermarkets.
The resulting sound environment is one
we both actively create and passively
permit, e.g. through dependency on
cars, or accepting that having drink
coolers in cafés is more valuable than
hearing the person next to you. Even
institutionalised noise is something
that we might perpetuate or protest.
We think of others as defining our sonic
environment at a remove, but most of
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
what we hear is produced by ourselves
and others. We continually experience
society as audible and how the sounding
environment is, in a sense, a social
product. As an engaged public, we are
responsible for its effect on our lived
experience.
In their reflections, O+A style
themselves as “sonic thinkers” observing
the world from a “hearing perspective”
(O+A, 2009: 64). If one assumes that most
people involved in sound art residencies
are to some degree practicing a sonic
thinking, the question becomes: what
do we begin to understand about places
and people through a hearing perspec-
tive, and what wider social or political
influence might this enable? Sonic
practice, such as diverse sound artwork,
may remind us of the wider networks
through and in which our experience of
sound operates.
Sound opens into discussions
of physical, acoustic, emotional,
personal, and interpersonal experience.
Considering sound as a means of
understanding urban ambiances,
sociologist Jean-Paul Thibaud suggests
that sound grants us “access to what
is happening” since it is “not the
property of a thing but the result of
an action” (Thibaud, 2011). As in the
notion of a sonic commons, “when you
hear a place you hear a specific social
organisation of sound as well as how
people interact [because] sound is
both the expression and the medium
of various modes of social existence[.]”
(Thibaud, 2011). Thibaud suggests that
an engagement through sound, with
its multifaceted nature, helps us
develop “interdisciplinary methods that
articulate the sensory within the spatial,
the social, and the physical“ (Thibaud,
2011). Sonic approaches, such as practice-
based listening to urban environments,
can help us to comprehend a place on
various levels simultaneously, as well as
be a means toward methods that speak
to these facets.
This sense of accessing
multiple relations, including social
ones, is also in Georgina Born’s descrip-
tion of musical listening, which she
frames in terms of mediation. For
Born, listening results from, but also
produces, this mediation, occurring in
an ‘assemblage’ – a “network of rela-
tions between musical sounds, human
and other subjects, practices, perfor-
mances, cosmologies, discourses and
representations, technologies, spaces,
and social relations.” (Born, 2010: 87-88).
Extended to sonic experience, our
perception of sound environments
occurs in multiple layers, including
various social levels from the intimate
to the institutional. This is what I am
experiencing on the plane, sonically
connected to city residents below,
murmurs of fellow passengers, and
music through headphones.
Sonic thinking – consid-
ering things as networks of sound and
sounding; in terms of vibrations, reso-
nances, and flows – can emphasise sets
of relations alternative to those of a
world thought through fixed objects or
other materials and modes. Considering
a given environment in terms of sound
recognises various levels and func-
tions of space – social, physical, and
otherwise.
II
Mountains near Brescia, Italy,
July 28. Standing on a precipice, holding
a loudspeaker playing intercepted sine
sweeps, I am taking part in a composition
206

in the context of a sound workshop with
participants from Brussels and the UK. A
few of us are positioned on various peaks,
almost too far to see. But we hear across
the steep drops. In the distance, a rumble
approaches. Happily, it is not thunder -
just a plane. It crescendos, resonating in
the valley, and gently fades again over
ten minutes.
Like this sine wave piece on a
peak, sonic practices can include compo-
sitions, installations or performances
temporarily altering a particular sound
space. Sound art projects can intervene
as temporary works of local activism.
Intense collaboration with local commu-
nities may uncover and explore an issue
relevant to the permanent residents, as
well as to the artist. Sound art projects,
through collaborative workshops or
residencies, can also create concrete,
tangible social connections. While this
in itself is not so different from other
forms of participatory art, auditory
practices are perhaps particularly well-
suited to promote connection.
Writing on sound art works
engaged in the especially divi-
sive communities of Belfast, Gascia
Ouzounian explores how the medium of
sound might “bypass or even bridge” a
city’s “normal barriers, whether physical,
social, political or cultural” (Ouzounian
2013: 48). The works Ouzounian cite
take diverse forms, but she suggests
that established sonic methods such as
“listening, hearing, translation, interpre-
tation and recording”, create a basis for
“cultural exchange that confounds tradi-
tional barriers[.]” (Ouzounian 2013: 50).
Though Ouzounian is writing in refer-
ence to a particular city, her descriptions
are more broadly relevant too. Perhaps
working with sound - by being rooted in
practices that depend on the possibility
207
CONNECTING FLIGHTS, COMMON SOUNDS
of listening and being listened to - can
create connections between people,
place, and even reconnections across
social and conceptual barriers that
seemed materially divided.
In this context, Ouzounian
further suggests that through sound art
works, a city can be “newly understood”
as a “lived and living composition”,
which such works might “recompose”
(Ouzounian 2013: 48). Framing the city in
this way - giving the sense of malle-
able work emerging through a shared
creativity - is an especially encouraging
notion at a time when so many political,
social, and material conditions seem
fixed - not only for one place, but in
diverse urban and rural spaces. It leads
to a curiosity about what sound and
sounding arts might ‘do’ long term; the
ways that social and political engage-
ment, enacted through sonic practices,
might change shared spaces in more
permanent ways.
One potential is in the reci-
procity between sonic approaches and
urban planning. There are increasing
forums by which sound art practices
are in direct exchange with city devel-
opment processes, and increasing
means for sound artists to influence
conceptions of the urban. This influ-
ence includes concepts deriving from
sonic thinking as well as various sonic
practices and strategies for under-
standing and directly influencing sound
space and the audible environment.
For example, in Urban Sound Design
Process, Caroline Claus presents a
collaborative ‘sonic cartography’ of a
neighbourhood. Claus frames “urban
landscape as a sphere of sonic possi-
bilities”, suggesting “new creative
strategies to engage with, critique and
shape our sonic environment.” (Claus,
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
2015: 4-5). In looking toward “accommo-
dating future sonic experiences”, she
asks: “How can we design public space
that encourages listening” and “How can
we define the conditions for a participa-
tory tuning of our sound environment?”
(Claus 2015: 17). In some senses, experi-
mental approaches to sonic spaces can
be construed as novel methods of urban
planning.
III
Athens, September 26
From the Acropolis plateau, city
traffic is a humble hum. Even with modern
surroundings and tourists swarming
around crumbling columns, the area is
calm. Reflecting on urban histories and
the role of public debate as a political
foundation, it occurs to me that in most
past democracies, my voice would not
have been listened to.
Political conditions, as much
as acoustic ones, can be silencing –
preventing us from hearing each other
or possibly from sounding. Social struc-
tures can be physically or metaphor-
ically deafening. In fact, one term for
noise induced hearing loss is sociocusis,
which gives the sense that the social can
be so sonic that we suffer from it (Keizer:
32). As O+A underline, since what we
hear is both a sonic event and its shaping
by a given surrounding, when we listen
to cities we hear underlying cultural,
social, and economic interests – mech-
anisms of power. The built environment
is the result of past and present expres-
sions of such power (O+A, 2009: 65). This
becomes blaringly obvious the moment
I walk into a UK clothing chain in a Greek
city and hear an American pop song.
Auditory spaces are, in a very imme-
diate sense, a by-product of the same
broader mechanisms that influence
other aspects of culture. Residencies
based around exploring a culture of
sound give an invitation to investigate
places according to their acoustic prop-
erties, to uncover the ways in which
they shape and are shaped by audible
power structures, and to then question
how best to respond to this.
Sonic cocooning is one
reaction, which can seem a justified
response to a densely sonorous world.
The noise-free headphones which I’ve
so often seen recently give one more
indication of how economic value is
tied to the privilege of choosing a
desired sound (or lack thereof) – of how
sound space can be commodified. We
pay to be able to retreat into person-
alised sensory realms, but addressing
undesirable qualities of shared envi-
ronments by metaphorically ‘fixing’ our
ears leaves underlying causes of the
situation undiagnosed and untreated.
While we now have an unprecedented
ability to control our own personal
audio spaces, this can often mean that
the issues around interpersonal space
get overlooked – or rather over-heard.
The danger of this is not only
that we might miss the pleasures of the
unexpected, but that we might preclude
a social exchange that can come from
this very intrusion; interruption can
be framed as a call to negotiation and
an impetus to social exchange. In his
‘Lecture on Shared Space’, LaBelle
considers how noise (in the sense of
disruptive sound) might enable “a new
sociality”, placing those involved on
the “threshold of possible commu-
nity” (LaBelle, 2014: 94). Noise acts as a
peripheral “over here” that demands
attention, i.e. something we cannot
“over-hear”. This confronts us with the
unexpected, characterised by LaBelle
208

as “the stranger”, widening the social
situation into a “fuller negotiation”
(LaBelle, 2014: 101-102). In this sense,
acoustic disruption becomes a means of
expanding our perspective, of provoking
a need to contend with the other, and,
on an interpersonal level, of initiating
social exchange. This is an area in which
creation and collaborative work in sound
arts might have a positive focus. Working
within inter-personal, rather than only
personal or impersonal spaces, gives
impetus to the idea that shared sound
space is not only something to be aware
of, but something to celebrate, critique,
discuss, and recreate.
IV
Belfast, July 19
Walking with a friend from
my residence to the city centre, we cross
the Westlink highway divide that wraps
around the city core like a semi-circular
trench. Inside the sonic mesh of the over-
pass, our talk pauses. Whether or not the
highway was designed as an urban sonic
intervention, it certainly was not made
for public conversation.
Engaging with urban spaces
through sound develops not just a sense
of their given sonic qualities, but also
how these qualities manifest complex
social, political, and material networks.
In their reflection, O+A point out that
while city infrastructure is designed,
“our ears were not part of the design
brief” (O+A, 2009: 68).
Given that in the past, I would
likely not have been empowered to
influence the construction of cities
or their auditory environment, it then
seems incumbent that I use whatever
means I can currently muster to shape
present and future sonic commons.
209
CONNECTING FLIGHTS, COMMON SOUNDS
Elsewhere, I’ve suggested ways that
approaches found in sound art can offer
a counterbalance to conventional anal-
ysis tools (such as noise maps or decibel
meters) and be used to assess urban
sound space in more positive measures.
Creative “artistic investigations and
provocations of sound spaces”, along
with chances to experience works that
transform the sound of the city, should
be enabled in order to help find innova-
tive ways to tune into and retune urban
space; that is, to influence concepts for
future city sound (Flügge, 2014). A sonic
thinking, which attends to those under-
lying dynamics and helps clarify how
sound spaces are formed (as well as by
and for whom) would add an important
foundation for urban sound planning by
articulating sonic concerns so that they
can be part of the design brief.
Taking a tangible step toward
actualising the notion of “recomposing
the city” as part of urban design,
Ouzounian and architect Sarah Lappin
appeal directly to planning practice in
Soundspace: A Manifesto, encouraging
architects and planners to develop a
sonic understanding of the built envi-
ronment. They too underline the need
to “think sonically”– describing it as
a “thinking through listening” which,
rather than static, “must be alive, open
to influence, responsive, aware and
connected.” (Ouzounian and Lappin, 2014).
This description is especially apt here
because it seems that a particular
strength of sonic thinking could be in
enabling responsiveness and connec-
tivity in shared space. Their manifesto
gives prescriptive weight to the sense
that sound art’s approaches can help
address city space from a sonic perspec-
tive and further a culture of urban sound
planning.
SECTION 3 | TEXTS BY INVITED RESEARCHERS
While bringing awareness to
sound spaces is a good start, as sonic
thinkers and practitioners we might
bear a greater responsibility for actively
influencing this collective acoustic
environment. How can we make respon-
sibility in the sonic commons explicit?
Perhaps in seeking a balance between
creating the right conditions to allow
good listening and good interruption.
For example by creating more spaces for
responding and for civic engagement,
rather than just spaces for listening. If
we are not actively and cooperatively
designing shared sound spaces, then
they are left to chance, as by-products
of impersonal, rather than interpersonal,
concerns.
V over time, for example), reconnects
Copenhagen, August 26
Preparing a panel for a confer-
ence on culture in urban space, we (panel
members) decide to disrupt academic
format and begin with a sonic and spatial
improvisation. Instead of hellos, we open
with violin and electronics. Strings are
unravelled. The room devolves momen-
tarily in noisy chaos, from which the
theoretical talks emerge.
Working through sonic
methods means not only listening and
recording, but taking chances to disrupt,
abate, and amplify – symbolically or
literally carrying new, or normally muted
voices to the fore. Sonic methods also
mean bringing metaphors and mech-
anisms of sound to bear on civic and
urban situations and, in turn, on urban
design.
For example, if making space
for each other and each other’s sound
could be imagined as an adaptive
process, continually shifting over time,
then we might take inspiration from
musical improvisation, as Christopher
Dell has by relating the urban to an
‘open score’, i.e. a framework for organ-
ised improvisational action (Dell 2016:
29). Dell’s parallel between musical
practice and city dynamics is not
using music as a metaphor for urban
sound space, but rather comparing the
structural processes of musical impro-
vising, acting, and reacting to an open
structure for behaviour - to a social
production of the urban. In the sense
Dell suggests, the city is not taken as an
object, but rather seen in terms of what
it does - as contingent on improvised
processes. Rethinking urban space
through sonic concepts that empha-
sise different aspects of space than are
typically considered (such as its fluidity
to Ouzounian’s notion of the urban as
something that may be collectively
recomposed. If I relate the small scale
‘recomposing’ of a presentation space
to wider shared urban spaces then I
wonder: By what actions do we dampen,
amplify, improvise, or reconfigure?
What hidden means are there to collab-
oratively tune our shared spaces?
Writing on public engage-
ment and sound art, Conor McCafferty
underlines the importance of curation
and funding models, e.g. physical
spaces, institutions, and networks, in
supporting both creation and dissem-
ination of sonic art (McCafferty, 2015).
Enabling public access to (and involve-
ment with) artistic and theoretical work
about sound supports engagement
with “civic issues related to sound” and
brings a wide range of voices – artists
and academics, but also “planners,
acousticians [and] architects” – into
conversation about urban sound space
(McCafferty, 2015). This can “activate the
210
 CONNECTING FLIGHTS, COMMON SOUNDS

experience of artists and academics in Oct. 30, 2016].

sonic arts and built environment” and
also activate “citizen expertise in local
communities” (McCafferty, 2015), both
of which are important for enriching
approaches to sound space.
Residencies can also enable
this kind of co-productive sonic investi-
gation and invention. Rather than being
just opportunities for listening, or novel
aural experience, they are chances to
encourage collaborative sound-making
and sound-thinking – where unexpected
voices join in the dialogue – and to
employ sonic tactics such as amplifica-
tion, filtration, improvisation, and even
distortion as social and acoustic means.
Overall, they can contribute to a multi-
faceted and polyphonic understanding
of rural and urban built environments,
as a foundation for shaping the resonant
future of our sonic commons.
[O+A] Odland, B. & Auinger, S. 2009,
“Reflections on the Sonic Commons”,
Leonardo Music Journal, vol. 19, pp. 63-68.
Ouzounian, G. 2013 “Recomposing the City:
A Survey of Recent Sound Art in Belfast.”
Leonardo Music Journal vol. 23 pp. 47–54.
Ouzounian, G. and Lappin, S.A., 2014.
Soundspace: A Manifesto. Architecture and
Culture, 2(3), pp.305-316.
Ouzounian, G, & Lappin, S.A., 2015 “Editorial:
Recomposing the City: New Directions in
Urban Sound Art”, Journal of Sonic Studies,
volume 1, no. 11 [last accessed Oct. 30,
2016].
Thibaud, JP. 2011 “A sonic paradigm of urban
ambiances.” Journal of Sonic Studies. Volume
1, no. 1 [last accessed Oct. 30, 2016].

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Born, G. 2010 “Listening, Mediation,

Event: Anthropological and Sociological
Perspectives”, Journal of the Royal Musical
Association, 135:S1, pp. 79-89.
Claus, C. 2015, Urban Sound Design Process,
Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski
Castle; Warsaw.
Dell, C. 2016, Die Stadt als Offene Partitur,
Lars Müller Publishers; Berlin.
Flügge, E. 2014, “Sonic Thinking: How Sound
Art Practices Teach us Critical Listening
to Space.” Proceedings: Invisible Places,
Sounding Cities, July 18-20, 2015; Viseu.
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211
SECTION 4 | BIOGRAPHIES

SECTION 4
Biographies

212

I. SoCCoS curators and
managers
Antye Greie
Antye Greie (a.k.a. as AGF) is a composer,
music producer, sound artist & curator, poet,
feminist, and activist. She lives and works
in Finland. Her artistic tools are language,
sound, listening, voice, and communication,
which she expresses through mixed
media. Since 2011, she is the organizer
and co-founder of Hai Art in Hailuoto. Hai
Art hosted an international conference on
remote art & sound, 10+ artistic residencies,
extensive sound programs with children like
the iPad Orchestra Hailuoto, built an acoustic
sculpture The Hailuoto Organum in public
space, facilitated a children MediaLAB and
numerous sound art camps. Antye campaigns
for diversity in the arts with the women
collective female:pressure. She runs her own
music publishing label AGF Producktion.
Caroline Profanter
Caroline Profanter, born in 1985 in
Bolzano (I), studied Computer Music and
Electronic Media at the University of
Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and
holds a Master’s degree in Acousmatic
Composition at the Conservatoire Royal de
Mons in Belgium. She works in the field of
electroacoustic music and sound art as a
composer and performer and her focus lies
on acousmatic composition for loudspeaker
orchestras, sound installations and live elec-
tronics. Collaborates with different artists
within interdisciplinary projects between
video, literature and radio art.
Christel Simons
Christel Simons (Belgium 1968). Master
in the performing arts (1991, RITS,
School of Arts, Brussels) and bachelor in
intercultural management (2012, Thomas
Moore, Mechelen). Worked as  production
manager  and  administrator  for several
Brussels based cultural players: Kaaitheater,
Needcompany, Peeping Tom, EFA and
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I. SOCCOS CURATORS AND MANAGERS
currently for Q-O2. She was the project
manager for a number of European projects:
SoCCoS (2014-2016, EFFE (2014-2015) and
currently manages the Q-O2 partnership in
Interfaces (2016-2019).
Ina Čiumakova
Ina Čiumakova (1986, LT) is currently doing
her MA in Media Arts Cultures and has a
background in Classical Philosophy (BA)
and Cultural Studies (MA). Ina is particularly
curious in performative artistic practices,
experiments and installations engaging
with sound, light and images. Interested in
how different technologies and physical
locations change the way we touch, hear and
see things, she reflects on it in a poetic and
reflective manner.
Jan Rohlf
Jan Rohlf studied Experimental Media
Design at the Berlin University of Arts (UdK).
Founder and one of the artistic directors of
CTM Festival, which runs yearly since 1999,
and of DISK Berlin, the umbrella organisation
that regroups CTM Festival; DISK – Initiative
Bild & Ton e.V.; and DISK Agency. From 2004
– 2014, he was one of the coordinators of the
General Public project space and from 2009 –
2011 he was a member of Berlin’s Rat für die
Künste (Berlin Council for the Arts). In 2014
he was editor and producer for the weekly
Klangkunst show at Deutschlandradio
Kultur/Klangkunst, where he continues to
work as a freelance programmer.
Julia Eckhardt
Julia Eckhardt is a musician and curator in the
field of the sounding arts. After her studies
she played in different chamber music
groups, and a couple of years in the National
Orchestra of Belgium. Since 1995 she is a
founding member and artistic director of
Q-O2 workspace in Brussels, which was
first an ensemble for contemporary and
improvised music, and became in 2006
SECTION 4 | BIOGRAPHIES
a workspace for experimental music and
sound art. For Q-O2 she initiated and curated
different thematic projects. She is also part
of the group Incidental Music which operates
in the field of conceptual music and near to
the Wandelweiser composers group. Julia
Eckhardt has been teaching and lecturing at
Lemmens Institut (conservatory of Leuven),
Transmedia and La Cambre, Brussels She
grew up in Berlin and lives and works in
Brussels.
Krzysztof Marciniak
Krzysztof Marciniak is a young Warsaw
musicologist, critic and acoustic ecologist,
editor of the “Glissando” magazine and
various publications regarding contemporary
and experimental music, soundscape and
sound design; technical coordinator and
curator of sound-related projects in Artist-
In-Residence Laboratory programme at the
Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski
Castle in Warsaw. He believes active listening,
organic farming, sound(scape) activism and
sound(scape) studies can make the world a
better place for all living creatures.
Luís Costa
Luís Costa (1968) is a Portuguese economist,
sound artist, cultural educator, unorthodox
sound anthropologist and archivist, author,
publisher, radialist, ruralist, polemist, and
main curator and coordinator at Binaural/
Nodar, a sound & media arts cultural
organization established in 2004 in the
rural context of Lafões, centre Portugal, both
where all his family roots are based and
where over 150 international sound artists
and researchers were hosted so far. Luís Costa
is the author of three books+cds published
with some of his sound pieces: “Sonata for
Clarinet and Nodar (together with Jez riley
French)”, “New Rural Listenings” and “Sound
Memory of Cork”, and over thirty of his works
were presented in the context of sound
installations, radio shows and performances
in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy.
Manuela Barile
Manuela Barile (Bari, Italy, 1978) is an
artist living and working in Portugal’s rural
region of Lafões since 2006 where she
has been developing a dense set of place-
based projects in close contact with local
communities, taking into account specific
aspects of the territory such as tradition,
memory, architecture and symbolic/sacred
contexts. Her works combines sound and
visual anthropology, documentary, video art,
performance art and vocal performance. She
presently is co-curator and artistic director
at Binaural/Nodar.
Marianna Dobkowska
Marianna Dobkowska is a Polish curator of
artist residencies, projects and exhibitions.
Since 2004, she’s affiliated with the Artist-
In-Residence Laboratory Programme at the
Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski
Castle in Warsaw. She has curated and
co-curated numerous projects such as
“Rooted Design for Routed Living”, “Public
AIR”, “We Are Like Gardens”, “Porthos” and
”Akcja PRL”. Some of these projects were
carried out in public spaces and included
an active participation of wide audiences.
Dobkowska received her MA in Art History
from the University of Warsaw and
completed postgraduate studies in Curating
at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow.
Oliver Baurhenn
Oliver Baurhenn is a freelance curator, and
one of the co-directors of CTM Festival
since 2002. He co-founded DISK Berlin,
the umbrella organization that groups CTM
Festival; DISK – Initiative Bild & Ton e.V.;
and DISK Agency, and also co-founded and
managed the General Public project space
from 2004 – 2014. He is a member of
Berlin’s Rat für die Künste since 2013. Since
2010, Oliver is co-host of the ICAS Radio/
Zeit-Ton extended show of the ORF Austrian
Broadcasting Service and has held a monthly
CTM Radio show on Berlin’s reboot.fm. In
2015 he was Interim Director for the neuen
Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (NGBK).
Taïca Replansky
A graduate of McGill University (M.Sc.
Biology), Taïca Replansky worked with
MUTEK festival in Montreal, Canada from
2007 – 2012. Since 2012 she has worked
in Germany with DISK Berlin, managing
communications and diverse projects
within the organisation. Through her work
at both MUTEK and DISK Berlin, she has
supported and been involved with the ICAS
International Cities of Advanced Sound
network since its founding in 2009.
214

II. Invited Researchers
Angharad Closs Stephens
Angharad Closs Stephens is a Senior
Lecturer in Human Geography at Swansea
University and before that was Senior
Lecturer (2015-16) and Lecturer (2007-
2015) in the Geography Department at
Durham University. She is specialised in
Political and Cultural Geographies and has
a PhD and MRes in International Relations
from Keele University, a Masters Degree in
Gender Studies from the London School of
Economics, and BSc in Political Studies from
Aberystwyth University. She is the author
of The Persistence of Nationalism: from
imagined communities to urban encounters
(Routledge, 2013), co-editor of Terrorism and
the Politics of Response, and has published
articles in leading journals including
Cultural Geographies, International Political
Sociology, Environment and Planning D:
Society and Space, Citizenship Studies and
Alternatives: Global, Local, Political.
Annie Goh
Annie Goh is an artist and researcher working
primarily with sound, space, electronic media
and generative processes within their social
and cultural contexts. She holds degrees in
Sound Studies, Generative Art and German
& European Studies. Recent exhibitions and
performances include Sexing Sound (Chicago,
US), Höhlenmediale (Wendelstein, DE), White
Building (London, UK), Arthackday at LEAP
and transmediale (Berlin, DE) and Tokyo
Wonder Site (Tokyo, JP). She has co-curated
the discourse program of CTM Festival since
2013 and has lectured at Berlin University of
Arts (Art and Media) and Humboldt University
(Media Theory).
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II. INVITED RESEARCHERS
Elen Flügge
Elen Flügge (1986, Berlin) is writer and
sounding artist. She grew up in New York,
where she studied music and philosophy in
the Bard College. She lives currently in Berlin.
Master in the Universität der Künste of Berlin,
where she has specialized into auditory
culture with Sabine Sanio and experimental
sound design with Sam Auinger. In addition
to her researching about audio-media
politics and her independent researching
about personal sounding experience, her
most recent works include site-specific
installations, urban interventions and
surrounding audio scenography.
Leandro Pisano
Leandro Pisano is a researcher, curator,
writer and new media producer focused
on new media, sound and technological
arts. He is the director of Interferenze new
arts festival, an event taking place in South
of Italy since 2003 and frequently he is
involved in projects and events in sound and
electronic art, as Mediaterrae Vol.1 (2007),
E-Artquake (2010), Barsento Mediascape
(2013) and Liminaria (2014-2016). Leandro
Pisano’s research focuses on a series of
themes involving sound through different
aesthetics declinations (sound art, radio art,
soundscape) and a culturalist perspective,
which is engaging different disciplines
(geography, anthropology, sociology,
philosophy, literature) and conceptual
approaches (post-colonial, post-digital).
This research delves into new geographies
of sound, as they are emerging from the
reconfiguration of territory related with the
post-digital and post-global milieu in which
we are immersed.
SECTION 4 | BIOGRAPHIES

216
 III. RESIDENT ARTISTS

III. Resident Artists

Ana Nieves Moya and soundscapes from rural and urban
contemporary Eastern Africa, sculpting them
Berlin-based visual artist Ana Nieves Moya
into a work called Afrique Concrète.
has an inner passion for live performance,
creating visual designs and VJing for many
events and collaborating with Caballito
Cabiria Chomel
Netlabel, AIWA!, Eck Echo Berlin. One of Cabiria Chomel was born in Paris (1987)
her most consistent inspirations is the mix and is an author of radio documentaries.
between the traditional and the modern in Graduating with a Masters of History and
music and dance. Political Science from University Sorbonne
in 2010, she then developed her skills in
Anja Erdmann radio creation at the ACSR – Radio and Sound
Design Lab. She has directed several radio
Anja Erdmann is a media and sound artist.
plays including Les mangeurs de hérissons
She is interested in movement processes
(Hedgehogs Eaters) in 2014, Les habitués de
formed by an interplay of acoustic and visual
nuit (The Night Regulars) and L’éscamoteur
elements. Sound objects, dynamic lighting as
(The Illusionist) in 2015.
well as electromechanical movement create
sensual environment.
Camera Sonora
Annie Goh Camera Sonora is a sound art and
performance collective formed by Adolfo
Annie Goh is an artist and researcher working
La Volpe, an Italian guitarist, multi-
primarily with sound, space, electronic media
instrumentalist, improviser, composer and
and generative processes within their social
sound artist, Marialuisa Capurso an Italian
and cultural contexts. She holds degrees in
singer, sound artist, composer and performer
Sound Studies, Generative Art and German
and Morten Poulsen, a Danish drummer,
& European Studies. Recent exhibitions and
composer and sound artist. Camera Sonora
performances include Sexing Sound (Chicago,
combines music, performance art and
US), Höhlenmediale (Wendelstein, DE), White
installation with an aim to explore aspects
Building (London, UK), Arthackday at LEAP
of time as a method to venture into thoughts
and transmediale (Berlin, DE) and Tokyo
and emotions. Camera Sonora uses the
Wonder Site (Tokyo, JP). She has co-curated
surroundings of the performers and the
the discourse program of CTM Festival since
audience as inspiration and stimuli for the
2013 and has lectured at Berlin University of
subconscious travels
Arts (Art and Media) and Humboldt University
(Media Theory).
Caroline Claus
Aurélie Lierman Caroline Claus holds a master’s degree in
sociology, and urban development and spatial
Aurélie Lierman was born in Rwanda and grew
planning. Her work concentrates on issues of
up in Belgium. Now, as an adult, she considers
space, place and culture, the geography of
Belgium her home country. Lierman fuses
life-worlds, sonic experience and the design
radio art, vocal art, and composition. Through
of urban acoustic environments. Acoustic
her practice, Lierman has amassed a large
ecology theory and the avant-garde output
collection of recordings of unique sounds

217
SECTION 4 | BIOGRAPHIES
of independent electronic record labels
provide a conceptual and methodological
basis. Trough participatory soundwalks and
geo-acoustic mapping, she investigates
sound’s potential for urban development
processes in urban areas.
Daniel Brozek a.k.a. Czarny Latawiec
Daniel Brozek (Czarny Latawiec) is a Wroclaw
based sound art curator and critical writer on
modern music. As a producer and sound artist,
Brozek works within the fields of sonoristic
plunderphonics and sound imperialism. His
productions are devoted to the epiphanies of
African rhythms’ timelessness and the power
of just intonation frequencies.
Darsha Hewitt
Darsha Hewitt (b. 1982) is a Canadian new
media artist and avid technologist and
educator known for her examinations of
communication technology, DIY aesthetics
and practices as an artistic method.
She makes electromechanical sound
installations, drawings, how-to videos and
experimental performances with handmade
audio electronics.
David Birchall & Vicky Clarke shared and dynamic understanding of space
Noise Orchestra is sound artists David
Birchall and Vicky Clarke, who create Noise
Machines which translate light into sound.
The pair combines light, turntables, analogue
electronics, and graphical scores to turn
images and objects into noise, a process
they call graphical sound. David Birchall is
an improviser interested in how living things,
sounds, and spaces interact. Vicky Clarke is a
sound artist interested in sound as material,
object, archive, and sculpture.
Davide Tidoni
Born in Brescia, Italy, Davide Tidoni is a
committed researcher in the field of sound
and its relations with space, culture, and
human agency. With a particular emphasis
on observation, action and participation, he
realizes a variety of works that include site-
specific interventions and live performances
as well as audio projects and listening
workshops.
Deena Abdelwahed
Issuing from the Tunisian alternative music
scene, Deena Abdelwahed works to inject a
dose of innovation and experimentation into
electronic dance music in Tunisia. Trained in
jazz as a singer and performer, Abedlwahed
has taken up electronic music production
and performing live and as a DJ. She debuted
her musical career while accompanying
jazzman Fawzi Chekili and the group “So
Soulful” as a funk and jazz singer. She joined
the World Full of Bass collective in 2011,
introduced by Zied Meddeb Hamrouni, one
of Tunisia’s first performers of experimental
electronic music. She is currently part of the
Arabstazy collective.
Donia Jourabchi
Iranian-Belgian sound explorer born in
Brussels in 1986. Her main focus is the
movement of sound, body and space. She
develops experimental approaches towards
a spatial practice of sound: sound states as
a potential mechanism to engage the social
within the physical space in order to reject
aesthetic conformity. The artist questions the
place of the body in the lived environment
and ways to cultivate community with a
and presence. She explores places and
situations to activate unknown territories
in the sensory common space by designing
spatial sonic strategies.
Francesca Saraullo
Francesca Saraullo is an Italian dancer,
choreographer and video artist, living in
Brussels. She is involved in international
projects as author and performer. Her work
combines dance, performative installation
and video, with a focus on the language of
the body. By concentrating on conscious
movement and by the use of imagination,
Francesca seeks to break through the limits
of gravity, reaching into the open space
around her. In her dance together with her
plastic creativity, Francesca seeks for purity
of the gesture and the essentiality of a
presence between real and virtual. In search
of new forms, she observes the world, the
human beings and the spaces between the
things with curiosity and a pinch of madness.
218

Frederik Croene
Frederik Croene (1973) is a pianist/
composer/teacher based in Ghent, Belgium.
He is perpetually investigating what it means
to be a classical pianist in our contemporary
context. He founded the concept of Le Piano
Démécanisé, a dismantled piano, and since
then looks for reinventing his instrument and
his relation to its tradition. His latest work
involves electronics (Roll over Czerny), visual
arts (MarsII with artist Karl Van Welden) and
conceptual recitals (MozartKreidlerMozart,
Voyages au bout du Piano).
Giorgio Mega
Since the beginning of 2000’s he is involved
in arts, especially studying engraving
in its wider meaning of recording and
reproduction, anthropology, phenomenology
and installations at Accademia di Belle
Arti di Bologna, experimental cinema and
interaction between sound and images at
UDK Berlin. As a musician is part of Bologna’s
underground net of experimental and noise
musicians. His research in sound and in a
beyond-of-image art is brought to sound art
or sound performances, between writing and
its impossibility.
GrawBöckler
GrawBöckler is the joint project of Berlin-
based artists Ursula Böckler and Georg
Graw, who together and independently work
across the popular formats of video and still
photography. In collaboration since 1997, the
pair specialise in making music videos and
loops, experimental films, and unauthorised
commercials. Both Graw and Böckler are
part of the curatorial team of project space
General Public, and operate the temporary
projection space and DVD label “Raum für
Projektion.” Over the past year, the duo has
been responsible for the production of music
videos for experimental pop acts Donna
Regina and Molly Nilsson.
Heimo Lattner
Heimo Lattner’s films, audio plays,
installations, and texts are reflections of a
multifaceted investigation into location and
social identity.
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III. RESIDENT ARTISTS
Helena Espvall
Helena Espvall is a Swedish-born composer
and performer, known for her participation
in the post-millennial psych-folk and free
improvisation scenes. Her main instruments
are the cello, guitar and voice. She moved
to Philadelphia in 2000, having initially
dedicated herself to free improvisation
(especially with cello), and later actively
involved in the city’s weird-folk circuit. A
collaboration with Masaki Batoh (Japanese
psych band Santo) produced two albums
released by Drag City. The first, “Helena
Espvall & Masaki Batoh,” included several
Swedish folk songs and marked the artist’s
first significant vocal appearance. In 2010
she released “Lapidary”, an improvised
collaboration with Marcia Bassett, a leading
figure of the noise/drone scene
Inge van den Kroonenberg
In 2004 Inge van den Kroonenberg (1982)
started her work as a visual artist. Through
field recording and composing for film,
dance and installation art her work gradually
evolved into sound orientated pieces and
performances. The sculptural and textural
characteristics of sound form the basis of her
work. In her vocal practice she explores the
material and auditory aspects of the voice
in order to perceive new qualities of speech
and singing. She achieved her bachelor in
Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Art and
Media in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NL) including
several residencies in Berlin and studied
Cultural Sciences at the Free University in
Amsterdam. Currently she develops artistic
and educational programs in sound and
listening for Ghent based company Aifoon.
Jacob Remin
Jacob Remin is an artist and curator based
in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is part of
the critical new media collective SCIENCE
FRICTION and is the curator of CLICK festival,
Helsingør. His practice is a critical and poetic
meditation over technology as material,
often manifested as physical works in the
meeting between light, space, composition
and interaction.
SECTION 4 | BIOGRAPHIES
Jacques Gaspard Biberkopf
Jacques Gaspard Biberkopf works within the
paradoxical relationship between club music
and art music. Assembling a collage spanning
a vast range of influences from dark ecology,
sound studies, architecture, media theory,
existentialist movements, post-dramatic
theatre, the work of Ryan Trecartin, grime,
musique concrète and more, Biberkopf
doesn’t miss a chance to provoke. His music
spans club, theatre and digital radio contexts.
His recent first EP, titled Ecology, launched
the new Knives label created by Kuedo and
Joe Shakespeare of Berlin’s Motto Books.
Jarosław Urbański
Jarosław Urbański, was born in 1978 and
is has a degree in Fine Arts – Sculpture. He
currently works in Chojnice (Poland) and
deals with large and sculptural forms using
different techniques and materials such as
ceramics, resins, non-ferrous metals, scrap,
recycled materials, wood and stone. He also
conducts art workshops for children and
adults.
Jaume Ferrete alongside artists such as Pierre Henry and
Jaume “Mal” Ferrete Vazquez works with
voice and its peripheries, its uses and
meanings through formats such as CD,
concert, performance, workshop, or website.
He develops his practice in the contexts
of visual arts, education, performance art,
and music. He co-coordinates the sound
pedagogy project Sons de Barcelona and
is currently completing a research on
masculinities.
Juan Duarte Regino Scottish weather, NASA scientists, bicycles,
Juan Duarte Regino is a media artist, based
in Finland since 2011. Born in Mexico City,
with educational background in Audiovisual
Media, Humanities and Cultural Studies.
Currently. His work is focused on interactive
and generative art using digital and analogue
platforms that produce engagement
through art and technology artefacts. The
process of Juan Duarte’s work combines
Interaction Design, User experience and
Media Archaeology research: the impressions
provoked by his work rely on embodied
and tangible experiences with sound, to be
enacted in public spaces for intuitive and
playful entertainment of the imaginative
self.
Judith Laub
Judith Laub is a cultural and political scientist
living in Berlin. Her scientific work focuses
on questions regarding identity formation in
the course of transnational transformation
processes.
Julian Bonequi
Julian Bonequi specialises in electroacoustic
music and 3D production. He has performed
with the London Improvisers Orchestra,
the Berlin Improvisers Orchestra, Ute
Wassermann, Paal Nilssen-Love, Gudrun
Gut, and Joachim Irmler among other. He
is founder and curator of Audition Records,
and has taught new media art in Mexico
City and Masters-level animation courses
at Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra University
and the Valencia Polytechnic University. In
2015, Bonequi’s music was launched into
space as part of “Forever Now” project,
Mats Gustafsson. He is currently working on
his first 3D opera.
Kaffe Matthews
Kaffe Matthews is a sound artist and
composer. She was born in Essex, England
and lives and works in London and Berlin.
Since 1990 she has made and performed
new electro-acoustic music worldwide with
a variety of instruments and performers
including violin, theremin, wild salmon,
hammerhead sharks, school children,
desert stretched wires, and the BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra. She is currently
researching interactive composition for
outdoor enjoyment with sonic bicycles and
live diffusion instruments for spatialized
performance.
Katharina Hauke
Katharina Hauke is a Berlin based audio-
visual artist. She studied Philosophy at
Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms University,
220

Bonn and Communication Design at
University of Applied Sciences, Düsseldorf
where she graduated with her thesis
„Darwin’sche Finken suchen“. 2016 she
graduated at University of Arts, Berlin with
her instrument “MikroKontrolleur”.
Kathy Alberici
Kathy Alberici is an experimental musician
inhabiting a tingling space between noise,
soundscapes and drone. Originating from
Brighton, she cut her teeth in the psychedelic
kraut-doom outfit Drum Eyes before
relocating to Berlin, where she is an active
member of the Small But Hard collective.
Lee Patterson
Lee Patterson is an artist, sound recorder,
field recorder, instrument builder, adventurer
and analog performer based in UK.
Lilia Mestre
Lilia Mestre (b. 1968) is a Portuguese
performing artist living and working in
Brussels. In her work she uses choreographic
tools to research the social body. She gives
special attention to the agency of all things
and has been working in assemblages,
scores and inter-subjective set ups. Actually
she’s involved in two research projects:
‘And what about Virtuosity?’ with Edurne
Rubio, Shila Anaraki and Frederik Croene
and ‘Choreographic figures - deviation from
the line’ initiated by Nikolaus Gansterer. She
is curator for projects in Bains Connective
Art Laboratory in Brussels and at a.pass
(advanced performance & scenography
studies in Brussels).
Luka Ivanović a.k.a lukatoyboy Her main interest concerns the relation
Luka Ivanović (lukatoyboy) is a nomad
musician, sound artist and educator originally
from Belgrade, Serbia. His interventions
deal with networks, sound and narrative,
site-specific topics, space, chance and
structure. Using real-time electroacoustic
improvisation, feedback, analogue
synthesizers, objects, toys, field recordings,
voice often involving walkie-talkies, he
creates participatory works questioning
exclusivity and authority of an artist.
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III. RESIDENT ARTISTS
Maciej Kierzkowski
Maciej Kierzkowski was born in 1974 and
is a musician and ethnomusicologist. He
works as composer, music producer and
multi-instrumentalist, dealing mainly with
folk, world and experimental music. He
creates sound tracks for theatre spectacles,
movies as well as conducts musical
workshops for children. He maintains also
ethnomusicological field audio recordings
and co-manages art organization Akademia
Profil.
Marialuisa Capurso
Marialuisa Capurso is an Italian singer,
sound artist, composer and performer.
Her work is multidisciplinary and focused
on the connection between voice, sound,
field recordings, body and improvisation.
She investigates and explores the realm of
acoustic sounds and electronic interfaces as
extension of human voice. Art and life, sound
and movement, having improvisation as a
common thread, through which she seeks
unbeaten paths and imaginary worlds.
Marija Bozinovska Jones
Marija Bozinovska Jones’s practice revolves
around the techno-capitalist condition
and challenged ontological axiomatics of
cognition, affection and memory. Under the
alias MBJ Wetware, Jones explores media
architectures mimicking biological systems
by initiating live immersive performances.
Previous collaborators have included A
Guy Called Gerald and Phoebe Kiddo/
Mind:Body:Fitness.
Marta Romaszkan
between body and sound, as well as pure
movement research. She was a scholar
at the Alternative Dance Academy by Art
Station Foundation by Grażyna Kulczyk
(Poland). Since 2014, she established
Sense of Movement Foundation which
mission focuses on unfolding theoretical
and practical knowledge of body and of
movement, and empowering it in artistic,
social and academic contexts.
SECTION 4 | BIOGRAPHIES
Peter Cusack
Peter Cusack is a field recordist, musician,
and sound artist with a long interest in the
sound environment. He is the founder of the
Favourite Sounds Project that explores what
people find positive about the sounds of
the cities - London, Beijing, Chicago, Prague,
Birmingham, Berlin - where they live. His
project Sounds From Dangerous Places
(described as sonic journalism) investigates
soundscapes at sites of major environmental
damage including the Chernobyl exclusion
zone, the Caspian oil fields in Azerbaijan, the
Italian city of Taranto, and the Aral Sea.
Peter Kirn
Peter Kirn is an audiovisual artist, journalist,
and technologist. Classically trained in
composition and piano, he now focuses
on live electronic performance. He is the
founder of CDM, a widely-read daily website
that explores creative technology. He is
based in Berlin and heads the CTM Festival
Hacklab.
Pierre Berthet
Pierre Berthet is a Belgian artist who
studied percussion at the Conservatoire
Royal de Musique de Bruxelles and at the
Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Liège
(improvisation with Garrett List, composition
with Frederic Rzewski and music theory
with Henri Pousseur). He designs and builds
sound objects and installations in natural and
built spaces (steel, plastic, water, magnetic
fields, etc.) presenting them in exhibitions
and in solo or duo performances, with
Brigida Romano or Frédéric Le Junter. He
played percussion in the Arnold Dreyblatt’s
Orchestra of Excited Strings and released
three CDs so far: “Un piano cadre prolongé”,
“Two pieces continuum” and “Extended
loudspeakers”.
Rima Najdi
Performance artist Rima Najdi focuses on
the body as a tool and map of experiences
and on identity politics. Fed by a curiosity to
challenge and occupy in-between spaces, she
examines the vulnerabilities of one’s body
looking at gender politics, safety, mobility
and representation. She is a recipient of
the SUNDANCE Theater Lab grant (MENA
region residency, Morocco) and SUNDANCE
post-LAB funds grant.
Ryoko Akama
Ryoko Akama is a japanese born sound
artist living in the UK. She composes text
scores and installations. She approaches
the aesthetics of silence, time/space
through diverse materials including objects,
electronics, papers, inks and text. She runs
melange edition label and co-runs mumei
publishing/reductive journal.
Sébastien Piquemal
Sébastien Piquemal is a computer
engineer, obsessively exploring the artistic
capabilities of machines. After working
several years as a full-stack web developer
in Helsinki, Finland, he decided to dedicate
himself fully to making music. Since then, he
has been an active contributor to the open-
source software community, leading various
projects such as WebPd (Pure Data patches
running in the web browser). As a lover
of Jazz and improvised music, Sébastien
is seeking new ways to place human
interaction at the core of live music.
Soundwalk Collective
Soundwalk Collective is an international art
collective based in New York City and Berlin.
Since 2000 they have been sonic nomads,
exploring and documenting places from
the desolation of the Rub’ al Khali to the
coasts of the Black Sea. Founded by Stephan
Crasneanscki, its other core members are
Simone Merli, and Kamran Sadeghi. The
collective performs live and also creates
light/video projections for site-specific
performances in order to create unique
atmospheres and environments for each
presentation. Recent works were shown at
Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris); MADRe
Museum of Contemporary Art (Napoli); New
Museum (New York); National Museum of
Singapore; ARMA17 (Moscow) & others.
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 III. RESIDENT ARTISTS

Susana Santos Silva Swedish label, Moserobie Music Production.

Since then he has released seven albums and
Susana Santos Silva was born in Porto in the
received two Grammy Award nominations
year of 1979. She holds a Master Diploma
for “Förtjänar Mer Uppmärksamhet”
in Jazz Performance ‘2010 from Codarts,
and “Krissvit”. Besides his solo projects,
Rotterdam, where she worked with Eric
Zetterberg has recorded as a co-leader for
Vloeimans, Jarmo Hoogendijk and Wim
Moserobie Music Production, Clean Feed and
Both. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Jazz/
Ayler Records.
Trumpet ‘2008 from the College of Music and
Performing Arts in Porto. She is a member
of the European Movement Jazz Orchestra,
Xabier Erkizia
with whom she toured in Germany, Slovenia, Xabier Erkizia (b. 1975) is a Basque Country
Austria, Belgium and Portugal, Orquestra Jazz musician, sound artist, producer and
de Matosinhos, LAMA Trio and leads her own journalist. His work is based on research
Quintet. among different people, sounds and formats
in different situations as sound installations,
Tiina Laurila recordings and musical compositions, radio
art pieces, and collective improvisations.
Tiina Laurila (1982) was born in Mölndal in
Since 2000 he directs ERTZ Festival and
Sweden but grew up in a small rural village,
has published several essays on the
Lumijoki, located in northern Finland. She is
phenomenon of listening, being also one
one of Hai Art’s educators where she helped
of the coordinators of Audiolab, a Basque
establishing DIY (do-it-yourself) and DIWO
sound art organization.
(do-it-with-others) sound-based practices.
She studied textile design and manufacture
at the Arts and Crafts School of Ilmajoki
Yannick Guédon
and has studied sound arts alongside Antye Yannick Guédon is a French born composer,
Greie- Ripatti and visiting sound artists at singer and performance artist, currently
Hai-Art, located in the island of Hailuouto. living in Brussels. His work focuses on tiny
variations of timbres, the inner pulsation
Tiina Sainila & Mikko Kanninen sensations and subjective notions of
time, silence and error. He pays particular
Tiina Sainila & Mikko Kanninen are architects
attention to the place and context in which
living and working on the remote island of
each musical situation is displayed. In 2011
Hailuoto. There they have been involved
he initiated the cycle of situations a _ t e m
in art projects at HaiArt: architectural
p _ s, which generated five compositions
education, “sound&movement” -workshops,
between 2011 and 2014 using a variety of
dance video workshops, snow building etc.,
instruments and devices (viola da gamba,
with both children and seniors.
electroacoustic settings, sound research
on the artist absence, birthday candles,
Till Bovermann etc.). He has recently collaborated with
Till Bovermann is an artist and instrument composers/musicians such as Radu Malfatti,
builder, teaching instrument design and Deborah Walker, Eliane Radigue and Mattieu
sound technology at various international Delaunay.
institutions, among others the IMM in
Düsseldorf, at Aalto University and at the
institute for time-based media of UdK Berlin.

Torbjörn Zetterberg
Torbjörn Zetterberg was born in Stockholm,
Sweden in the spring of 1976. In 2002, only
one year after graduating from the Royal
Academy of Music in Stockholm, Zetterberg
released his debut album on the esteemed

223


This publication is part of SoCCoS: Sound of Culture - Culture of Sound, a project co-funded
by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission. The project’s lead partner
was Q-O2 (BE) and other main partners were DISK Berlin (DE), Hai Art (FI), Binaural/Nodar
(PT) and A-I-R Laboratory / CCA Ujazdowski Castle (PL).

General project
manager: Christel Simons (Q-O2)

Teams:

Q-O2
Artistic director and curator: Julia Eckhardt
Administrator and general project manager: Christel Simons
Communication: Eveline Heylen
Technician: Ludo Engels
Production and documentation: Ina Čiumakova, Caroline Profanter,
Henry Andersen, Samson Pignot
DISK Berlin
Artistic and managing director Oliver Baurhenn
Artistic and managing director Jan Rohlf
Artistic and managing director Remco Schuurbiers
Administration, finance and festival manager Karen Grzemba
Communications and project manager Taïca Replansky
Production managers Philip Gann, Lilli Maxine Ebert
Administration assistant Veit Gebhardt

Hai Art
Direction: Antye Greie (AGF)
Administration: Nella Nikkilä
Workshops by artists: Tiina Sainila, Tiina Laurila

Binaural/Nodar
General coordination and curator: Luís Costa
Artistic director and co-curator: Manuela Barile
Research and publishing coordinator: Rui Costa
Production and technicians: Susana Rocha, Nely Ferreira, João Farelo
Documentation: Manuela Barile
Administration: Soraia Pinto, Diana Silva

A-I-R Laboratory / CCA Ujazdowski Castle

Coordination and SoCCoS curators: Krzysztof Marciniak,
Marianna Dobkowska
CCA Ujazdowski Castle curators: Agnieszka Sosnowska, Anna Ptak,
Marianna Dobkowska,
Head: Ika Sienkiewicz-Nowacka
Office manager: Aleksandra Biedka
Cooperators: Edyta Jarząb, Olga Mikulska
Sound technicians: Krzysztof Klósek, Arek Suchecki
Translators: Kamila Kijowska, Agata Klichowska,
Sławomir Królak
Proofreading: Darren Durham
Design: Krzysztof Bielecki


This book was printed in Viseu (Portugal), December 2016