Holger Schulze
Colloquium Sound & Sensory Studies
»Transmission
trumps listening,we are no good
at receiving.«Michel Serres, The Five Senses (1985/2008), S. 139
Be it sound art-pieces, academic articles, blogposts or a PhD-treatment, an artistic research proposal: in this biweekly research colloquium we immerse ourselves in discussing new approaches to sound studies.
Part of the interdisciplinary ressearch environment of the Sound Studies Lab we invite all researchers, artists, students or listeners to take part and to propose topics and materials for our future meetings.
As a collaborative thinking workshop this meeting provides an opportunity for researchers of all levels (experienced scholars as well as PhD-/MA-students or artistic researchers) to discuss their approaches from various interdisciplinary fields with a special sensibility concerning sound.
Time
biweekly on Zoom
3:15pm-4:30pm
Location
On Zoom (see below)
Department of Arts & Cultural Studies
Københavns Universitet
Karin Blixens Vej 1
2300 København
References
Cf. on website Sound in Media Culture
Programme
* Wednesday to Friday 18.-20.9. at the University of Copenhagen:
Conference: HOW TO STUDY SOUND? The History, Present Practices, and Future Potential of Sound Studies
An International Conference with Editors and Contributors to The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Sound Studies
Sound Studies Lab at the University of Copenhagen, September 18-20, 2024
Organizers: Holger Schulze, Jennifer Lynn Stoever & Michael Bull
Programme and registration:
https://artsandculturalstudies.ku.dk/research/sound-studies-lab/calendar/how-to-study-sound/
* Tuesday 24.9. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Multipolyphonies, Vibrational Affects, and Deep Listening: Conceptualizing Ecologies, Relations, and Knowledges inwiththroughas the Sonic
Presenter: Walter S. Gershon (Rowan University,USA)
Abstract: Posthumanisms has done much to dislocate (more than) human animals from the center of our understandings about ourselves and relationships of all kinds. Often borrowed from Deleuzian/Guattarian interpretations of scientific constructions, such contributions include the rich language of posthumanisms (e.g., entanglement, assemblage). Yet sound experiences and accompanying attentions to sonic ways of beingknowingdoing have also long been the focus of study. Documenting the ways that vibrational affects resonate and reverberate to form multipolyphonies, this this talk addresses how sound knoweldges articulate the complex interrelations of everyday ecologies. Part of a larger argument about what the sonic can teach posthumanisms and should learn about itself, this short talk presents a still-unfolding step in Dr. Gershon’s work at the intersection of sound studies, critical social science, and education.
* Wednesday 2.10., kl.9 – Room: 4A.0.56 at the University of Copenhagen, South Campus, Karin Blixensvej 1, 2300 Copenhagen
Topic: Toward a New Common Sense: Proposal for the Creation of a Multisensory Collaboratory for the Enhancement of Individual and Collective Well-Being
Presenter: David Howes (Concordia University & McGill University, Montreal).
Abstract: The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. There are two main problems with the WHO definition. First, we question the idea of health being a state – rather, it is a balancing act (as many Asian medical traditions insist): it is never complete, always fluctuating. Second, we regard the WHO definition as lacking sense. We propose that the quest for sensory well-being has an equally vital role in creating conditions for all beings (s) to flourish.
Hence, this talk proposes the establishment of a ‘Multisensory Collaboratory’ or forum for investigating the interdependency of bio- and bio-climatic diversity, social and cultural diversity, sensory diversity (including ‘disability’) and neurodiversity. I propose that we call on designers to ‘come to their senses’ and create ‘sensory-friendly zones’ for multiple publics and species, as the sine qua non for forging a new consensus (literally, ‘with the senses’) concerning the instatement of lasting (‘green’ or sustainable) ecological, multicultural and multispecies environments.
This transformative perception is a necessary paradigm shift in the era of anthropogenic climate, heightened social divisiveness, digital distraction, and the commons’ poverty.
(within the PhD Workshop “Sensory Studies, but open to the public!)
* Thursday 3.10., kl.9 – Room: 4A.0.56 at the University of Copenhagen, South Campus, Karin Blixensvej 1, 2300 Copenhagen
Topic: Sensobiographic Walking as a Qualitative Method of Inquiry
Presnter: Helmi Järviluoma
Abstract:This paper focuses on the ethnographic, qualitative research method called sensobiographic walking as a mobile search for relational knowledge, through which people on the move are talking sensory life into being. It is argued that the method constitutes a valid option for studying the embodied, mobile, and site-specific emergence of sensory experiences and recollection. In her paper, the lecturer uses a broad spectrum of examples drawn from the project on sensory environmental
relationships in Europe between 1950—2020 (SENSOTRA).
(within the PhD Workshop “Sensory Studies, but open to the public!)
* Tuesday 8.10. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Embracing Unnaturalness: Cloning Voices from 70s/80s Home Computers
Presenter: Paulus van Horne (PhD, University of Boulder, Colorado, USA)
Abstract: In the relentless pursuit of “natural” synthetic speech, the tech industry has inadvertently encoded binary gender norms into the very fabric of voice synthesis. But what if we embraced the unnatural? This presentation explores an alternative trajectory in voice technology by resurrecting and cloning the distinctly artificial voices of 70s and 80s home computers. (Research supported by Media Archaeology Lab at University of Colorado Boulder).
Material: [TBC]
* Tuesday 22.10. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Carceral listening: tuning in to the paradoxes of prison
Presenter: Lucy Cathcart Frödén (Postdoc, University of Oslo, NOR)
Abstract: Over the past two decades, there has been a proliferation of prison-based music-making projects, and a parallel acceleration in academic interest in music and sound in carceral spaces. Opportunities to make music under conditions of detention have been recognised as offering a pathway for raising one’s voice and negotiating multiple identities. At the same time, there are complex paradoxes at play in facilitating the creation of music within the repressive conditions of the carceral state. The emerging field of sensory criminology overlaps with sound studies in its attention to complex, layered soundscapes and its ethical engagement with sonic worlds. Through short vignettes from collaborative research encounters in Scotland (through the Distant Voices project), Norway and Ireland (through the Prisons of Note project), this presentation will explore some of the paradoxes and tensions in prison-based music projects, and ask how we might understand attentive listening as an ethical intervention in this context.
* Tuesday 5.11. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Sonic Verticality: Towards a Non-Temporal Approach to Noise Analysis
Presenter: Adrian Brendstrup (MA, University of Copenhagen)
Abstract: This talk discusses noise music and noise art as a timeless aesthetic excess: it aims to challenge traditional views by proposing a new model of analysis that bypasses temporal perspectives. It explores the role of noise in disrupting cultural and philosophical narratives, and in shaping both past and future conceptions.
* Tuesday 19.11. at the University of Lund:
Conference of the Sound Environment Center
Organized by Sanne Krogh Groth (University of Lund)
Programm and registration: https://www.lmc.lu.se/en/activities/activities-2024/conference-20-years-sound-environments
* Tuesday 3.12. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: The Voice “in Action”: The Phenomenon of the Poetic Voice and Its Agency in Contemporary (Polish) Poetry from the Perspective of Sound Studies
Presenter: Katarzyna Ciemiera (Jagiellonian University, Kraków, PL)
Abstract: The development of sound studies at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries has contributed to the intensification of comparative research on the phenomenon of the poetic voice in intermedial contexts. However, there is still a lack of analyses that would precisely apply the methodologies and theoretical
approaches to sound from the field of sound studies to the exploration of the poetic voice. This issue primarily concerns the question of the political agency of the voice, which appears to be crucial to sound studies. From a sound perspective, the subversive potential of the voice lies in its ability to
dismantle dualistic oppositions and the patterns of political representation that rely on them. However, contemporary literary studies (as well as Western culture) restrict this agency to the referential functions of the voice/the medium of speech, which is evident, for example, in literary practices that equate the political, poetic voice with the performative recitation of politically charged poems. The presentation will aim to reflect on the possibilities of exploring the political potential of the poetic voice from the perspective of sound studies, using examples from the latest Polish engaged poetry. The paper will discuss three situations in which the poetic voice proves to be effective not because of its referential functions (the transmission of a political message), but because of its ability to disrupt the transfer of meanings resulting from the textual logic of the poem. The first situation concerns the “bad reading strategy” characterized by the poet’s nonchalant pronunciation, articulation, and intonation errors, etc., which hinder effective communication of the content. The second refers to “ironic vocal realizations” that are disproportionate to the rhetoric of the written poem (e.g., articulating an engaged
poem with a subtle voice). The third relates to unintended moments where “the voice acts like litmus paper” i.e., reveals the true potential of the given engaged message (for example, through the poet’s difficulties in vocally delivering the poem).
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* Tuesday 13.2. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: WHAT SOUNDS DO – Online Launch Event with Listening Sessions & Conversations with Contributors
Presenters: Vita Zelenska, Emery Petchauer, Morten Poulsen, Francisco Mazza together with the co-editors Giada Dalla Bontà, Ania Mauruschat, Jenny Gräf Sheppard & Holger Schulze (KU)
Abstract: Recently, the #30 Special Issue of Seismograf was published under the title WHAT SOUNDS DO: New Directions in an Anthropology of Sound. This special issue merges Seismograf’s ongoing exploration of the format of the audio paper with the investigation into an anthropology of sound that mark the various projects conducted at the Sound Studies Lab at the University of Copenhagen.
We, the four editors of this special issue, wish to celebrate all of this great work now published with all of our contributors, our team at Seismograf and everyone who cares for sound, experimental sonic research, and the arts of presenting scholarly work! At this little launch event we will gather around our videoscreens and listen to excerpts of four selected audio papers and discuss with their producers and authors some of the issues, research approaches, and artistic practices that made them possible.
Material: https://seismograf.org/fokus/what-sounds-do
* Tuesday 27.2. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Dramatised Performative Narrative: a novel method for composing electroacoustic music
Presenter: Dimitris Savva (Cyprus University of Technology)
Abstract: In this presentation, I will discuss the electroacoustic music composition method of dramatized-performative narrative that was developed during my doctoral research. The term “dramatized-performative narrative” was coined to specify a unique type of narrative that both originates from and guides the performative activities of others. Throughout the presentation, we will explore sound examples and compositions created during this research, demonstrating how the method was employed: (1) to predetermine dramatized performances using performance scores, (2) to sonically capture these performances employing various recording techniques, and (3) to use these recordings as central material for composing and structuring electroacoustic music works. Additionally, we will briefly examine key writings on narrative and referential sound in electroacoustic music, followed by a definition of the term “dramatized-performative narrative.” Finally, we will briefly discuss the aims, objectives, and conclusions of the research.
Information: You are advised to have headphones with you during the presentation so that you could listen to the binaural reductions of the original surround 8-channel compositions.
Material: https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/29189/
www.dimitris-savva.com
* Tuesday 12.3. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Mediated ficto-critical approaches for listening to creative sound studies.
Presenter: Gail Priest (Sydney/Katoomba, Australia)
Abstract: Situated within the relatively young and fluid field of sonic studies, this presentation is concerned with the area of creative sonic experiences and how we write about them. I propose that discussion of this area can be well-served by expanding both the way in which this is theorised and the way this is published/distributed. It is based on an understanding of sound and listening that is correlational—an experiential unit I call sonaurality. I propose a tomographic approach to exploring sonaurality is particularly beneficial, one that allows for an inside-outside discussion of the experience. This position pushes against any remnants of traditional structures of objectivity, and critically distanced commentary. The tomographic approach allows for greater creative scope for the writer that can be developed through strategies of ficto-criticism whereby theory and creative textual experimentation are entwined nurturing a situated and reflexive understanding of the writer and reader. In a further disruption, I encourage mediated modes of publication and distribution. By using online platforms and their multi-media affordances, along with strategies drawn from digital literature we can allow for an embodied and emboldened interaction of the reader, and indeed, for sound studies to sound.
Material: https://www.languagesoflistening.net/
(Requires a password: sonaural)
Creative component of my PhD.
About the presenter: http://www.gailpriest.net/about.html
* Tuesday 9.4. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Teaching Sounds in India – Some Notes on Sound Pedagogy
Presenters: Shubhasree Bhattacharyya (Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India)
Abstract: This presentation dwells on methods of doing artistic research on sounds within the higher education space of India with particular reference to a cross listed undergraduate level elective course titled “Writing Sounds: Research and Arts Practice in Sound and Listening.”
Material:
Shubhasree Bhattacharyya & Sumantra Roy: Dhenkir Gaan – Songs of Peddle Husking(2022, funded by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Ministry of Culture, Government of India)
* Tuesday 23.4. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Geopolitics of Music and Cultural Industries: Exploring the extent, impacts and potentials of financial investment in the arts and culture sector in the 21st century.
Presenter: Maria Rijo Lopes da Cunha (Copenhagen, DK)
Abstract: This presentation will introduce the core ideas at the heart of the upcoming one-day roundtable bringing together academics, cultural policy makers and artists entitled “Geopolitics of Music and Cultural Industries: Exploring the extent, impacts and potentials of financial investment in the arts and culture sector in the 21st century” (KUA). Namely, I will outline the need to examine the intersections between music and the arts, financial investment, and geopolitics, while highlighting the tangible and intangible benefits, dimensions, and potentials of investment in the arts and humanities sectors in societies across geopolitical spheres.
This discussion is grounded in two cornerstones of my academic research to date. First, my 2019-2022 postdoctoral research, which examined the transnational impacts and dynamics of cultural investment, production, consumption, and aesthetic change in the Middle Eastern region. Second, my recently published and co-edited anthology “Music, Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy in the Middle East: Geopolitical Reconfigurations for the 21st Century” (Maria Rijo Lopes da Cunha, Jonathan H. Shannon, Virginia Danielson and Søren Møller Sørensen, eds.), published by Palgrave Macmillan in January 2024, laid the theoretical, aesthetic and conceptual groundwork that I intend to continue both in this upcoming event and in my forthcoming research.
This talk is an open invitation to fellow colleagues to participate in such a discussion.
Material: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-36279-8
* Tuesday 7.5. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: To Decompart(mentalize) Knowledge
Presenter: Luca Forcucci
Abstract: Two works, “Sonic Rituals” and “The Room Above” are proposed as case studies in the context of practice-led research and field work in the wild in order to decompartmentalize and possibly decolonize knowledge, namely shifting away from a purely Western techno-scientific perspective in order to embrace a plural vision involving indigenous epistemology. In this project, the sonic arts include music and sound in the arts, and focus specifically on the very act of listening. Rituals constitute structures for the lives of communities and societies, which we address more deeply from the perspective of sonic and cognitive research, so as to understand their roles and the epistemology emerging from them.
About the presenter: https://lucaforcucci.com/bio/
* Tuesday 21.5. kl.15:15-16:30CET:
Link: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/65488389742
Topic: Kemmuna Nation: Is Nature Political?
Presenter: Mario Asef (sound artist, Berlin)
Abstract: What would happen, if nature were a nation? Imagine all kinds of non-human entities uniting as a nation. All nations worldwide would have to recognise its legitimacy and respect its laws and rules. Isn’t it already happening? Today we are aware of a complex interconnected underground network of fungi and plants that covers 90% of the planet. This network daily exchanges nutrients and environmental information throughout a big range of species to keep their ecosystems balanced. If we could give this vast network a voice, what would it tell us?
“Kemmuna Nation” explores the notion of a global nation consisting of non-human, self-organizing entities that create their own economic and political system based on specific, pre-existing, structural interconnections between species.
Material: https://vimeo.com/815081881