Transmitting live from the Ocean below the Antarctic Ice: “Providing an acoustic live stream of the Antarctic underwater soundscape is a formidable challange. After all, more than 15000 km lie between Antarctica and our institute in Germany. Underwater sound is recorded by means of two hydrophones by PALAOA (Perennial Acoustic Observatory in the Antarctic Ocean), an autonomous, wind and solar powered observatory located on the Ekström ice shelf (Boebel et al., 2006).

The data stream is transmitted via wireless LAN from PALAOA to the German Neumayer Base. From there, a permanent satellite link transmits the data to the AWI in Germany. Continue reading

A few years ago, composer, musician and programmer Øyvind Brandtsegg built a sound installation into Nils Sigurd Aas’ Flounder, a public sculpture located at Straumen in Inderøy, Norway.

When Brandtsegg suggested the idea to Aas in 2003, Aas responded “I really would like to hear the Flounder sing”. Brandtsegg’s installation makes use of a loudspeaker technique in which the sound is transferred to the metal in the sculpture. The natural environment, and especially the tidal stream, inspired Brandtsegg to program several variables which different sensors record from their surroundings. Continue reading

Chris Watson live at Cabaret Voltaire, Spiegelgasse 1, 8001 Zurich :: April 9, 2008; 7:00 pm.

Newcastle-based Chris Watson — who Stephen Vitiello calls “a brilliant master of environmental and field recordings” in his recent interview with Peter Traub for NMR — is one of the world’s leading recorders of wildlife and natural phenomena. A former sound archivist for the RSPB, Watson was a BAFTA award-winning force behind David Attenborough’s The Life of Birds, The Blue Planet and The Life of Mammals.

“I love the sounds of these parallel worlds,” he says - “spaces we occupy alongside other animals but rarely tune into.” On location he explores his experiments in sound, then weaves them into haunting recordings. Continue reading

Stephen Vitiello creates sound installations that often feature pristine recordings of natural environments and phenomena – the Amazon rain forest or flapping moth wings for example– sonically magnified to expose their internal detail and beauty. His installation work also focuses heavily on the use and implications of space as a compositional parameter. Vitiello has released several CDs and his work has been performed at The Tate Modern, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Kitchen, NYC. His work was also featured in the 2006 Biennale of Sydney and the 2002 Whitney Biennial. He is currently Assistant Professor of Kinetic Imaging at Virginia Commonwealth University.

On September 21, 2007, Vitiello visited the University of Virginia. We sat and discussed his work for an hour in the university’s Jefferson Rotunda. The recording and transcript of that interview is presented below. Continue reading

Stéphan Barron developed the concept of Technoromanticism between 1991 and 1996 for his doctoral thesis at the University Paris VIII. He also developed the concept of Earth Art in his essay Poetry of Earth Art, reproduced here:

“Earth Art uses the planetary dimension of the earth as an artistic medium and was developed in this century as a corollary to the telecommunications revolution and to the globalization of all spheres of human activity. Earth art uses planet Earth as the raw material for emotional and introspective expression. Continue reading

Displaced Sounds is a new series of performances and presentations, organised by STUK arts centre and (K-RAA-K)3 :: March 13, 2008; 8:30 pm :: STUK KUNSTENCENTRUM vzw, Naamsestraat 96, B-3000 Leuven.

Expect unexpected sounds, exciting evenings where listening and hearing are the keywords. Even before we are born, we are affected by noise invading our safe and quiet space. We are surrounded by sounds that define the rhythm of our world. Artists and researchers will guide you through the labyrinth of sounds that constitute our daily lives. Continue reading

Experimental Intermedia’s MARCH 2008 PERFORMANCE SERIES - The Thirty-fourth Anniversary of EI performances at 224 Centre Street, the Thirty-ninth Anniversary of the Founding of Experimental Intermedia, the Thirty-ninth Anniversary of the 224 Centre Street loft, and, not least, The Eighteenth Annual Festival with no fancy name, Part Two (or B), Phill Niblock, Curator :: 224 Centre Street at Grand, Third Floor, N Y 10013 :: All of the EI March concerts are being streamed on free103point9 Online Radio at 9:00 pm. Continue reading

Sound Lathe by The Owl Project. Read Regine Debatty’s Interview with Antony Hall.

Apropos the Bat House Project I posted on Networked Performance yesterday, here’s Alvin Lucier’s Vespers. It was published on a Sonic Arts Union LP (Electric Sound, Mainstream) in 1971. In the Liner Notes, Lucier wrote:

“I would like to pay my respects to all living creatures who inhabit dark places and who, over the years, have developed the art of echolocation (sounds sent out into an environment returning as messengers with information as to shape, size and substance of the environment and the objects in it). I am envious of the astonishing acuity of such creatures — dolphins, certain species of nocturnal birds, and bats, particularly those of the family Vespertilionidae, the common bat of Europe and North America. Continue reading

Mamori Sound Project :: Workshop / Residency for Sound Artists at Mamori Lake (Amazon, Brazil); Conceived and directed by Francisco López :: November - December, 2008 (2 weeks) :: Deadline for Applications: March 31, 2008.

Mamori Sound Project is professional and semi-professional artists with previous experience in the area of sound experimentation and field recordings. It takes place at Mamori Lake, in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon, and involves theoretical / discussion presentations, field work and studio work. The workshop / residency has a special focus on creative approaches to the work with field recordings, through an extensive exploration of natural sound environments. It does not have a technical character but is instead conceived and directed towards the development and realization of a collective project of sonic creation with the interaction of all participant artists. Continue reading