WORKING GROUP LAUNCH
SEPTEMBER 23RD-24TH 2023
Get SSTRAPPed!
To launch SSTRAPP we’ll begin on Sep 23-24 with a weekend of discussion about sound, somatics, and SSTRAPP.
We do not yet know what SSTRAPP can be or do, so we’d like to invite artists and researchers interested in sound and somatics, or other relevant (in)disciplines, to come and think together with us about the form and content of the program and how it should unfold. This will not be a weekend of management and administration, nor of committee decision-making, but of active contemplation, wild deliberation, and unbridled speculation. SSTRAPP is concerned with exploring sound and somatics, but these terms mean different things to different people and across different disciplines, so we’re hoping to start collectively breaking out of any narrow understandings we might have, while also constructing a mutual ground for enabling self-organised research and practice. SSTRAPP is first of all a community gathered around shared interests but it also aims to host a para-academic program. Initiating this program is clearly a political act, so we’d like to foster an ongoing dialogue about the crisis of current forms of available education and research funding under conditions of neoliberal capitalism, and how best to provide para-academic alternatives. As we start to engage with these questions together we will also make space for some presentations, provocations, practices and performances across the weekend, using these to inform and affect our direction.
Come join us!
FALL SEMESTER 2023
2023 FALL SEMESTER PROGRAMME
TRANSCENDENTAL COMMOTION (FEB 12-18)
2023 FALL SEMESTER PROGRAMME
Programmed by Inigo Wilkins.
Inigo Wilkins is a philosopher working across many disciplines. His forthcoming book is called Irreversible Noise (Urbanomic). He is co-director of the online journal Glass Bead, and member of the Noise Research Union.
Each program will consist of a week-long workshop with a different conceptual focus.
After a short presentation of some theory, there will be a discussion and a structured process of collaborative thinking, working with diagrams. The afternoons are devoted to practical projects involving or inspired by the respective focus of each programme.
OCTOBER 2023 –
SYNTHETIC DISRUPTIONS
SYNTHETIC DISRUPTIONS (OCT 23-29)
Focusing on synthesis and synthesizers, the practical sessions during this week will address the basics of sound synthesis and DIY synth-building, led by two sound artists who have knowledge of synth-making.
The theory sessions will discuss a wide range of topics, including the physics of sound and the history of sound analysis and synthesis; cymatics and Lissajous figures; the representation and technical mediation of sound and the auditory processing of sound; ecological psychology, deep listening and phantastic sound; the spectrality of the auditory percept, sonic phenomenology and neurophenomenology, and the synthetic philosophy of perception and mathematics.
Throughout the week, you will develop your own synth projects in small groups to learn the basics of sound synthesis and synth-making, with the last day being devoted to presentations and performances that have been constructed throughout the week.
NOVEMBER 2023 –
SOUND CAPTURE AND FUGITIVE NOISE
SOUND CAPTURE AND FUGITIVE NOISE (20-26 NOV)
SSTRAPP’s second program is dedicated to noise. Each day will begin with a presentation of theory, led by the six members of the Noise Research Union (Cecile Malaspina, Mattin, Miguel Prado, Sonia de Jaeger, Martina Raponi, and Inigo Wilkins). These sessions will explore a range of topics, including the many senses of noise, computation and cybernetics, and noise in the theories of information; they will explore acoustic and psychoacoustic noise, the noise of technical filters, ancient noisicians and the modern amplification of noise; unsilencing and noise as resistance, diasporic musicking and concurrent noise; sonicliminal affects and noise at the borders of sense; social dissonance, objective phenomenology, and experimental languages and transumweltic variations. Following discussions related to these topics, the afternoons will be devoted to practical projects inspired by the notions of sound capture and fugitive noise, taking a variety of experimental routes, from working with samples and loops to exploring the latent space of the voice. You’ll work in a group to devise an installation or performance inspired by what you’ve learned, with the final day consisting of performances and presentations.
Transcendental Commotion (Feb 12-18)
In the spring semester, SSTRAPP will focus on sound and bodies in motion. With guidance and support from choreographers, musicians and somatic practitioners, the week’s theory sessions will focus on sound as a located vibratory event, embodied listening and ideal sound; on resonant space, sonic affect, and the intentional order of auditory perception; on auditory streaming analysis, evolutionary musicology and the deep history of dance; on predictive coding and the ideomotor principle, motormimetic music and afrofuturist rhythmachines. These sessions will be accompanied by practical projects that explore various somatic and choreographic practices, including the relationship between sound and movement in dance and sound and the body through immersive sonic environments. As with the previous programs, you’ll work in groups to devise an installation or performance inspired by what you’ve learned, presenting on the final day.
Sonanced Bodies
15 – 17 March
I: Sonance: The quality of a voiced sound which is musical in character.
II: Sonanced Bodies: Refers to the embodied experience of musical qualities in voiced sound, intertwining physical sensations with harmonious characteristics, to create a sensory connection between multiple bodies, forming a collective engagement with musical expression.
In March, artist Aliaskar Abarkas responds to previous SSTRAPP sessions with a three-day event at Bidston, transforming it into a vibrant space for sonic and somatic exploration. Guest artists will lead theory sessions, focusing on choreographic research within a communal context.
Participants will engage in practical exercises, including vocal games, improvisation, ceremonies, and collective composition. This immersive journey seamlessly intertwines theory with practice, fostering an environment for musical and performative encounters. Delving into the realms of sonic and somatic expression, the gathering encourages a collaborative effort, emphasising shared creativity and the expressive potential inherent in communal making. As in previous programmes, participants will work in groups to devise sound installations or performances, culminating in a collective celebration of creativity and experimentation.
The minimum cost for accommodation at Bidston Observatory and meals during the three-day gathering will be £100.
Should you feel inclined to contribute more, your support would greatly assist in covering the planning and fees associated with organising events and workshops. We suggest a contribution range of £100 to £150, taking into consideration your income and trust. Your participation and contribution are highly valued.
If you would like to book please contact: aliaskar.abarkas@gmail.com