[rohrpost] 1ST OF AUGUST (SUNDAY) at 18:00 (6 p.m.), oscillation series. sonic theories and practices - NO. 1

[Shintaro Miyazaki]

reminder: Invitation to our first session of:

oscillation series sonic theories and practices.
date: 1st of August 2010, Sun, 6pm
sonictheory.com/
title: What is sonic theory?
with: Jan Thoben, Shintaro Miyazaki, Axel Volmar (keynote).
artistic presentation: Stephane Leonard.
place: General Public, Schönhauser Allee 167c, Berlin

The first meeting will be about the intentions of the whole series.  
After an introduction by the organizers, Axel Volmar (University of  
Siegen), media theorist and researcher in the realm of sonic knowledge  
in the history of the 20th century and organizier of the symposium  
“Auditive Medienkulturen” (Auditive Media Cultures) will kick off  
the series with some general remarks, thoughts and concepts of sonic  
theories and practices. Then artist Stephane Leonard will present his  
work “Panorama”.

Abstract Axel Volmar: Ideology and Sounddesign
Why do we need a Sonic Theory and what is it good for? To open the  
discussion on the key questions of the oscillation series talks, Axel  
Volmar (Siegen/Bern/Berlin) will investigate some of the major  
characteristics of the modern soundscape. By presenting various audio  
and video examples, the talk will argue that the analysis of  
sounddesign practices should be central to a Sonic Theory, because  
designed sounds carry subtle “messages” of specific ideological  
impact that influence the meaning of our sonic world. The talk will  
therefore trace conjunctions of ideology and sounddesign and will also  
discuss the role of digital audio art in this context.

Profile of Axel Volmar
Axel Volmar studied cultural sciences and media theory. His main focus  
of research is auditive culture and audiomedia. He has published  
various articles and essays investigating the temporality of media,  
the relation between sound and knowledge and the history of acoustics.  
Currently he is research associate at Uni Siegen where he has  
organised a symposium on auditive media culture which was dedicated to  
methods of interdisciplinary sound studies.
Axel is the editor of the book “Zeitkritische Medien” published in  
2009.

Description of artistic project “Panorama” by Stephane Leonard:
- sound installation for 7 speakers, computer, sound card and  
amplifier (2007)
- composition for the Endliche Automaten – Laptop Orchestra Berlin  
(2010)

The 7 channel sound installation ‘Panorama’ is one piece spread out  
over 7 speakers. It has a length of 11:30 minutes and is played in a  
continues loop. The composition is based on a series of drawings about  
outer-space and the sound material was mostly made of recordings from  
outer-space. After some research on the internet I found a lot of  
recordings of cosmic storms, radio wave emissions from saturn, earth  
whistlers, electromagnetic fields, sky cyclones, etc. made by  
satellites. The NASA and other space organisations proved to be great  
sources for unique sound material.
I later deconstructed and manipulated those sounds with the help of my  
self-coded software to integrate them into the composition.
  The piece opens the view upwards. Unknown sounds draw the listener  
inexorably deeper into the composition. The swelling of noise and the  
amount of overlapping tones make the listener come closer to the  
individual speakers to discover the individual elements within the  
wall of sound. The focus of the piece changes, depending on the  
position of the listener.
  It is almost like a constant search for the soloists inside a huge  
mass of sound – a search for the uniqueness in the infinite variety  
of the cosmos.

Profile of Stephane Leonard
Stephane Leonard is a visual artist and musican. He has studied  
drawing under Professor Paco Knöller, a former student of the Joseph  
Beuys class. Leonard is a founding member of the naivsuper artist  
collective that publishes and promotes modern composers, adventurous  
music, art and books and the naivsuper film collective which makes  
films, music videos, documentaries and video installations.
He is also a member of various music ensembles. His work has been  
shown in exhibitions in Berlin, New York, Hamburg, Bremen, Groningen,  
Neubrandenburg, Oslo, Bergen, Vienna, Zürich, Massachusetts, Bangkok  
and the Kirgisien National Museum for Fine Arts.

Talks will be in english language