The 5th edition of Sonandes Biennale of Sound Art was held from October 4-22, 2022 in La Paz Bolivia. Represented was a variety of projects, workshops and performances from South American, North American and European contexts. The full program can be found on the biennale website. My participation at Sonandes 2022 included the following:
Audioswarm La Paz 2022
Audioswarm is a participatory performance that dissolves the distinction between performer and audience. By inviting everyone present to participate, this performance opens up new possibilities to explore the boundaries between personal listening and spatialized group dynamics. For ‘Audioswarm La Paz 2022’ I composed an original audio track to be played from a mobile phone. With a specific cue, each participant will play the track from their own phone and slowly move about the space in a listening state that allows attention to drift between the sound of their own presence, the nearest neighbours and the overall group. The duration of the performance is the duration of the piece. It ends when the last person reaches a state of stillness and silence. About 50 people participated in Audioswarm La Paz 2022 at the theatre ‘El Gallinero’.
Sounding Objects, Sounding Spaces
In this hands-on workshop we concentrated on playful and performative ways to combine sound, ordinary objects and space in a collaborative group context. In our increasingly virtualized world it is easy to overlook the physicality of objects, qualities of materials or character of spaces and how they may intersect in the sensory realm. Our focus was on sound and listening and how we can draw inspiration from sensory experience to conceptualize frameworks for non-verbal forms of communication and interactions. Activities will include exercises in listening and spatial perception, game play and improvisations along with the development of a score and performing as a group. In the end we had around 7 core participants. The workshop was held at the Casataller music and composition school.
