In this session we began to explore how listening can reveal hidden structures of power, identity and experience within everyday environments. With my audio paper in Aural Cultures idea coming into fruition we looked today at expanding my ideas for my Tuning In audio paper. I plan to create an audio paper that investigates how environments speak, how they shape us and how we in turn shape them through acts of listening.
Lauren Rosati
We were introduced to a series of artists and theorists whose work examines how sound becomes political. Lauren Rosati’s question ‘What sounds have been left out of media history?’ felt especially relevant. It made me think about the environments I move through everyday and how certain sonic elements remain unheard simply because I’ve been trained not to listen. Christopher DeLaurenti’s work with Occupy Wall Street recordings also highlighted how sound can act as a direct documentation of collective resistance. I found his description of asynchronous chanting and driving rhythms fascinating proof that even disorderly sound can carry political meaning. The lecture also touched on acoustic justice, something I hadn’t properly considered before. The idea that listening practices can either reinforce or challenge inequality stuck with me. It reframed listening as something active and ethical rather than passive.
Activity
Sound walk, listen to noises that represent power. We were told by Mark to roam the LCC campus and tune into noises that could be associated with power.
Front reception
- The beep of student cards at the barrier
- Security talking
- The heavy opening and closing of gates
- The hum of the front desk
- Footsteps of lost students not sure where to go
- Quiet conversations
- Bags rustling
Power indications
- Security barriers acting as a literal threshold of permission
- Signs on the barriers saying that you can’t enter this way or another way
- Staff positioned behind a desk as a symbolic statement of control
Cafe
- Coffee machines hissing and steaming in loud bursts
- Dense layers of conversation
- Music played overhead
The lecture then shifted into a more practical territory and how to generate research questions and how to structure an argument through sound. I noted down some useful tips. begin with with a clear introduction outlining aims then break the paper into one or two main sections, draw from sources and constantly ask why.
Reflections
This session helped me clarify what direction my audio paper might take. Im interested in exploring how everyday environmental sounds reveal subtle power dynamics. Sounds we ignore or don’t pay attention to might quietly effect our behaviour. My aim will be to tune into the unnoticed layers of an environment and examine what they say about about control. I want to create something that not only presents recordings but asks the listener to rethink how they navigate the space around them.