3:30 PM, February 23, 2019

Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N River Rd, Rosemont, IL 60018

See full conference Schedule here.

Acoustic Ecology: A Socially Engaged Sonic Arts Approach in Urban and Natural Environments

Acoustic ecology, also known as soundscape studies or ecoacoustics is a multi-disciplinary field studying the relationships between an individual or community and its environment mediated by sound. As we all live in an ocean of air we are always in sound. Its impact and meaning are so integral and immediate in everyday experience that the role of sound and listening is easy to ignore. This is so especially in cities where anthropogenic noise compels city creatures, including humans, to paradoxically make more noise in vicious cycle. Through the practices of soundwalking and “ear cleaning,” DIY hacking, citizen science, machine learning, and networked technologies, acoustic ecologists seek to raise sonological competence; with active, socially embedded and interdisciplinary approaches at the intersections of art and science to investigate environmental patterns and change in sound. This represents a paradigm shift in thought and behavior through an ear-minded approach, listening for the future, engaging creative and evidence-based to some of most complex challenges. From the artist’s own practice, in addition to the direct experience to “ear cleaning,” “soundwalking” and hands-on hydrophone making as well as sound maps and embodied sensing, some key works of soundscape composition and phonography will be introduced, using readily available audio recording technologies.