What do Sounds Want: Bodies & Spaces

ALMARE and Radio Papesse (IT 2024)

25 min

WHAT DO SOUNDS WANT is a 5-episode podcast about sound and about listening through a series of questions and intuitions Radio Papesse and ALMARE have shared while they working together on Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U., a sci-fi film & audio novel written and directed by ALMARE.

EPISODE 1 | Bodies & Spaces The sci-fi audio novel Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. follows the story of researcher Dorothea Ïesj as she extracts and smuggles sound finds from the past. The world she lives in is inspired by pseudo-scientific theories such as archaeoacoustics (developed in the 19th century at the same time as the invention and development of recording technologies) which suggested the possibility of tracing acoustic phenomena of the past that remained “engraved” in matter. In our world, extracting sounds is currently impossible, but plausible and this hypothesis prompts reflection on its consequences in terms of social control and monitoring and these reflections bring to the surface questions about the political dimension of sound in public space.

The first episode of this podcast reflects on some of those questions and on how listening practices may be used as tools for critical thinking and for the tuning and re-tuning of power dynamics.

This is a fascinating audio essay and an excellent introduction for anyone wanting to engage in sound studies and theory behind sound and listening.

Narrated by Carola Haupt
Produced by ALMARE and Radio Papesse
Featuring the voices of Reem Shadid, Juliette Volcler, Giada Dalla Bontà and Brandon LaBelle

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