Rivers, the earth’s irrigation systems, are vital to life – central to agriculture and industry, and a perennial motif in human culture. The rich, immersive soundscapes that they create form the focus of this online event.
Annea Lockwood and Leah Barclay are sound artists who for decades have been drawn to rivers for inspiration. Join them for this online audio presentation and conversation, introducing sound work that arises from the soundscapes of rivers, including recordings made around major arteries such as the Danube and the Hudson. Lockwood and Barclay will discuss the significance of their works, the ways that its processes and objectives have developed over time, and what they have learned in the course of their enduring relationships to the world’s waterways.
This event is presented in English and is free of charge and open to all. It forms part of an events series addressing issues relating to sound and ecology, programmed alongside PRAKSIS’s seventeenth residency, Climata - Capturing change at a time of ecological crisis. Climata has been developed with sound artist Lasse-Marc Riek and Goethe-Institut Norwegen. It includes collaborations with Norsk Teknisk museum, Gruenrekorder, and Notam. It is also part of the programme of the klima2+ exhibition at Teknisk museum. klima2+ addresses climate change by bringing together scientific perspectives, insights from the critical humanities and art, as well as inviting action through art interventions, practical workshops and activism.
This event will be held online via the Zoom communications platform from 15.00 CEST. It will be recorded. Recording will focus on the speaker, but if you prefer not to be recorded you are welcome to join with your camera and microphone off.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Originally from New Zealand, Annea Lockwood studied at London’s Royal College of Music and Darmstadt and in the course of her distinguished career has made works ranging from sound art experiments and environmental sound installations to concert music; she is now Professor Emerita at Vassar College. Her recent works include Becoming Air, co-composed with trumpeter Nate Wooley, Wild Energy with Bob Bielecki (a site-specific installation focused on geophysical, atmospheric and mammalian infra and ultra sound sources, permanently installed at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, New York) and Into the Vanishing Point, a meditation on the large-scale disappearance of insect populations, co-composed with the ensemble Yarn/Wire. Water, a recurring theme in her work, features in three installations that map sounds relating to the Hudson, the Danube and the Housatonic rivers, and that have been exhibited internationally. Her music has been issued on CD, vinyl and online on the Gruenrekorder, Black Truffle, Superior Viaduct, Lovely Music, New World, Ambitus, 3Leaves, XI, EM, Harmonia Mundi and other labels, and is discussed in diverse publications, including Douglas Kahn’s staple survey of the history of sound art, Noise Water Meat.
Australian sound artist, designer and researcher Leah Barclay completed her doctorate at the Queensland Conservatory, Griffith University, and presently lectures at USC, Queensland. Working at the intersection of art, science and technology, her research and production of the last decade have focused on innovative approaches to the recording and dissemination of the soundscapes of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Through the creative use of new technologies and emerging scientific knowledge, she aims to reconnect communities, inform conservation and scientific research, generate public engagement and inspire climate action. Her work has been commissioned, performed and exhibited to international acclaim by organisations including the Smithsonian Museum, UNESCO, Ear to the Earth, Streaming Museum, Al Gore’s Climate Reality and the IUCN, and her augmented-reality sound installations have been presented in international locations, including Times Square in New York City and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. She leads various research projects in the field of ecoacoustics, including Biosphere Soundscapes (in association with UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserves initiative) and River Listening (in association with the Australian Rivers Institute).
