SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT

1 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT

INTRODUCTION

From 26 to 28 February 2016, Sonic Acts hosted the first edition of its new ‘Academy’ programme. Over the course of three days, artists and theorists expanded on their research through lectures, concerts, film programmes, work presentations, masterclasses and workshops.

The Academy is a bi-annual event that alternates with the Sonic Acts Festival. It creates space for a more focused and research-oriented programme, and offers thought- provoking new perspectives on the research into art, the research needed for art and especially research through art.

The programme took place at various locations in Amsterdam: the opening was at Stedelijk Museum and attracted over 1,100 visitors. This was followed by two days of well-received lectures, presentations and film screenings at De Brakke Grond, drawing a great crowd both off- and online (with over 600 people following the programme via the live stream on both days). On Saturday evening the symposium was followed by a packed night of concerts and performances at Paradiso. In the weeks preceding and following the Academy, there was a programme of engaging workshops for artists, curators, theorists and cultural practitioners.

THE PROGRAMME

Opening at Stedelijk The opening event of the Sonic Acts Academy took place at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Outside on the Museumsquare, Joris Strijbos’ large-scale kinetic sound- Joris Strijbos, IsoScope. Opening Sonic and-light installation IsoScope functioned as an eye-catcher. Sonic Acts commissioned Acts Academy at Stedelijk. IsoScope for the Academy and the Dark Ecology project in Norway and Russia. The Photo by Pieter Kers

2 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT “The works of art and installation consists of twelve robotic wind objects that interact with each other research are neither just and their surroundings to perform a generative composition, providing a sensorial experience in which the audience could wander around. art, nor just research and it is in this intersection that Inside Stedelijk, a multitude of performances took place throughout the building. Thomas Ankersmit premiered his new piece, a Sonic Acts commission, titled Homage new connections can be to Dick Raaijmakers (the titan of Dutch electronic music). Ankersmit only used analogue drawn. This is the power of electronic sounds, and mainly employed the tone and noise generators, modulators, and filters – using his Serge synthesizer – that were also available to Raaijmakers in the Academy: many artistic- the 1950s. The performance explored the spatiality and physicality of sound, and the academic assemblies will interference of sound waves with each other. The result left quite an impression on the audience, and it was without doubt one of the highlights of the evening. emerge that we are eagerly looking forward to.” When entering Stedelijk, visitors first encountered two icons of the Dutch improv and sound art scene, Jos Smolders and Frans de Waard, performing a new quadrophonic - Niels Tubbing, Gonzo Circus composition as WaSm. Upstairs, one of the rising stars of the new electronic avant- garde, guitarist Raphael Vanoli, played solo, using a unique technique that exaggerated the tiniest sounds from his instrument, making them audible in an often-overwhelming fashion.

One of the other highlights – judging from the audience reactions – were two powerful solo improvisations by cellist Okkyung Lee surrounded by paintings by Mangold in a room that was overcrowded with concentrated listeners. Using extended techniques and viscerally extracting non-standard sounds from her instrument, it sounded as if she “Still reeling after so many was turning the cello inside out. good talks at @SonicActs. The opening also marked the first presentation of the Maryanne Amacher Archive Heather Davis on the queer (Bill Dietz and Robert The) in the Netherlands. Maryanne Amacher (1938–2009) was plastisphere was a highlight.” an American composer known for her rigorous research and groundbreaking sound concepts. Sonic Acts has presented her works several times in the past 15 years, and - Jennifer Lucy Allan plans a longer collaboration with the Maryanne Amacher Archive. At the Stedelijk Dietz and The presented Amacher’s Tone and Interval Studies that document her experimental investigation of otoacoustic emissions and psycho-acoustic dimensions of human tone perception.

The performance programme was complemented by a selection of works from the Stedelijk collection, which gave a historical context to the programme. Carefully selected for this occasion were a prototype of Dick Raaijmakers Ideophone, as well as compositions by Terry Riley and LaMonte Young (resp. Poppy No Goods All Night Flight and Drift Study), both closely related to the Amacher’s work. The event in the Stedelijk succeeded in combining different generations of electronic music and noise in a gesture of intergenerational programming.

Symposium The symposium on 27 and 28 February was held at De Brakke Grond in Amsterdam, a new location for Sonic Acts. Each day consisted of a series of presentations plus a closing session. Each presentation had its own moderator from the Sonic Acts curatorial team who introduced the presentation and mediated the Q&A. Sally Jane Norman – an expert on artistic research – opened the symposium with a lecture sketching the current state of artistic research and its challenges, and acted as a central respondent for the programme as a whole.

The first day saw Louis Henderson showing his films, and discussing animism in the context of the Internet and Ghanaian (Internet) culture, history, mining, and e-waste recycling. Susan Schuppli delved into the concept of material witness and forensics, referring, among others, to the 18-and-a-half minutes of machined silence from the

3 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT Thomas Ankersmit, Homage to Dick Raaijmakers. Opening Sonic Acts Academy Watergate tape, and the mysterious case of Uranium-235. Ewa Justka performed with at Stedelijk. Photo by Pieter Kers her self-made noise-creatures and was interviewed about her methods. Bill Dietz and Robert The presented the work of the research-oriented American composer Maryanne Amacher and discussed their endeavours to set up the Amacher Archive, which will keep her ideas alive.

“Great uplifting talks by @ On the second day, Heather Davis speculated on the reshaping of ecologies, on exvatika @morehshin @ toxicology, and the strange new mixes of plastics and natural materials (viruses, bacteria, stones), called the plastisphere. Davis made clear that the changes in the therourke at @SonicActs... global ecology not only raise environmental concerns: we ourselves are already feel like reclaim, rethink and ‘becoming plastic’ through the absorption of micro-particles and soluble additives in plastic products. #Additivism presented their ideas on the use of 3D printing for reimagine are the themes of social change, also showing Morehshin Allahyari’s work on the Roman and Assyrian #sonicacts.” sculptures in Iraq which were destroyed by ISIS. Katrina Burch mixed computer sound with mathematics and archaeology to speculate on, among others, the role cognition - Visitor Sonic Acts Academy plays when listening to sound. Ana Vaz, a filmmaker who has worked with Bruno Symposium Latour, presented her films, and used the idea of anthropophagy – a central concept in the Brazilian avant-garde – to reflect on her artistic ideas and methods. Anton Kats explored different uses of community radio and narrowcasting to give a voice to the site-specific, the everyday and the political. Sally Jane Norman rounded up both days, bringing together the richness of this choice of artistic research practices. The large auditorium in De Brakke Grond had an excellent live streaming set-up. Together with the continuously projected Twitter feeds, this added a large and engaged online audience to the symposium. On Saturday and Sunday more than 600 people watched the live stream. With a live audience of more than 200 people each day, the first edition of the Academy symposium has been successful.

4 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT Daïchi Saïto ft. Jason Sharp, Sonic Acts at Paradiso. Photo by Pieter Kers Sonic Acts Academy at Paradiso The Saturday programme at Paradiso featured more than 20 performances and continued until the early hours. The programme was multi-faceted, and consisted of bass-heavy “I walked into this blind dance sets and immersive audiovisual performances and experimental films. Compiled and came out speechless— in collaboration with Juha van ’t Zelfde (Lighthouse, Viral Radio), the programme featured many upcoming international artists and producers from young collectives such as Janus, Barri's visual mapping NON, Endless, Staycore and Knives, based in cities such as Cape Town, Copenhagen, of Jebanasam’s sonic Brighton, Berlin, Oslo and London, which had never performed in the Netherlands before. The electronic music was fuelled by R&B, kuduro, grime, reggaeton, techno, kizomba, as well timeline of the universe as computer algorithms and field recordings sourced online. Young producers of complex from primordial goo to fiery electronic music like Nkisi, Lotic and Toxe energised the dancing in Paradiso. There were many highlights, one of which was certainly Jason Sharp’s (literally) breathtaking half-hour obliterated nothingness was bass-saxophone improvisation accompanying Daïchi Saito’s new filmEngram of Returning. more wonderful than I dare Another one was Paul Jebanasam and Tarik Barri’s brand new digital sound-and-vision universe Continuum. try and put into words.” - Holly Dicker, Resident Advisor Workshops The Academy was embedded in a programme of workshops, which provided a unique opportunity to gain in-depth insights into the theory and thinking, working processes and “Because of the vast amount methods of internationally renowned artists and thinkers. A diverse group of participants of different approaches, from a wide range of nationalities was selected for the various workshops creating tight communities of interested professionals. it is hard to write or read about field recording. This Field Recording Workshop by Jana Winderen and BJ Nilsen Over the course of four days, this practice-oriented workshop focused on the art of field workshop allowed me to recording. This workshop was led by Jana Winderen (NO) and BJ Nilsen (SE/NL), whose get in touch with people careers span several decades. After the introductory day, the second – more practical – day was spent in National Park de Biesbosch with a biologist accompanying the participants. for whom field recording is On the third day, an urban ecologist guided the participants on a long walk through an important part of their the different environments that the inner city of Amsterdam has to offer. The workshop continued at STEIM, with feedback and processing sessions that conclude with a share- practice, and to learn about and-tell session on the final day for participants and a group of students. The results of the everybody’s views..” workshop can be found on Soundcloud. - Participant Field Recording Workshop 5 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT Field Recording Workshop with Jana Winderen and BJ Nilsen. Photo by Lucas Atmospheric Feedback Loops Workshop by Susan Schuppli van der Velden The Atmospheric Feedback Loops workshop led by Susan Schuppli (UK) focused on Schuppli’s artistic research practice. The workshop started with a research trip to the Cabauw observatory in Lopik, with its many measurement instruments that include a 213-metre-high antenna. Discussions with Professor Herman Russchenberg, director of the Climate Institute of the Technical University Delft, centred on the meaning of terms such as ‘climate change’, ‘rain drop’ and ‘cloud’. The workshop concluded on the second day at Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam with an evaluation of newly acquired experiences and knowledge as well as the developing ideas of the participants. Since the workshop, plans have been made to continue the collaboration with Russchenberg and Cabauw for the second part of Schuppli’s diptych on weather stations.

Voice Odder Workshop by Ewa Justka For this workshop, Polish electronic noise artist Ewa Justka guided 12 people through the process of creating a unique electronic instrument and effects unit,The Voice Odder, which is a compact, voice-altering device inspired by William S. Burroughs’ claim that ‘the word is a virus’. The mission of the workshop was for the participants to free themselves of this ‘parasitic resisting organism’ by building a device especially designed for this purpose, allowing them to hear the invader and see it as light frequencies. The Voice Odder is a simple electronic circuit based on a delay Integrated Circuit (IC). It has a built- in microphone and includes echo and delay effects, and extreme resonance sampling and distortion, which generates crazy noises and surprising sounds. The workshop appealed to a very mixed group of people ranging from art students and artists interested in using distorted voices in their performances, to writers with an interest in approaching the voice in a tactile manner. Ewa Justka, Sonic Acts Academy. Photo by Pieter Kers Critical Writing Workshop After the success of the Critical Writing Workshops in 2013 and 2015, the Academy featured another 4-day workshop on critical writing led by Jennifer Lucy Allen (previous online editor of The Wire), and co-editors Katía Truijen and Nadine Roestenburg. The workshop attracted participants from all over Europe, and the amount and high level of the applications proved again how much interest there is in such workshops.

6 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT Atmospheric Feedback Loops Workshop The 6 participants (and 3 editors) produced 17 edited articles, all of which reflected on at Cabauw Observatory by Susan Schuppli. Photo by Rosa Menkman the Academy’s programme and proceedings. The articles were published on a special website (sonicacts.com/critical) and will be published online as contextual material for the Academy’s video archive.

#Additivism PostNatural Workshop by Moreshin Allahyari & Daniel Rourke The final workshop by Morehshin Allahyari and Daniel Rourke took place after the Academy at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten and attracted a large number of participants. The workshop began with an elaborate lecture on the relationships between plastic, horror and 3D printing and their role in contemporary culture. Participants were then guided in developing their own ‘post natural’ recipes: recipes that shed light on the ways 3D printing can be used as a critical form of art. A selection of the results will be part of the forthcoming 3D Additivism Cookbook.

Academy Publication The first edition of the Sonic Acts Academy was accompanied by a zine-style publication. This first volume in a series is a vital frame of reference to the #Additivism Workshop. programme. Photo by Pieter Kers The elaborately designed and printed Sonic Acts Academy Volume 1 provides an insight into the back-end of the practices of the artists who participated in the Academy, as well as into artistic strategies and processes that begin with research and end in a finished artwork. The zine contains short essays, manifestos, statements and visuals essays by #Additivism, Thomas Ankersmit, Louis Henderson, Ewa Justka, Anton Kats, Okkyung Lee, Yoneda Lemma, Maryanne Amacher Archive, M.E.S.H., Anna Mikkola, BJ Nilsen, Sally-Jane Norman, Dick Raaijmakers, Daïchi Saïto, Susan Schuppli, Jos Smolders (WaSm), Raphael Vanoli, Ana Vaz and Frans de Waard (WaSm). Femke Herregraven and Arthur Roeloffzen designed the zine.

Documentation Participants in the Critical Writing Workshop wrote reports and essays with theoretical explorations, personal impressions and critical evaluations of the Sonic Acts Academy Volume 1. Design by presented ideas. All the symposium presentations were recorded and published on Arthur Roeloffzen and Femke Herregraven

7 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT Sonic Acts’ website and via social media. A series of short video documentaries and a series of Flickr photo albums highlighting all aspects of the Academy have also been published.

Combining the different forms of documentation – written reports, video, photos, sound – enhances Sonic Acts’ digital archive and provides an in-depth online platform for interested artists and the public, and extends the online reach of Sonic Acts.

Communication, Marketing and Audience Reach The first edition of the Sonic Acts Academy attracted almost 4,500 visitors. The works from the Stedelijk collection that were selected for the Academy, as well as selections from Maryanne Amacher’s Tone and Interval Studies (1976–78), were displayed for the rest of the weekend, and therefore enabled a much wider audience to become acquainted with the Academy. These numbers were not included in the total visitor numbers.

Sonic Acts’ online communication channels were well-attended with almost 25,500 people visiting the Sonic Acts Academy website, 4,585 followers on Twitter with a high interaction rate, approximately 220,000 views of Sonic Acts’ photos on Flicker (since the previous Festival in February 2015), and 6,000 plays of Vimeo videos in the four months surrounding the Academy. The fan base of the Facebook page grew to over 9,100 fans, with posts that reached up to 12,000 people. Sonic Acts recently joined Instagram and attracted over 700 followers in a short period. Audience Okkyung Lee, Opening Sonic Acts at Stedelijk. Photo by Aisha Pagnes Announcements, reviews and interviews about the Academy were published in national and international monthly and weekly magazines, newspapers, blogs and online magazines like: DJ Broadcast, NRC, Metropolis M, Thump, Subbacultcha, Parool, The Fader, Noisey, VPRO Vrije Geluiden, Generation Bass, Digicult, Resident Advisor, Gonzo Circus, SSBA Salon and We Are Public. The value of the total advertising by the Dutch press equalled at least 11,627 euros.

Involved, befriended and comparable Dutch and international institutions, funds and platforms paid attention to the Sonic Acts Academy, including: Paradiso, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Rewire Festival, TodaysArt, Gonzo Circus, Media Art Festival, State X/New Forms, STEIM, Truants, V2, FAQ Festival, Extrapool, WORM, Astral Plane Blog, La Force Sauvage, Arts Numeriques, SETUP Utrecht and Geluid van Nederland.

For this initial edition of the Academy, the successful communication and marketing strategy that was developed for previous Sonic Acts Festival editions was employed. The cooperation with partners was expanded and deepened, for example, with new locations such as De Brakke Grond and some workshop locations, marketing aimed at students and universities was increased, as was marketing via online campaigns, and we actively approached the national and international press. The experience, the knowledge gained and the results were actively opened up via the Sonic Acts website and online channels.

Research After the Sonic Acts Academy, all newsletter recipients and followers on social media Raphael Vanoli, Opening Sonic Acts channels were invited to participate in a survey. The results showed that the most Academy at Stedelijk. Photo by Pieter Kers effective way to promote Sonic Acts is word-to-mouth, both via social media and via friends and acquaintances. The visitors attended the Academy because of its programme (with the opening, symposium and evening programme scoring equally high). The overall Academy experience received a score of a 3.84 (on the scale of 1 to 5). Aspects such as the atmosphere (4.19), visitor information and the website (3.93 and 4.09) and the locations (4.33) scored high as well. 43% of visitors to the Sonic Acts Academy had visited the previous Festival in 2015, but with 51% new visitors the programme reached a large, new audience group.

8 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT Evaluation “The Sonic Acts Academy Overall, the first edition of the Sonic Acts Academy was very successful. The opening has proved itself to be one of proved to be yet another fruitful cooperation with Stedelijk Museum. Sonic Acts Academy brought a new, young and interested public to the museum. There were the most important ways of 1,100 visitors in total. Both of Thomas Ankersmit’s performances in the auditorium were rethinking the possibilities completely packed, and people stood in the adjacent rooms listening to Okkyung Lee performing, waiting for others to leave so they could enter the space. of a cultural festival. I was given the space and time to The audiovisual performance programme at Paradiso was probably the most ambitious of this sort that Sonic Acts has ever organised, with regards to the number of artists, elaborate thoroughly on my and the adventurousness of the line-up, with many new and upcoming names. The work and research, which symposium was central to the Academy, and specifically aimed to expand the discourse on artistic research through work and presentations that rethink concepts of nature, is rare, and to discover and culture, technology, and ecology. It was also closely linked to the rest of the Academy reflect on the richness and programme, with Susan Schuppli, Ewa Justka and #Additivism giving workshops, the Maryanne Amacher presentation at Stedelijk, and Yoneda Lemma/Katrina Burch vibrancy of other people's performing on Saturday evening. work and research.” For the symposium a set-up was chosen that differed completely from the previous - Louis Henderson Sonic Acts Festival conference setting: rather than short conference-style lectures and presentations, the academy presentations allowed for serendipity and conversation with slots that lasted up to 2.5 hours. This provided ample time for each speaker to present work and critically reflect on it, discuss the methods used, as well as the theoretical, artistic and societal themes connected to it. Much attention was also paid to the spatial set-up of each presenter. More time was allocated for Q&A’s, discussion and for the closing sessions, thereby giving the audience more agency.

The symposium featured an integrated approach of lecturing, showing art and critical reflection. Although previous Sonic Acts Festival conferences included film screenings, this time screenings and sound performances were integral to the programme, most notably Ewa Justka (who performed with her noise machines and was interviewed afterwards), Yoneda Lemma/Katrina Burch (sound performance), Ana Vaz, Louis Henderson, Susan Schuppli (film screenings), and Anton Kats (radio performance). The format worked out well: the symposium had an open – and despite the size of the space – intimate feel to it.

With Morehshin Allahyari and Daniel Rourke of #Additivism, and Katrina Burch, who is part of Laboria Cuboniks and author the XenoFeminism Manifesto, the programme gave voice to representatives of some of the newest, most interesting and emerging developments in the field of contemporary artistic research and post-digital media culture and theory: therefore the discussions mattered, and were topical and timely. The publication of the #Additivism Manifesto in summer 2015 provoked quite a row, and the subsequent publication of the XenoFeminist Manifesto – taking up some of the themes of Accelerationism, but also criticising this movement – is already seen as proof that manifestos are not dead. Also the queer take on the Anthropocene by Heather Davis should be mentioned in this respect, as well as Susan Schuppli’s involvement in the Plastic Futures panel with: Heather Davis, #Additivism & Katrina Burch, Sonic Acts Forensic Architectures research into human rights cases. These developments – though Academy. Photo by Pieter Kers very different – combine an appetite for research, speculation, poetry and hyperstition with a serious use of rational science, and a political stance.

Conclusion The first Sonic Acts Academy was a success. The discussion of art and research was invigorated by the approaches of the speakers, the performing artists, and the workshop leaders. Audience attendance was higher than expected for this first edition. The (moderated) conversations during the event, but also via social media, online platforms and other media, were very lively. Last but not least, the Academy brought

9 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT together researchers and artists, led to new meetings and friendships, and initiated dialogues that might lead to new collaborations. Artistically and content-wise, the Academy has opened up new perspectives that can be explored more deeply in future Sonic Acts activities.

Last but not least, the Academy brought together artists, researchers and scientists from very diverse backgrounds, initiated new dialogues across a wide span of disciplines, and led to new insights, ideas and collaborations. Artistically and contentwise, the Academy has opened up new perspectives that can be explored more deeply in future Sonic Acts activities.

Audience, Raphael Vanoli, Opening Sonic Acts Academy at Stedelijk. Photo by Pieter Kers

10 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT CREDITS

Sonic Acts Academy 2016 26 February – 28 February 2016 Amsterdam

Curatorial Team Nicky Assmann, Mirna Belina, Gideon Kiers, Rosa Menkman, Lucas van der Velden, Juha van ‘t Zelfde

Producer Annette Wolfsberger Production Eve Dullaart, Rick Everts, Julia Nüsslein, Marta Wasiuta Technical Production Mark den Hoed, Erwin van ’t Hart, Rob Wagelmans (WG Theatertechniek) Volunteer Coordination Marta Wasiuta Stage managers Sebastian Frisch, Johan Hendrikse, Edgar Kapp Front desk Macha Rousakov

Communication Design & Zine Femke Herregraven & Arthur Roeloffzen Communication & Press Bas de Beer Website & Ticketing Sanne Lohof Copywriting Marinus de Ruiter, Arie Altena, Liesbeth Koot Translation & Copy Editing LGOC, Amsterdam Social Media Rosa Menkman Photo Documentation Pieter Kers Video Documentation Oleg Khardatsev, Zhanna Guzenko, Aleksandr Alekseev (Fridaymilk) Website Development Henrik van Leeuwen (de Gebroeders van Leeuwen)

We would like to thank all of our partners for their continuous support. Also a big thank you to the amazing crews at the venues and our fabulous volunteers. A special thank you to Pierre Ballings, Veerle Devreese, Bart van der Heide, Mark Minkman, Joost Rekveld, Henri Sandront, Britte Sloothaak and Gerard Walhof.

Sonic Acts Academy is produced in association with Paradiso, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and De Brakke Grond. Sonic Acts at Paradiso is produced in collaboration with Viral Radio.

Sonic Acts Academy is supported by Creative Industries Fund NL Mondriaan Fund City of Amsterdam Amsterdam Fund for the Arts Paradiso Amsterdam Performing Arts Fund NL Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond Changing Weathers Co-funded by Creative Europe Programme of the European Union Viral Radio STEIM Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten Europe by People WG Theatertechniek BeamSystems FilmTechniek

Sonic Acts Academy is part of Changing Weathers, funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Photo front cover: Paul Jebanasam & Tarik Barri – Continuum AV, Sonic Acts at Paradiso. Photo by Pieter Kers

Photo back cover: Visionist ft. Kevin Bray, Sonic Acts at Paradiso. Photo by Pieter Kers

11 / SONIC ACTS ACADEMY 2016 REPORT “LAST NIGHT WAS INCREDIBLE.” - Gaika

SONIC ACTS Weteringschans 6-8 1017 SG Amsterdam The Netherlands www.sonicacts.com

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