Feminist Sonographies of Situated Listening
Feminist Sonographies of Situated Listening is an immersive audio installation that maps out the research connections between the multidisciplinary individual practices of the members of sono(soro)ridades This installation is part of our process to enact our approach to what we call “decolonial feminist methodologies in sound” as a contribution to the field of research-creation.
The installation consists of a 54-minute soundtrack that is played through 10 radios that are placed on the floor in front of a graphic, a conceptual mapping, which showcases the research-practice connections between the sono(soro) members. The soundtrack weaves together a narration of our individual voice describing our approach to research-creation with sound and our sound ethnographies along with our collective voice. The sound script was printed and bound as a booklet and was made available to viewers as part of the installation.
As a member of the collective Amanda Gutiérrez was invited to participate in the group exhibition The Institution of Knowledge, a research-creation exhibition and symposium organized by Geoffrey Rockwell and Natalie Loveless presented at the FAB Gallery at the University of Alberta. As part of our ongoing work developing and enacting decolonial feminist methodologies in sound, Amanda brought the invitation to participate in The Institution of Knowledgeto the collective. We held several brainstorming sessions to work through ideas for the installation. In these (roughly) monthly meetings held via zoom we also discussed parallel projects that we were developing as a collective (an academic panel for LASA conference and a forthcoming book chapter). During the meetings, we also checked in on our personal lives and updated each other about our individual projects.
As a collective, we are supportive of each other’s practices, personal and professional commitments. Our collaborative method of listening and working together and with each other allows each of us to decide how involved we want to be in a project. Each of us decides what role to play (i.e. leading or supporting roles; individual roles; or simply opting out of a project depending on each member’s availability and resources).
The sound script is available here
Feminist Sonographies of Situated Listening was led and produced by Amanda Gutiérrez as part of her PhD research on the political dimensions of sound and listening through collaborative research-creation methodologies.
