-The World is Sound: acoustic ecologies- led by Will Schrimshaw
-date t.b.c 

A one day workshop / experimental lab aimed at developing a broad understanding of what constitutes a practice of acoustic ecology. The polytechnic invites participants to bring individual projects and ideas to be developed through open discussion, collaboration and cross contamination.


The World is Sound:
"The physical aspects of a soundscape consist not only of the sounds themselves, the waves of acoustic energy permeating the atmosphere in which people live, but also the material objects that create, and sometimes destroy, those sounds" (Emily Thompson, The Soundcape of Modernity, 1-2).



Practitioners involved in the production of acoustic ecologies are invited to attend a holistic, one-day workshop / forum / experimental lab focussing on the investigation of sonic environments. It is the aim of the workshop to approach not only the sound of the environment but the materials, objects and actions that are behind its existence.

The workshop will involve broad discussion on what constitutes a practice of acoustic ecology; it is proposed that this terminology suggests a participatory engagement with the acoustic world as opposed to one of naturalizing preservation. Practitioners involved in the production, observation, experience and development of acoustic ecologies are invited to present and develop their work and ideas during this two day workshop.

An initial period of discussion and presentation will be followed by practical experimentation in which participants will be able to share approaches and techniques applied in the development of acoustic ecologies. Experimentation will happen in and around the Polytechnic building. The Polytechnic is situated at the edge of both Newcastle city centre and the Ouseburn valley offering a wide variety of locations for experimentation.

-Topics to be investigated include:   
- Mediate Auscultation
- Field Recording
- Material Resonances
- Site-specific strategies
- The impact of environmental Noise
- Acoustic Ecology and the Built Environment
- Listening Matter
- Expanded Auditory Systems and Listening Machines
- Originary Noise
- Matter in Action
- Sound and Architecture
- Found Instruments
- Sites of Auditory Interest and Influence 		 
  -The workshop will focus on, amongst other things:  
- field recording
- listening machines
- sonic Architectures
- environmental noise
- material resonance

Will Schrimshaw is a member of Polytechnic and is currently a PhD candidate at Culture Lab, Newcastle University. Will's work focuses on issues of environmental interaction and sonorous individuation which are often realized through technological means in installation and performance settings. These settings are mostly improvised and are built upon circuits, earth and code.

http://willschrimshaw.net

For further information and expressions of interest, additions and suggestions to:


The Polytechnic will provide home made bread, regional cheese and other sources of vital sustenance throughout the workshop