Sonores 2012 – Live and Online

 For those with an occasional interest in my physical whereabouts, next week I shall be based in Portugal taking part in Sonores 2012 a fascinating collective exploration of the symbolic value of sounds and how it is implemented in our culture.

The organizers have expressed the idea in the following succinct terms:

Sound is, from the very first place, a principle to the understanding of reality, functioning through two different channels, both physically and symbolically. From this point we start to transform it into a more complex thing: into a medium of communication (creating codes for sounds), a way to process meanings and symbolic exchanges. The relation with sound manifests an attempt to communicate that will generate human languages, a formal and abstract system of representation, and music, a system that organizes sound.

For a PDF download of the festival programme, click here; or you can check the calendar online by clicking here.

The festival itself is being held in Guimarães in northern Portugal, but a live radio feed is also available and can be accessed by clicking here.

The main theme for my two main presentations is dedicated to the proposition: ‘so long as radio exists, space exists’. Both presentations will concern themselves with our perceptions of outer space: how we hear and comprehend a phenomenon which remains permanently outside our human sensory range – in other words how the experience of space is constantly mediated through technology. The two pieces are commemorative in nature, looking back on the space race, the cold war and examining their legacy – now that the Space Shuttle program is grounded for good and we are left with nothing but the anniversaries of our achievements to celebrate.

The two presentations will be as follows:

May 4, 22.00 hrs (local time): ‘Alien Transmissions: Sputnik, McLuhan and the Voices of Space’

May 5, 18.30 hrs (local time): ‘Radiant Static: Seven Short Texts on Space’

Expect a full report in due course. For those in the neighbourhood, you can find Sonores 12 at ASA, Estrada Nacional 105, Covas, Polvoreira (GPS 41.419447,-8.303368).

STOP PRESS – on May 3 at 18.45 I am scheduled to present a reading of new material, taken from my forthcoming book, The Bright Labyrinth, at the launch for a new anthology Savage Objects – you can find out more details (or not) by visiting the Savage Objects website. The launch is taking place at:

Sociedade Martins Sarmento

Rua Paio Galvão

4814-509 Guimarães

GPS

Latitude: 30.942436

Longitude: 7.910156