I am currently convening A Voice & Something Else alongside Kerrie Reading and Marios Chatziprokopiou. It is a unique scholar/artist three-day platform that will focus on the voiceand listening developed in conjunction with the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University. We are particularly interested in questions such as: What might be in the voice that lies beyond words? How do we participate with the voice? What might be at the limit of the voice?
Instead of taking the format of a more traditional conference, A Voice & Something Else aims to privilege practice as a mode of thinking and foster collaborative working partnerships between researchers, artists, and other interested parties across various disciplines. The first two days of the platform will allocate time and studio space to working groups to further develop their responses and practical dialogues across the proposed themes. This will culminate in an ‘open studio’ event on the third and final day of the platform. It is anticipated that there will be keynote artist practitioners to accompany the process and offer guidance and advice throughout the three days.
Aims and Objectives
The purpose of this unique practice-based conference format is to forge relations amongst a range of academics, professionals, and artists all working in relation to the voice and listening. The conference aims to foster working relationships, collaborations, and further possibilities for knowledge production through creative means.
By bringing together scholars, practitioners, and artists who may or may not have a common critical or practical approach to the subject area, the aim is to stimulate intellectual debate, discussions, and practices in an ever-expanding niche area.
The three main sections of the platform are as follows:
Group I Participation through the Voice and Listening
- How do we participate through the voice and listening when listening to the sounds of the streets?
- How can we link the voice and distance?
- What might the relationship be between a pre-recorded voice and the live?
- How might the disembodied voice act as a live performer?
- How do we relate to each other through the voice? What affect do accents, dialects, and intonation have on those relationships?
Group II Beyond the Voice
- What is in the voice that goes beyond words?
- To what extent are practices of listening and the voice political?
- How does the voice and listening challenge notions of ‘being together’?
- What might be in the voice that makes us unique?
- What does our voice give away about ourselves that operates at the limit of our control?
Group III Lament, Voice and, Performance
- How can the voice respond to loss through the performance of lament?
- Does the noise of trauma have paralinguistic aspects?
- How might lament connect with lullaby, glossolalia, or ululation?
- How and to what extent can we record lament?
- How do we lament without the voice?
- To what extent can performances of lament subvert or reassert political realities?
The deadline for proposals has now passed.
Further information: http://avoiceandsomethingelse.tumblr.com/Follow us: @voicesomething