Jonathan Sterne and Dissecting The Ear

Lecture by Jonathan Sterne, installations and talks by Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec, Bojan Fajfric, Iratxe Jaio, Klaas van Gorkum and Guy van Belle

24 Apr 2008

Topic of Lecture by Jonathan Sterne;
"Today, more recordings exist in MP3 form than in any other form in the world. What difference does it make? Arguments about sound quality abound in scholarship and the popular press, but much less has been said about the format as itself a cultural phenomenon. This is not entirely accidental, as scholars are more often in the habit of conceiving of technology in terms of hardware. In this paper, I consider the historical significance of format as a defining feature of recent audio media history, and argue that the history of the MP3 reveals otherwise hidden dimensions of 20th century audio history."

Dissecting The Ear (Concept by Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec and Bojan Fajfric)
"While living in a predominantly visual/written culture, there are certain moments in which auditory communication becomes crucial. It is, on the one hand, much faster than the process of written communication, while on the other hand lends itself largely to interpretation, since it is bound to vanish in time if not recorded. Dissecting The Ear is a group exhibition investigating and exploiting the ambiguities of intentional listening and hearing in different cultural contexts. (text taken from catalogue introduction)

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Date: Thursday, April 24
Venue: STEIM, Utrechtsedwarsstraat 134, Amsterdam
Time: 20.30 hrs.
Entrance: FREE
Reservations and more information: knock@steim.nl or 020-6228690

Jonathan Sterne (US)
Jonathan Sterne writes about sound and music, communication technologies old and new, contemporary cultural studies, and a range of other matters. His work is characterized by a taste for archival esoterica, unusual combinations of objects or approaches, big intellectual and political questions, and a sense of humor. Current projects include a study of digital audio technologies; a history of decline, failure and obsolescence in 20th century media; a special issue of Social Epistemology entitled “After Social Construction” and an edited reader in sound studies. In addition to his scholarship, Prof. Sterne is also interested in more public-directed intellectual work: since 1994, he has been an editor of Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life (badsubjects.org), the longest-running publication on the internet.
sterneworks.org/
Selected publications:
The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003.
“Bourdieu, Technique and Technology,” Cultural Studies 17:3/4 (May/July 2003): 367-389.
“A Machine to Hear for Them: On the Very Possibility of Sound’s Reproduction.” Cultural Studies 15:2 (Spring 2001): 259-294.
“Television Under Construction: American Television and the Problem of Distribution 1926-1962.” Media, Culture and Society 21:3 (July 1999): 503-530.
“Sounds Like the Mall of America: Programmed Music and the Architectonics of Commercial Space.” Ethnomusicology 41:1 (Winter 1997): 22-50.
“The Burden of Culture.” In The Aesthetics of Cultural Studies, ed. Michael Bérubé, 80-102. Malden: Basil Blackwell, 2004.
“The Internet Race Goes to Class.” In Race In Cyberspace, eds. Beth Kolko, Lisa Nakamura, and Gilbert Rodman, 191-212. New York: Routledge, 2000.
“Thinking the Internet: Cultural Studies vs. The Millennium.” In Doing Internet Research, ed. Steve Jones, 257-288. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1998.

Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec (1972 Ljubljana - Slovenia) is an artist and musician based in Amsterdam. His works encompass audiovisual and mixed media installations, sound interventions in public spaces, composed and improvised electro acoustic music, sound design for video, and music for silent film.
His works were shown and performed in various art galleries, museums and music festivals. Among others: Public Space With a Roof Gallery - Amsterdam, State Museum of Contemporary Art - Thessaloniki, Greece, De Appel - Amsterdam, Madrid Abierto 2006, Museum of Modern Art - Ljubljana, Kapelica Gallery -Ljubljana, SKUC Gallery - Ljubljana, Musica a Metronom - Barcelona, Gaudeamus Music Week – Amsterdam, Forum neuer Musik - Köln, and AV Festival - Newcastle.
www.taogvs.org
www.realitysoundtrack.org

Bojan Fajfric
Born in Belgrade in 1976. Lives and works in Amsterdam and Belgrade. In 2002 finished Rijks Academy for Fine Arts in Amsterdam. His works include audio, video and mixed media installations. Received several grants for research and projects from Dutch, Japanese and Slovenian governments.

Recent group shows
2003 Museum Dhondt Dhaenens,Deurle,”Switch”(Elke Boon,Cel Crabeels,
Bojan Fajfric,Damien Hirst,Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky)
2003 “Into the Breach”, SMART, Amsterdam,with Banu Cennetoglu
2004 ARCUS-Ibaraki, Japan
2005 Project ‘Wall of Micro Sound - Radio for Mice and Bugs’, Radiodays, De Appel, Amsterdam
2006 “Dig for fire” Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp
2007 “Dissecting the Ear” Sign Gallery, Groningen

Recent solo shows
2002 “Tuning the Countries”,Van Laere Contemporary Art, Antwerp
2003 Project:”Conference-table”,Contemporary art museum M HKA, Antwerp
2004 “Dark Universe”,Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp
2004 “Dark Universe” Mestna/Bezigrajska 2 Galerija, Ljubljana,SI
2006 “Tuning the countries III” Gallery Kapelica, Ljubljana, SI
2006 “Dysfunctional Whistling Band” PSWR, Amsterdam
www.bojanfajfric.net

Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum
Iratxe Jaio was born in Basque Country, but lives currently in the Netherlands. Klaas is Dutch, but has lived in Africa for most of his youth. As partners from different geographical and social backgrounds, they share between them a sense of dislocation, and a keen interest in what makes up cultural identity. Their work is an investigation into the conflict between individual and collective identity, using documentary methods to visualize the relation between people and their social, cultural and physical contexts.
www.parallelports.org/

Guy van Belle (BE)
Born 1959 in Belgium. He has been involved in experimental media art in its many different forms since 1990. His work is mainly synesthetic, real time, generated, abstract, algorithmic, and gradually abandoning the familiar settings, parameters and skills for production, display and reception for the work of art as we know it today. Since fall 2005 he lives also in Bratislava under the name of Givan Bela.
www.societyofalgorithm.org/