The World According to Sound: Ways of Knowing
An Art, Technology, & Culture Colloquium lecture
with Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett
Founders/Producers, The World According to Sound
Surrounded by an octophonic ring of powerful loudspeakers, you are going to sit in the dark for 70 minutes, wear an eye mask, and be taken on a sonic trip that asks you to rethink the world through your ears instead of your eyes. You’ll hear everything from the vibrations of the Golden Gate Bridge, footsteps of ants, and ancient Latin, to the first piece of musique concrete, recordings of Berlin made in 1930, a sonified essay about the gendering of glial cells, and the theory of how push buttons and Tupperware act as media objects. Through these sound pieces, the show examines how our attention is often directed toward very specific modes of understanding, while other ways of knowing are left out. The performance will be followed by a Q&A with co-producers Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett.
Space is limited! Please RSVP here if you plan to attend.
The World According to Sound is a project of Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett. They believe intentional, communal listening is a way to reclaim autonomy in a visually dominated world that is increasingly fracturing our attention. Their latest project is Ways of Knowing, a podcast and live event series dedicated to humanities research and thought. Read more about their past and upcoming projects on their website.
About Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett
Chris Hoff began his career in audio as an engineer for public radio and later podcasts. Sam Harnett started as a reporter covering labor and technology. They first met as volunteers at KALW in San Francisco, where they invented games to pass the time, like who could put the basketball through the metal triangle rafters of 1970s public school architecture. Chris and Sam are co-producers of Ways of Knowing, a podcast series made in partnership with academic institutions like Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, and The University of Washington. They have published academic papers; spent a semester at Cornell University as practitioners-in-residence; and performed their octophonic audio compositions at more than 75 universities, theaters, and art spaces. They previously worked in public radio, where their reporting won two Edward R. Murrow Awards for excellence in sound design and was featured regularly on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, The World, Science Friday, and other nationally-syndicated radio programs.
About Art, Technology, & Culture Colloquium
Founded by Professor Ken Goldberg in 1997, the Arts, Technology & Culture lecture series at BCNM is an internationally respected forum for creative ideas. Always free of charge and open to the public, the series has presented over 200 leading artists, writers, and critical thinkers who question assumptions and push boundaries at the forefront of art, technology, and culture.
Accessibility
BCNM events are free and open to the public. This event will be held in-person, on the UC Berkeley campus. We strive to meet all access and accommodation needs. Please contact info.bcnm [at] berkeley.edu with requests or questions.
BCNM is proud to make conversations with leading scholars, artists, and technologists freely available to the public. Please help us continue this tradition by making a tax-deductible donation today. If you are in the position to support the program, we suggest $5 per event, or $100 a year.