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Tune in for episodes two and three of Sonic Trax, Sonic Acts' new podcast series, where we explore the organization's rich archive. Join us as we uncover the captivating stories behind the evolution of sound art and its lasting impact, bringing these insights closer to you!
In the two-part podcast Touched by Sound: Re-imagining the Legacy of Michel Waisvisz, hosts Sève I.V. Janssen and Flavien Gillié explore the profound impact of artist, performer, and instrument maker Michel Waisvisz (1949–2008). Through personal archives, interviews with collaborators, and sounds from the Sonic Acts Archive, the duo reimagines the sonic legacy of this key figure in Amsterdam’s experimental music scene and the international arts community (notably as the director of STEIM). Waisvisz was a true trailblazer in technological art, electronic sound art, and performance!
From the moment digital technology became available, he constructed experimental instruments and software activated by bodily movements such as The Hands (1984) and Crackle Synth (1974), both pressure-sensitive, touchable devices. This podcast features his sound archives, combining personal reflections from Waisvisz and his close collaborators, testimonials from those inspired by his work today, performance fragments, and radio archives spanning the 1970s to the 2000s. This exploration highlights Waisvisz' transformative approach to turning circuits into instruments of expression and vernacular moments into timeless artworks. In this process, voices, instruments, and the environmental context converge as equals, conducting a conversation where each responds with equal significance.
The second episode continues the playful dimension in Michel Waisvisz’s work, questioning how a legacy can shape new generations, through the force of transmission, performance, and education, re-issuing key instruments, ideas or sets up by Waisvisz. The episode features interviews and recordings with collaborators and emerging artists such as Tarek Atoui, Takuro Mizuta Lippit, Ji Youn Kang, Julia Giertz, Boris Shershenkov and Görkem Arıkan.
Credit:
The Sound Archives of Touched by Sound (Part 2) originate from the archives of Michel Waisvisz, with excerpts of interviews with Kristina Andersen, Tarek Atoui, Takuro Mizuta Lippit, Ji Youn Kang, Julia Giertz, Boris Shershenkov, with recordings from rehearsals, concerts and workshops as part of Touched by Sound, Sonic Acts Biennial in March 2024.
Artistic development: Sève I.V. Janssen
Montage and mix: Flavien Gillié
Voiceover: Leon Rogissart
Special thanks to Kristina Andersen, Tarek Atoui, Görkem Arıkan, Maud Seuntjens (Sonic Acts) and the participants of the workshop.
Sonic Acts Archive projects are supported by the Mondriaan Fonds and Cultuurloket DigitALL. Realised by Paradiso and Sonic Acts as part of New Perspectives for Action, a project by Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the European Union.
www.sonicacts.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tune in for episodes two and three of Sonic Trax, Sonic Acts' new podcast series, where we explore the organization's rich archive. Join us as we uncover the captivating stories behind the evolution of sound art and its lasting impact, bringing these insights closer to you!
In the two-part podcast Touched by Sound: Re-imagining the Legacy of Michel Waisvisz, hosts Sève I.V. Janssen and Flavien Gillié explore the profound impact of artist, performer, and instrument maker Michel Waisvisz (1949–2008). Through personal archives, interviews with collaborators, and sounds from the Sonic Acts Archive, the duo reimagines the sonic legacy of this key figure in Amsterdam’s experimental music scene and the international arts community (notably as the director of STEIM). Waisvisz was a true trailblazer in technological art, electronic sound art, and performance!
From the moment digital technology became available, he constructed experimental instruments and software activated by bodily movements such as The Hands (1984) and Crackle Synth (1974), both pressure-sensitive, touchable devices. This podcast features his sound archives, combining personal reflections from Waisvisz and his close collaborators, testimonials from those inspired by his work today, performance fragments, and radio archives spanning the 1970s to the 2000s. This exploration highlights Waisvisz' transformative approach to turning circuits into instruments of expression and vernacular moments into timeless artworks. In this process, voices, instruments, and the environmental context converge as equals, conducting a conversation where each responds with equal significance.
The first episode centres around Michel Waisvisz as a composer of the present and combines personal recordings with an interview with the artist and researcher Kristina Andersen, the caretaker of his archives today. The episode explores Michel Waisvisz’ distinctive spirit through the textures of his archives, where every crackle and hum becomes a tactile reminder, and Kristina Andersen talks about how materiality can connect generations and offer a sense of continuity, even between those who have never met.
Please note:
Some of the archival sounds featured in this episode include Michel Waisvisz speaking in Dutch and French. In the first excerpt (Dutch, >6:40), Michel discusses his practice, describing it as musical theatre, though acknowledging that the term does not fully capture its essence. In the second excerpt (French, >9:15), a reporter and Michel highlight how his electronic music devices generate new, futuristic, and otherworldly sounds. In the final excerpt (Dutch, >15:15), we hear Michel reflecting on an analogy between striving for a climax in music performance and the myth of Tantalus.
Credit:
The sound archives of Touched by Sound (Part 1) originate from the archives of Michel Waisvisz: Bologna 16-07-1982; Lisboa 14/15-02-1987; Bimhuis Amsterdam solo 08-09-1978; France Culture June 1987; Cologne 24-11-1978; Toklos Zurich 08-2-1986; Hands Houston 13-04-1986; various minidiscs, and excerpts of an interview with Kristina Andersen at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam, conducted on 2 March 2024.
Artistic development: Sève I.V. Janssen
Editing and mixing: Flavien Gillié
Voiceover: Leon Rogissart
Sonic Acts Archive projects are supported by the Mondriaan Fonds and Cultuurloket DigitALL. Realised by Paradiso and Sonic Acts as part of New Perspectives for Action, a project by Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the European Union.
www.sonicacts.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What does it mean to DJ an archive? In the debut instalment of a new podcast series by Sonic Acts, junior curator Hannah Pezzack interviews Ruben Verkuylen (The Social Lover) about his DJ set from the 2024 Biennial, where he reimagined Sonic Acts archival material through turntablist techniques, sample pads, and effects. Recorded live at Het HEM and later broadcast by NTS Radio, his set drew upon a rich array of concerts, lectures, and conversations from 2003 to 2006 – a transformative era for electronic music, computing cultures, and digital art.
Discussing his process, Verkuylen reflects on pivotal technological shifts, from the work of early computer art pioneer Lillian Schwartz to the artistic possibilities of AI in the present day. Featuring snippets from his deep dive, the podcast explores what it means to remix archives as a form of collage – reinterpreting and layering history, and connecting to contemporary sound practices.
📖 – Visit our website for the show notes of this episode.
Sonic Trax: Remixing the History of Sound Art is a podcast by Sonic Acts exploring the institution's archive, which dates back to the mid-1990s. Examining creative approaches and interventions, the series reveals broader narratives about the lineage of sound art, tracing its evolution and enduring resonance.
Sonic Acts Archive projects are supported by the Mondriaan Fonds and Cultuurloket DigitALL, and realised by Paradiso and Sonic Acts as part of New Perspectives for Action, a project by Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the European Union.
Credits:
Recorded at Erik's house, Amsterdam
Sound design and editing by Tobias Withers
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Accompanied by her modular synthesiser, xenologist scholar and artist Adriana Knouf's presentation is proposed as a love letter. Eschewing the binary logic that pervades Western thinking, Knouf argues that all beings – trans*, cis, and xeno – are in a constant process of flux and transformation, always already more-than-human. From syringes of oestrogen to the trajectories of satellites orbiting the Earth, she investigates ongoing and future processes of ‘xenomogrifications’ – the becoming of something else.
Following her talk, Adriana Knouf also sat down with Hannah Pezzack to talk about everything from Elon Musk and SpaceX, to fungi and making synth parts. Find the interview in the Sonic Acts Podcast series.
→ Explore more of the Sonic Acts Biennial 2024 programme
CREDITS
Production: Sonic Acts
Camera: Engage! TV
Intro sound: Jessica Ekomane
Intro design: Knoth & Renner with Anja Kaiser
Part of New Perspectives for Action. A project by Re-Imagine Europe, a collaboration between Paradiso and Sonic Acts (NL), funded by Creative Europe.
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