Sounds of the Living: Robert Schwarz

Live Performance by Robert Schwarz, followed by an open discussion

The series of sound interventions at the Otto Wagner Kassenhalle explores the concept of living matter and questions the notion of nature. Part VI is the opening event for the course Auditory Cultures by theorist Kristina Pia Hofer (Department of Media Theory).

Kristina Hofers’s class at the University of Applied Arts Vienna focuses on field recording as an artistic practice and as a subject for critical academic inquiry. It will question field recordings as a practice of capture: How are they entangled with extractivist logics old and new, with binary epistemologies of ‘Nature’ and ‘Culture,’ with gendered and racialized structures and dynamics of power?

The AIL series picks up on these questions, and adds some of their own: How has our understanding of nature changed over time? How have these changes shaped the soundscape on planet Earth? How do the sounds of abiotic elements such as wind, water or earth movements intra-act with the sounds of living organisms like humans and further their technology? The AIL sound performances take a very close listen at our surroundings and soundscapes of today.

Please note: The performance will be open to the public, no registration is needed to participate. If you want to attend the performance as part of Kristina’s class, please register for the course via base.

Guest of Sounds of the Living VI is Robert Schwarz, who incorporates a background including computer music, sound studies, and architecture into his installations, live performances and recorded music. The Vienna-based sound artist’s current works, especially his recent album, ‘Stridulations 1-14’, for Superpang, investigate the acoustic dimensions of insects with a particular focus on swarm behaviour, in conjunction with speculative resynthesis. With more than 20 years of experience as a sound artist, Schwarz attunes to the internal logic of his subject, creating new and abstract entities from synthetic and organic sound sources that suggest profound, dissociative states of listening.

Robert Schwarz has released critically acclaimed albums for Superpang, Gruenrekorder, ETAT and ALTER, and developed a series of walk-in sculptures in Los Angeles, Brussels and Vienna. He has presented works at institutions and festivals such as MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles, Kunsthalle Wien, Tokyo Arts and Space, CTM Berlin, Skaņu Mežs and Musikprotokoll. Schwarz was selected for the 2023/24 year of the SHAPE+ Platform for innovative music and audiovisual art, and is co-founder and curator of the ‘PARKEN’ festival in Vienna.