The Future in the Stars: European Astroculture
and Extraterrestrial Life in the Twentieth Century
Emmy Noether Research Group
Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut
Freie Universität Berlin
Sounds of Space
International Workshop
Berlin, 30 November and 1 December 2012
This workshop examines the fundamental role of technology, craft skills, and situated knowledge for realizing outer space and space exploration in sonic forms that resonate through physical, perceptual and imaginary worlds. How have sonic experiences been conceived, articulated and elided in cultural practice and discourse on outer space and space exploration in Western Europe and the United States? Focusing on the period extending from the late 1940s to 1980, Sounds of Space explores the ways in which sonic technologies, sound and music production, soundscapes, mass media, and listening practices have shaped and been shaped by knowledge and understanding of outer space.
Confirmed speakers include Tim Boon (British Science Museum), Konstantin Kaminskij (Universität Konstanz), Trevor Pinch (Cornell University), Johan Stenstrӧm (Lund University), and James Wierzbicki (University of Sydney).
For further information please visit the website www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/astrofuturism. Registration is required to attend the workshop. Please contact the convener William R. Macauley at [log in to unmask] to register.
PROGRAM
Friday, 30 November 2012
09:00-09:10 Welcome
Alexander C.T. Geppert (Berlin)
09:10-09:30 Introduction
William R. Macauley (Berlin): Venturing into Sounds of Space during the Postwar Period
09:30-10:30 Keynote Presentation
James Wierzbicki (Sydney): The Imagined Sounds of Outer Space
11:00-12:30 Panel I: Sounds of Space in Art and Opera
Chair: Claudia Schmӧlders (Berlin)
Tatjana Bӧhme-Mehner (Leipzig): Outer Space and Space Travel in Pierre Schaeffer’s ‘La Coquille à planètes’
Johan Stenstrӧm (Lund): The Significance of Electronic Music in the Space Opera ‘Aniara’
13:30-15:00 Panel II: The Human Voice and Sounds of Space
Chair: Matthias Schwartz (Berlin)
Konstantin Kaminskij (Konstanz): The Voices of the Cosmos: Electronic Synthesis of Special Sound Effects in Soviet vs. American Science Fiction Movies from Sputnik 1 to Apollo 8
Tim Boon (London): Music for Spaces: Music for Space
15:30-17:00 Panel III: Synthesizing Sounds of Space
Chair: Peter Moormann (Berlin)
Trevor Pinch (Ithaca, NY): Inner Space and Outer Space: How the Early Electronic Music Synthesizer Took Us There
Axel Volmar (Siegen): Cosmic Symphonies: Electronic Music Culture, Analog Synthesizers, and the Birth of Superstring Theory in the 1970s
17:30-18:00 Performance
Eliad Wagner (Berlin): Crossing Streams: Instant Composition Using the Sound Vocabulary of Science Fiction
Saturday, 1 December 2012
09:00-10:30 Panel IV: Sounds of Space in Popular Music
Chair: Klaus Nathaus (Bielefeld)
Michael Mooradian Lupro (Portland, OR): ‘Just my Job, Five Days a Week:’ Soundscapes of Space Labor in Apollo Era Pop Music
Cathleen Lewis (Washington, DC): Okudzhava and Scott-Heron: The Social Critique Soundtrack of the Space Race
11:00-12:30 Panel V: Sonification of Outer Space
Chair: Daniel Brandau (Berlin)
Alexandra Supper (Maastricht): Eerie Whistling and Tribal Cosmic Heartbeats: The Silencing of Craft Skills in the Sonification of Astrophysics
Pawel Frelik (Lublin): Dark Transmissions: Cosmic Visions in Contemporary Music
13:30-15:00 Panel VI: Intelligent Sounds from Outer Space
Chair: Alexander C.T. Geppert (Berlin)
Klara Anna Capova (Durham): Listening to the Sounds of Silence
Stefan Helmreich (Cambridge, MA): Listening Through Alien Ears to the Voyager Interstellar Record
15:30-16:30 Closing Session
Chair: William R. Macauley (Berlin)
WORKSHOP VENUE
Henry Ford Building
Freie Universität Berlin
Garystrasse 35
14195 Berlin
www.fu-berlin.de/hfb
CONTACT
[log in to unmask]
www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/astrofuturism
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