Sonic Spaces is a new series taking place at NYC PIT Pop Up exploring the mediums of sound and music, and looking into how they inform our ideas around community, communication, and commodification.
All of these events are free and open to the public.
On Sunday April 19th at 2pm, Aurelie Barbier (Space to the People) will be presenting Sounds of Earth, a transatlantic experiment in which Berlin-based opera singer Lola Volonakis performs live in dialogue with her AI double in New York. Using high-resolution vocal modeling, the performance uses AI to reinterpret fragments of Mozart’s The Magic Flute (one of the musical selections NASA sent to represent humanity in 1977), challenging notions of authorship, replication, and cultural heritage. This performance will be followed by a Q&A and discussion with Barbier, Volonakis, and Camille JeanJean (Villa Albertine). The event will allow for a limited in-person capacity and will be livestreamed. RSVP here to attend.
On Monday April 20th at 6pm, writer/educator/DJ Todd Craig will be in dialogue with Chenjerai Kumanyika to celebrate the audiobook release of his recent book K for the Way. Craig’s book establishes and investigates the function of DJ rhetoric and literacy, illuminating the DJ as a fruitful example for (re)envisioning approaches to writing, research, and analysis in contemporary educational settings. Because it is widely recognized that the DJ was the catalyst for the creation of Hip Hop culture, this book begins a new conversation in which Hip Hop DJs introduce ideas about poetics and language formation through the modes, practices, and techniques they engage in on a daily basis. The event will allow for a limited in-person capacity and will be livestreamed. RSVP here to attend.
On Wednesday April 22nd, author Liz Pelly will be joined by moderator Jeff Tobias to discuss her recent book Mood Machine, which takes a critical look at the rise of Spotify, the data surveillance company masquerading as a music streaming platform. Drawing on over one hundred interviews with industry insiders, former Spotify employees, and musicians, Mood Machine takes us to the inner workings of today’s highly consolidated record business, showing what has changed as music has become increasingly playlisted, personalized, and autoplayed. The event will allow for a limited in-person capacity and will be livestreamed. RSVP here to attend.
On Friday April 24th, artists Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere will host a day-length audio installation at the pop up that will capture and recontextualize radio frequencies from areas inside and immediately surrounding the Oculus. The local airwaves will be sourced and recombined into a sound piece exploring the overlapping textures communicated across Lower Manhattan re-articulating the invisible and omnipresent frequencies used by municipal agencies.
Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere are interdisciplinary artists whose practice spans over twenty years of projects that actuate music and sound, radio, dissent, and the cultural complexities of the public sphere. The artists have produced works in video installation, lyric writing, performance, and photography. Their research interests lie in the intersection between music, civic action, and historical moments that resonate through distinct musical instrumentation and sonorous traditions. This installation will be freely accessible to visitors at the pop up from 12pm-6pm throughout the day, no RSVP necessary.