Image from John Wynne’s Anspayaxw.

Audible observatories are points of sensory convergence. They are nodes where worlds perceived through the senses intersect; they draw attention to the transformations that occur when independent objects and events become knowable and meaningful claims. They speak . . . and they are spoken to. The term audible observatory is meant to draw attention not only to the situation and the agency of the anthropologist or artist but also to the observer. Ethnographic Terminalia brings anthropologists and artists together in the gallery space to investigate the borders and blurrings of contemporary art practice and alternative modes of cultural inquiry and representation. For the Audible Observatories exhibition the curators have selected over twenty-five artists and cultural researchers including: Steve Feld, John Wynne, Rupert Cox & Angus Carlyle, and Roxanne Varzi. The Audible Observatories exhibition is located at SOMArts Cultural Center, Alley Cat Gallery, and throughout San Francisco in the Distributed Exhibition.

How to get to our events in San Francisco

Thursday, November 15.  7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Friday, November 16. 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Reception at SOMArts Cultural Center
934 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Saturday, November 17.

• 10:45am – noon: “Multispecies Intra-Actions: A Round Table”
• 2:00 pm: Karin Bolender’s performance of “Gut Sounds Lullaby”

View Ethnographic Terminalia 2012 in a larger map

Waking in my terrace apartment in Nima, an ethnically diverse and class-mixed neighborhood of Accra, Ghana, once-strange sounds have now, after five years, become so familiar that I have the sensation of first opening my ears and eyes to the performance of an electro-acoustic composition in a concert hall. Did I hear that – or did I dream I heard it?

As the sun begins to rise I become aware of the sonic dawn of mosque and church sounds filling out in the surround of roosters, car alarms, voices, street vendors, a distant train. At a moment of emergent conscious awareness I realize that this whole ambient ground is acoustically figured through the presence of songbirds excitedly calling from a tree next to my window.

Waking in Nima is an ambient audio composition that follows my process of waking into acoustic awareness. The sound is mixed from eight real-time tracks recorded 4:30-6:30am from microphones placed in nearby trees and on the roof of my flat. The exhibition excerpt runs 15 minutes.

~Steve Feld

Steve Feld is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. His research principally concerns the anthropology of sound and voice, which led him to spend almost twenty-five years studying the soundscapes of the Bosavi rainforest in Papua New Guinea. Both his writing and his artistic practice bring together the natural and human worlds, figuring a singular environment of sound that includes the hum of the rainforest and the call-and-response of bird songs together with human-produced language, poetry, and music.

More recently, Feld has spent time studying Greek Macedonia and Romani instrumentalists. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he is an active member of the city’s musical scene.

]]> http://ethnographicterminalia.org/archives/1908/feed 0 http://ethnographicterminalia.org/archives/1778 http://ethnographicterminalia.org/archives/1778#comments Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:41:23 +0000 metafactory http://ethnographicterminalia.org/?p=1778 Continue reading →]]>
-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-

Audible Observatories

Audible observatories are points of sensory convergence. 
They are nodes where worlds perceived through the senses intersect and begin the labor of transforming independent events into knowable and meaningful claims.
They speak and they are spoken to.

ETHNOGRAPHIC TERMINALIA 2012: SAN FRANCISCO

Ethnographic Terminalia is a curatorial collective that hosts an annual exhibition of international artists and researchers working at the intersection of art and anthropology. In November 2012, the Ethnographic Terminalia Curatorial Collective welcomes visitors to the Audible Observatories exhibition. This year’s show is organized in collaboration with Thor Anderson and is scheduled to coincide with the 111th annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association (AAA).

Ethnographic Terminalia brings anthropologists and artists together in the gallery space to investigate the borders and blurrings of contemporary art practice and alternative modes of cultural inquiry and representation.  Ethnographic Terminalia is an exploration of what it means to exhibit anthropology – particularly in some of its less traditional forms – in proximity to and conversation with contemporary art practices.

Now in its fourth year (following Montréal, New Orleans, and Philadelphia), Ethnographic Terminalia represents an international array of creative material, conceptual, and new media engagements where anthropology and art intersect. For Ethnographic Terminalia 2012: Audible Observatories the curators have selected over twenty five artists and cultural researchers including: Steve Feld, John Wynne, Rupert Cox & Angus Carlyle, and Roxanne Varzi.

Locations:

A/O is comprised of three exhibitions: SOMArts, Alley Cat Gallery, and the Distributed Exhibition.

SOMArts Cultural Center
A/O Hub Exhibition

934 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Nov. 16. 5:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Nov. 17. 10:00am – 5:00 p.m.
Nov. 18. Noon – 5:00 p.m.

Alley Cat Gallery
A/O Satellite Exhibition

(ft. John Wynne’s Anspayaxw)
3036 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

November 13 – 20. 10am – 7pm

Opening Receptions:

We are hosting two opening receptions.

 Alley Cat Gallery
Thursday, November 15.  7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

SOMArts Cultural Center
Friday, November 16. 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Cost: Entry is free to all Audible Observatories galleries and events (with the exception of the roundtable panel, being held at the meetings of the American Anthropological Association).

In addition to the main exhibition, other events sponsored by Ethnographic Terminalia include:

15 November 2012 – Thursday

• 8 a.m – 9:45a.m.: AAA Roundtable
• 7:00-10:00 p.m.: Opening Reception at Alley Cat Gallery.

16 November 2011 – Friday

• 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.: SOMArts Reception

17 November 2011 – Saturday

• 10:45am – noon: “Multispecies Intra-Actions: A Round Table”
• 2:00 pm: Bolender performance

Principle Curators:

Stephanie Takaragawa, Chapman University (Orange, USA)
Craig Campbell, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, USA)

Local Organizer:

Thor Anderson, San Francisco Art Institute & San Francisco State University

Co-Curators:

Kate Hennessy, School of Interactive Arts + Technology, SFU (Vancouver, Canada)
Fiona McDonald, University College London (London, England)
Trudi Lynn Smith, York University (Toronto, Canada)

Sponsors:

AAA Community Engagement Fund, Society for Visual Anthropology, Dept. of Anthropology University of Texas at Austin, Intermedia Workshop, Layar, SOMArts, Alley Cat Books.

Online:

• www.ethnographicterminalia.org
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/terminalia
• Follow us on Twitter: @ethnoterminalia
  • Twitter Hashtags (keywords) include: #ET2012 and #AAA2012

The ET collective was thrilled to exhibit Susan Hiller’s work The Last Silent Movie, at Ethnographic Terminalia 2010, New Orleans. Here is a link to Martin Hebert’s recent discussion of Hiller’s work, including the installation of Witness (2000) currently at the Tate Britain.

You can also find a video interview with “Old Growth” curator Liz Park, in conversation with Michael Nicholl Yahgulanaas, here. “Old Growth” is a curated “archive” of Yahgulanaas’ select works created over the last four decades–be sure to visit if you are passing through Vancouver.

Ethnographic Terminalia 2010, New Orleans, was pleased to present Michael Nicholl Yahgulanaas’s collaboration with curator and anthropologist Nicola Levell, “Seduction” and video “RED”.

Other ways to follow us:

• Ethnographic Terminalia on Flickr
• Follow Ethnographic Terminalia on Twitter
• Friend us on Facebook