Returning the Ear
‘Returning the Ear’ is an on-going collaboration between Tim Shaw and Jacek Smolicki. It is a particular method for attending to, archiving and mediating space through an array of sonic interventions and on-site experiments.
Returning the Ear - Northern Charter, Newcastle, UK [Image: Jacek Smolicki, 2016]
If traditionally the experience and documentation of place has been performed through visual or textual means, our approach attempts to bring attention to practices of listening and audio-recording. ‘Returning the Ear’ is about questioning and testing diverse natures of listening and recording through performative walks within public space, in both urban and rural environments.
Returning the Ear - Tour of Sweden and Denmark [Image: Jacek Smolicki, 2018]
Shaw and Smolicki have presented ‘Returning the Ear’ through site responsive performances at the following venues:
- Culture Lab, Newcastle, UK
- Gnesta Water Tower, Gnesta, Sweden
- Illutron, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Inter Arts Centre, Malmö, Sweden
- Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden
- Volkskundemuseum, Vienna, Austria
- Museum of History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia
- ARC, Romainmôtier, Switzerland
- The Northern Charter, Newcastle, UK
- 4S, Barcelona, Spain
Tim Shaw and Jacek Smolicki also curate the Walking Festival of Sound, more information on that can be found here.
Returning the Ear - Northern Charter, Newcastle, UK [Image: Jacek Smolicki, 2016]
We have writen about our collaborative practice for the Journal of Landscape Architecture, ‘Thinking Eye, Wandering Ear’