[of sound]
Joshua Le Gallienne: Queer Ecotones
Non-Binary Reflections On Listening – virtual workshop
20.3.2023
19-20:30 Helsinki time
The workshop requires a pre-registration.
EN
What might it mean to listen ecologically, to listen in places of tension, to listen beyond binaries?
The term ‘ecotone’ was coined by naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace to describe transitional areas where different ecological communities meet. Ecotones are known for their richness of biodiversity and are often among the first environments to exhibit responses to climate change. Wallace considered these zones as points of tension, naming them after the Greek word for stress (tonos). Incidentally, the word ‘tone’, which is used to describe the characteristics of sound, has its origins in the same place.
This online event will take the concept of the ecotone as a metaphorical site to examine what it might mean to listen ecologically, to listen in places of tension, to listen beyond binaries.
The session will be led by artist Joshua Le Gallienne and will provide a forum for considering sound within a queer framework with a particular focus on ecology. Joshua will start the session with a talk, presenting their research into the history of queer listening and sharing their first-hand insights into what a non-binary perspective on sound might entail. The second half of the session will be structured as a workshop where participants will explore a range of listening exercises together and discuss the possible futures of queer listening.
The session is open to all. No prior knowledge or experience of the subject matter is required, only an interest in the topic. The workshop will be held in English.
ARTIST BIO
Joshua Le Gallienne (b. 1985) is a non-binary British artist exploring materiality of acoustic sound within an artistic context. Through sculpture, installation, and performance, the artist stages intimate experiences that explore the relationships between sound, physical materials and environmental phenomena. Unusually, for an artist working predominantly with sound, Joshua does not use digital technologies, loudspeakers, or conventional sources of energy in their practice and operates primarily outside of a traditional gallery context. With each new piece, new materials and configurations are introduced. Previous works have employed pyrotechnics, blocks of ice, compressed air, carbonated liquids, and biodegradable plastics for their sonic qualities. Since 2012 Joshua’s work has been regularly presented in the UK and internationally, receiving numerous awards including The Auxiliary’s Sonic Arts Emerging Artist Exhibition Award (2019) and Sound and Music’s Francis Chagrin Award (2020). Their work is unmediated and mostly undocumented, favouring in-situ presentations. In line with this the artist has no website or online presence.
The virtual workshop is part of [of sound] sonic arts exhibition organised in Oksasenkatu 11 gallery between March 5th–30th, 2023.
The exhibition has been supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) and Musiikin edistämissäätiön (MES).