Transgressive Sounds

Transgressive Sounds and Atmospheres is a unique curatorial research creation project that explores the sensory and affective experience of the political, ethical, and transgressive dimensions of new, avant-garde, improvisational, sound art, and extreme musics. The goal of the project is to allow participants to experience musics and soundscapes that challenge conventional music spaces and audience experiences: our curations and performances challenge listeners to sit within contrasting affective time-space atmospheres and invite them to think through such things as their own conceptions of music, sound, and timbre. The mixing and hybridization of musical genres contributes to the transgressing of affective time-space atmospheres of individual genres and allow for a unique exploration of the possibilities of sonic envelopment and noise in shaping experience. The curatorial aspect of the project draws from a rich diversity of Quebec artists and contrasting conceptions of musical, sonic, spatial, and atmospheric transgressions. The curation and workshop components of the project aims to contribute to the Concordia community and its unique strengths in the sensory, sonic, musical, and multi-media fields and to give exposure to Montreal, Quebec, and Concordia-based musician and sound artists. By inviting the participants to dive into deep listening and soundscape experiences this research creation project seeks to develop a new atmospheric approach to music performance and cultural analyses to explore the relationship between community, sound, aesthetics, and normativity.

Our events have been supported by The Office of Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies (OVPRGS), The Center for Sensory Studies, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture (CISSC), the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Concordia University, and Quebec-based legal humanities network, Le Groupe de recherche sur les humanités juridiques.