Un· Tuning Together. Practicing listening with Pauline Oliveros

This group exhi­bi­tion is inspired by a unique con­cept of lis­tening that the American exper­i­mental com­poser Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) refers to as Deep Listening, which, in her words, “involves going beneath the sur­face of what is heard.” At the heart of this prac­tice is an acute aware­ness of the fact that there is always more to hear “beneath the sur­face” of the audible, in the recesses of the acoustic envi­ron­ment.

The Deep Listening expe­ri­ence is open to new forms of sen­so­ri­ality and rep­re­sents a com­mit­ment to con­tinue devel­oping our lis­tening skills through scores that, rather than guiding the inter­pre­ta­tion of music, sug­gest atten­tional strate­gies and ways of lis­tening to our­selves, others and the envi­ron­ment. In Oliveros’ work, the prac­tice of atten­tion is most often con­ducted in a col­lec­tive set­ting. In most of her com­po­si­tions, she pro­vides open-ended indi­ca­tions that must be nego­ti­ated col­lec­tively by the per­formers, involving a great deal of atten­tion and recep­tivity to others and to what is hap­pening.

The exhi­bi­tion “Un· Tuning Together” brings Pauline Oliveros’ prac­tice face to face with those of artists whose research reflects and expands on her pro­posals. Each artist is invited to inhabit the entire space and to share with par­tic­i­pating audi­ences prac­tices that bring into play the prin­ci­ples of impro­vi­sa­tion and mutual lis­tening within a group. Their pro­posals will alter­nate in a pro­gramme of col­lec­tive work and public per­for­mances. Oliveros’ work will also be prac­tised col­lec­tively through reg­ular ses­sions ded­i­cated to the expe­ri­ence of Sonic Meditations. Her work has become a kind of cat­a­lyst for thinking col­lec­tively – with artists, researchers, par­tic­i­pating audi­ences and the Bétonsalon team – about how bodies involved in these lis­tening prac­tices can gen­erate changes on both per­sonal and social levels.