RND: Resonance on the Dancefloor

Angus Tarnawsky, Ana Rita Costa, Gabriele Murano

00:00

Free entry

Module 2 is hosted by Anita Jóri (Leuphana University Lüneburg).

Dub Navigation (no.1): Sonic Encounters on the Lee Navigation

Angus Tarnawsky (PhD candidate, Concordia University)

Over the past year, I have developed a field recording practice in and around the Lee Navigation (a canal in East London). I have mostly been »listening-with« the acoustic environment using hydrophones (for underwater sounds) and contact mics (for sensing vibrations as they travel through physical objects). These listening devices have worked to shift my attention toward a range of not-so-obvious sonic moments that occur as part of everyday life along the canal. 

In particular, the rhythmic qualities of the sonic (inter)actions that I encountered while listening underwater grabbed my attention and reminded me of the playful world of »dub« developed initially by a range of Jamaican studio producers in the 1960s and 1970s. A dub mix relies on experimental sonic processes, and serves as a B-side that counters the A-side (or main mix) of a recorded audio release. This shift is achieved by bringing attention to particular aspects of an existing recording — often things that are less prominent — through unexpected re-arrangements of sections and dramatic spatial treatments, along with a pronounced emphasis on bass frequencies. 

In this presentation, I discuss the role of dub as an audio (re)mixing practice and method of sonic thinking that can provide ways of accessing the B-sides that counter the A-sides of a place's sonic environment.

Angus Tarnawsky is an Australian-Canadian sound artist and researcher. He holds a BMus from the University of Melbourne and an MFA from OCAD University. As a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University, his doctoral research examines everyday patterns of hearing, listening and sounding via place-responsive “sonic encounters” on urban canal networks in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal and London, England.

Sculpting Sound in Space: Reimagining DJ Performance through Spatial Audio

Ana Rita Costa (independent artist and PhD student, Universidade de Aveiro)

My research explores the aesthetic potential of spatial audio in electronic music, reimagining DJ performance as a space for artistic creation rather than a purely functional practice. Instead of treating spatialization as a technical enhancement, I approach it as a compositional tool that reshapes sound into evolving textures, choreographies of movement, and new forms of collective resonance.

The focus of my work is on how immersive audio transforms perception and meaning in performance. By fragmenting, multiplying, or displacing sounds in three-dimensional space, moments of dissonance emerge – challenging habits of listening and destabilizing the dance floor. At the same time, resonance arises when sound, body, and architecture converge, generating shared intensity and a sense of expanded presence.
 
Drawing on collaborations with venues and laboratories such as GRAME Lyon and Le Sucre, my practice has developed through site-specific experiments that test how spatial diffusion alters aesthetic form. These performances reveal spatial audio as a medium of artistic grammar, where the DJ becomes both performer and sculptor of sound trajectories.

My PhD in Artistic Creation continues this inquiry by investigating how immersive sound can establish new artistic languages for electronic music. By embracing both resonance and dissonance, I aim to propose ways in which spatial performance can open imaginative, poetic, and transformative experiences within contemporary club culture.

Ana Rita Costa (MAYAN) is a Portuguese DJ, sound artist, and new PhD student in Artistic Creation at the University of Aveiro. Her research explores spatial audio in electronic music performance, bridging club culture and immersive sound practices. With works presented at Superbooth, Le Sucre, and GRAME Lyon, she investigates how ambisonics and live spatialization reshape audience perception and aesthetic experience.

Invite me to your Dancefloor - Dancefloors as Dinner Parties

By Gabriele Murano (independent artist)

I've been researching for some time why dancefloors are becoming a hostile and egocentric place where the well-being of the community as a whole has started to fade, and the well-being of the single individual becomes more predominant. Dancefloors used to be spaces of acceptance, connection, inclusivity and celebration of diversity. Nowadays, we see and experience fragmentation in our community, especially the queer one, where the sense of entitlement runs our actions. 

Is it really the pandemic that brought it to the surface? 
Is it really the social media era ruining connections between people?
Is it a fast-paced life, with an economy that binds you with scarce resources for you to enjoy entertainment?

 With »Invite me to your Dancefloor« we explore accessing these spaces with the analogy that we are invited to a dinner party. 

How would you behave if you were a guest at a dinner organised by your friends or people that you don't know? Would you behave at your best, or would you need your friends or the awareness team to help you? The goal is to explore why we stopped caring for each other and for the space we are in, to make sure that we get the maximum enjoyment from the resources (time and money) we spent. This project also wants to explore accessibility, as this concept has evolved. We consider not only a barrier-free space, but also we have to think about other barriers too (i.e. financial, auditory etc).

Gabriele Murano has experienced the local club scene in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Dublin. He started as a DJ a few years ago, moving to Turin for a course in Electronic Music Production. He also recently launched a queer techno party called GLIMMER with a strong focus on music and community, intending to create a space where everyone can feel they belong.

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