This class will attempt to bring together and examine the often fragmented and always evolving relationship between sound and art, which encompasses practice and theory of music, sculpture, noise, performance, site-specific installation, and beyond. Students will be introduced to a wide range of artists ranging from interdisciplinary mavericks to composers of the 60s avant garde, to industrial noise artists, and queer performers including such artists as Maryanne Amacher, Pauline Oliveros, Rolf Julius, John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Arca, Holly Herndon, and SOPHIE.

In addition to developing new ways of listening and thinking about sound, students will also be asked to develop their own sonic practice. This class will be a workshop for students to bring in projects of their own to work on together. There will be a number of collaborative and solo assignments which are geared towards understanding technology and software available to the class: Ableton Live, Madrona Labs, MAX for Live, and more. These assignments will also differ in compositional methods, incorporating the creation of drones, use of alternate tunings, granular synthesis, convolution reverb as well as the implementation of surface transducers and contact microphones. 

The class will evolve according to student needs. Ultimately the class will work towards an event which will be collaboratively curated and may include a sound exhibition, site-specific installations, and performances over the course of the final weeks.

No prior knowledge of sound software necessary.