Bird on the Wire: Postnatural Soundscapes in the Phonocene

A bird perches on the wires of the city – singing against the noise of data streams, Wi-Fi networks, power lines, and machines. In the age of the Phonocene, where technological infrastructures permeate the acoustic environment, each birdcall becomes an echo of a shifting listening culture – between nature and technology.

In this five-day workshop, we explore the relationship between natural and synthetic sound – and how new acoustic ecologies can emerge through listening, recording, and algorithmic transformation. Our starting point is a practice of deep listening: we document urban sound realities – birdcalls between buildings, the hum of transformer stations, the breath of the city. These field recordings are not treated as static archives, but as living source material: we transform them into synthetic voices, develop algorithmically generated sound fragments, and compose new sonic ecologies.

Alongside technical guidance in generative sound composition tools, we treat listening itself as a speculative practice – one that opens up new ways of perceiving a technologically saturated environment. When birdsong becomes generative code, we are no longer simply asking what we hear – but how, why, and with whom.
Together, we will develop site-specific or speculative soundscapes that will be shared in a collective presentation – as an open-format listening experience.

The workshop is open to all experience levels. Technical knowledge is welcome but not required. If available, you are encouraged to bring your own field recorder. A laptop and headphones are required for participation.

Bird Atlas

The workshop will be held as a blocked course. Full attendance on all days is required.

Scheduled sessions will take place in the Design and Narrative Media class as follows: