The audio group residency consisted of 6 people, Klaas Devos (Belgium), Christina Houghton (New Zealand), Yin-Chi Lee (New Zealand/ Taiwan), Praxedes Martinez (Mexico), Janaina Moraes (New Zealand/ Brazil) with facilitation by Kristian Larsen (New Zealand).

Meeting weekly on zoom and in the studio in Auckland we took listening as an entry point towards a shared practice. 

What we considered initially was the materiality of sound - the reliance of sound on the materials it encounters in order to be what it is – a sonic event vibrating, moving reflecting off of, and being absorbed by the places that we live and the stuff that makes up the body. 

We paid attention to mundane sounds. Why would one always listen closely to the traffic, or birds, or neighbours’ voices through walls, or one’s own breathing? The familiar sounds that slip from awareness readily. 

We engaged openly and sensitively with a shared movement – listening practice almost each and every session. Where we were physically contextualised and materialised the virtuality of practice shared in real time via video

How much of one’s receptive awareness can one keep whilst exploring the desire to discover sound and movement? To move the body imaginatively and openly whilst retaining an intention to move specifically in order to create a sound and keeping a sense of connection with others through a zoom meeting. 

We made sounds, hunted for sounds not yet made, described our immediate worlds through the presence of sonic events. We noticed the movements that made sounds intentionally and the unintended sonic results of some movements. We appreciated uninvited and unwanted sound. We skilfully ignored some thoughts about those things whilst cultivating fresh insights occasionally.

We thought and conversed and listened and conversed more. Contexts formed and dissolved around temporality, memories, the hyper-mobility of attention.

Sound and movement were considered together with feeling, listening, and producing as a totality. It sounds complicated but really it wasn’t. 

We made recordings. 

We kept diaries (sort of)

We created artefacts.

We talked about being where we are and being there. 

We took pleasure in the residency, in listening, and in each other’s company.