We are all immersed, always. In physical environments, digital networks, in social and political constructs, and yet discussion around ‘immersive media’ is often led by examples of works that cocoon us. Join Duncan Speakman, a composer and sound artist, who creates narrative sound led experiences that engage audiences in uncontrolled public and private space to find out how we can reframe the idea of immersive media as something that exposes and reveals the entangled ecologies we exist in.

Focusing on mobile audio and augmented experiences, this Masterclass offers a mixture of provocations, discussion and practical exercises that explore the following themes and questions:

• The complexity of mobile audio and the listening of elsewhere.
• Can augmenting mean more than just adding? How do we leave space for the world to happen and how do we let our work engage in a dialogue with it?
• How might augmented audio experiences remind us that the world is not for humans, but rather with humans?
• What legacies of site-specific performance can show us about augmented reality and the continued blurring of the line between the ‘work’ and the ‘world’?
• How do we think about audiences as more than mute observers, but as physical bodies with embodied experiences?
• Is a safe environment a universal concept? Placing audiences in ‘the world’ is not as simple as making sure they avoid cars. Individual experiences of environments are also shaped by existing cultural tensions.

Requirements:

Please make sure you have a device you can record sound with, and that you have the option to playback on speakers and headphones (at different times, not simultaneously!). If possible it should be a portable device and you have the ability to go out into the world, though this is not essential to take part in the Masterclass.

Participants will also need a computer with access to audio, camera and Zoom software installed.