A sonic experience where the audience sits blindfolded is returning to Cornell March 23 for a 6 p.m. performance in Sage Chapel.
The World According to Sound, a duo who were artists-in-residence on campus in the fall of 2019, will visit Cornell with their new show, as part of a 25-campus tour across the country this spring highlighting 鈥渢he spirit of academic inquiry.鈥
鈥淭his is a compilation of things we鈥檝e been working on over the last 10-12 years, a 鈥榖est of the World According to Sound鈥 show,鈥 said Chris Hoff 鈥02, one of the producers. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 an introduction to this perspective for people who might not consider themselves sound aficionados or sound studies people.鈥
鈥淭he humanities give us new ways to understand the things we think we know,鈥 said Sam Harnett, another producer, adding that a focus of the show is breaking down some of the artificial barriers between the sciences and the humanities. 鈥淭he arts and sciences are about pursuing different ways of knowing. The show is an exercise in using sound, which is often neglected or overlooked, as a way of knowing.鈥
During the 75-minute experience, audience members will hear the vibrations of the Golden Gate Bridge, footsteps of ants, recordings of typewriters and sounds from the middle of a choir. The show also includes ideas, essays, books, theories and contemporary research translated into soundscapes.
The performance will be followed by a Q&A with co-producers Hoff and Harnett.
During their stay on campus in 2019 as part of Cornell鈥檚 multidisciplinary , Hoff and Harnett met with professors whose research focuses on sound and media.
They explored Cornell鈥檚 music and sound-based collections and discovered an array of other sounds related to the university鈥檚 broad areas of study. They recorded fish, frogs, Latin speakers, particle accelerators, organs, synthesizers, ice skates and even dirt. Some of those sounds are also part of this new show.
Hoff and Harnett also collaborated with the Media Studies Program on a and host a podcast, about various topics within the humanities, which they鈥檝e done in collaboration with various universities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to be connecting again with the World According to Sound,鈥 said , professor of literatures in English and chair of Cornell鈥檚 Media Studies Initiative. 鈥淭hey have a long history of collaborating with us at Cornell, and together we鈥檝e found new ways of expressing the depth and reach of our research. The Sage Chapel performance should be unforgettable.鈥
While the shows on the tour have a basic foundation, the pair said the Cornell show will have some customization because of all of the material they recorded here.
鈥淚t鈥檚 super-intersectional,鈥 Hoff said. 鈥淭here are people from all corners of campus included, not just the sound or music people, but scientists, astronomers, philosophers.鈥
Audience members have told the duo that certain sounds 鈥渄ig memories out of the crevices, things that have kind of been lost,鈥 Hoff said, recalling a woman who said a song during the show brought back a memory of her mom from 50 years ago, while the sound of mud pots (a geothermal feature) made another listener think of stews and good cooking.
The March 23 show is free, but audience members should
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