June 4th 2025 – ZKF Public Talk, Konstanz University
4. Juni 2025, 17:30, ZKF Public Talk: Sawt, Bodies, Species. Ecological Voices and Interspecies Performance
by Dr. Gilles Aubry
Bischofsvilla + online
Orgnanized ZKF, Postdoc-Netzwerk im ZKF, Konstanz University, Germany
Moderation: Dr. Maria Lidola
Following the publication of his book Sawt, Bodies, Species (adocs 2023), Gilles Aubry shares findings from his research on ecological voices in Morocco. He presents two collaborative videos as a basis for a discussion on interspecies performance and environmental justice.
Produced with the artist Abdeljalil Saouli, the video STONESOUND provides a starting point for a reflection on the nature of stone, and of sound itself. Listening mirrors locally significant representations of space, with important roots in Islamic scholarship, Sufi philosophy, and Amazigh cosmology. The natural sound field appears fragmented and reveals extra-human agencies, which mediate between people and their own representations.
In the film Atlantic Ragagar, a number of performative interventions on the coast near Safi are documented, in collaboration with the biologist Younes Boundir and the artist Imane Zoubai. Listening and singing provides a modality for attuning to the local ecosystem, which suffers from pollution generated by extractive industries. On the other hand, people rely on marine resources to sustain their lives. If the tension between socio-economical imperatives and ecological justice cannot easily be resolved, sound artistic practice enables alternate forms of engagement which can resonate with local activist initiatives.
Gilles Aubry is an artist, musician, and researcher based in Lausanne and Berlin. He holds an MA in Sound Art from the Berlin University of the Arts (UDK) and a PhD in social anthropology from the Bern University. He creates installations, films, performances and radio pieces which explore the cultural, ecological and affective dimensions of sound and listening. His works have been shown at the Marrakech Biennale (2014), documenta14 in Kassel (2017), and Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid (2020). Aubry’s book Sawt, Bodies, Species – Sonic Pluralism in Morocco (Adocs 2023) offers an account on sound and aurality in Morocco. He teaches at UDK Berlin and ZHdK Zurich. www.earpolitics.net