Lobby and stairwells at Udk Berlin are used as a resonant body
Future is Now! Sounding Futures
Seminar at UdK Berlin Studium Generale 15-16.05./5-6.06. 2026
This project explores sound art as an artistic practice for experiencing the future—not as a predetermined destination, but as an acoustic field of possibility. Sound, ephemeral and temporal by nature, creates spaces for anticipation: we often begin to listen ahead, imagining what is about to happen before a sound actually emerges.
Much like anticipating thunder after seeing lightning, sound art can render future possibilities audible. Even silence can become a resonant chamber of what is yet to come. Within this liminal space between imagination and perception lies the creative potential of sound-art practice. The workshop is grounded in an expanded understanding of sound art as art about sound, in which sound is both medium and subject. The focus extends beyond composition to sound’s role as a mode of perception, a cultural archive, and a speculative space for thought.
Participants will develop and realize sound-art works at UdK Berlin—individually or collaboratively—in locations such as the foyer, corridors, stairwells, or courtyard. The UdK building itself will function as a Klangkörper—a resonant body whose architectural, material, and acoustic properties become part of the artwork. By engaging the building as both instrument and medium, participants will create site-specific interventions that open acoustic spaces of possibility between the present, anticipation, and imagined futures.
Workshop Structure
Spatial Analysis & Site Exploration
What acoustic, architectural, and atmospheric qualities define a site? How does a space shape listening—and influence our perception of what is yet to come?
Sound Experiments
Working with field recordings, instrumental, electronic, and voice-based sound materials, as well as hybrid approaches.
Concept Development & Realization
From initial idea to site-specific installation: concept development, sound design, and technical implementation within the chosen environment.
Contexts & References
Introduction to key positions in the history and contemporary practice of sound art, providing inspiration and critical frameworks for participants’ own projects.
Final Presentation
Public presentation of the resulting sound installations in their respective locations, followed by a collective reflection on artistic, spatial, and sonic processes.
No previous experience is required—only curiosity, a spirit of experimentation, and an open ear.