“A VIVA VOCE: VOCAL EXPRESSION AT THE TIME OF SPEAKING MACHINES
Sunday, 15th July – 7pm
Errant Sound, Kollwitzstrasse 97 Berlin
Artist Talk & Performance event with
Domenico Napolitano (aka SEC_)
Steffi Weismann
Tomomi Adachi
Alessandra Eramo
////
Voice has traditionally been considered peculiar of humans and the principle of individuation of each one’s uniqueness. Whatever I say, when I speak I’m always voicing myself. But what happens when “non-humans” start to speak? Machines, robots, virtual assistants are now speaking ever more fluently and naturally. Is voice donating them human attributes, social consideration, subjectivity? Or are we assisting to the phenomena of a disembodied voice that belongs to no one, a voice “in general”? Not being an object nor an attribute, but an event, voice can happen in many ways, overpassing bodies and boundaries, vivifying objects, machines and natural forces, always on the border between inside and outside. The expression “A viva voce” synthesizes very well this paradoxical power of voice: when pronounced aloud, the dead letters of scriptures become alive, reacquire their spirit. Do nowadays talking machines, radios, computers, speak “a viva voce”? Are synthetic voices preparing us to a post-anthropocentric expressivity?
We will explore all these topics through a talk with musician/philosopher Domenico Napolitano (SEC_) , vocalist/sound artist Alessandra Eramo and intermedia artist/performer Steffi Weismann, who will explain her work with digital voices, and through the performance of vocal artist and sound poet Tomomi Adachi.
www.ezramo.com
