'Critical Perspectives on Petrosonics’ Conference, King's College London

Description

PAPER PRESENTED: 'Wetland, Wasteland, Wealth: listening to the postcolonial landscape of the Northern Irish peatlands'

CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION:
The emergence of a broad field of energy humanities in recent years has generated interest in the relationship between energy and society, and in cultural and artistic dimensions of energy exploration and extraction. This includes research on resulting global entanglements and colonial/neo-colonial relationships. There has to date, however, been relatively little work that focuses on the musical and broader sonic implications of energy regimes and infrastructures, and few studies to suggest how sound might contribute to energy humanities more broadly.

We will discuss topics including:

Sounds of fossil fuel exploration and extraction
Sonics of ‘oil towns’
Creative practice that engages with sounds produced by fossil fuels, their extraction, refinement and processing etc.
Sounds of energy company promotional films
Sounds of colonial/neo-colonial relationships engendered through fossil fuels
Sounds of decarbonization and environmental justice
Sounds of social unrest and conflict related to fossil fuels (strikes, revolution, etc.)
Energetic and political infrastructures of voice and voicing produced by and through fossil fuels (e.g. via Big Oil), and strategies of listening to and against these voices
Material implications of petro-derived products used in the production and consumption of music (carbon microphones, plastics, etc.)

Period	11 May 2023
Event type	Conference
Location	London, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International