Deep situated listening among hearing heads and affective bodies
Sanne Krogh Groth · Focal Press eBooks · 2022
This chapter argues for a new listening practice for electroacoustic music (EAM) that I call “deep situated listening”. “Deep situated listening” builds on existing EAM theories, aesthetics and practices – which I here collectively refer to as the “hearing heads” approach – but extends this approach by adding an explicitly feminist perspective. “Deep situated listening” combines Donna Haraway’s notion of “situated knowledge” with Pauline Oliveros’ concept of “deep listening”. In order to relate this to the EAM concert situation, I define the concert event as a “plane of immanence” constituted by “affective bodies” (as defined by Gilles Deleuze) that are perceived in time as dynamic. In line with feminist thinking, my conceptualization is developed in dialogue with the empirical material I present: two EAM concerts experienced in Tillburg, Holland in 2018 and New York City in 2011, as well as an interview with Pauline Oliveros. The chapter seeks therefore to contribute not only to an extension of existing listening paradigms, but also to the development of a new methodological approach within the field of EAM studies.