Sonic City

BACKGROUND Liquid Architecture is recognised as a prominent organisation in the promotion of Australian sound culture. Samartzis and Sharp were commissioned as curators to produce the 14th Liquid Architecture festival on the theme of Sonic City. Iterations were presented in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Luigi Russolo recommended traversing a modern city with 'our ears more alert than our eyes' (1913). Adhering to the complex sounds of the new technologies of the modern city, he introduced incidental noise into the lexicon of sound art. Developments in the built environment, social structures and everyday technologies of transport and communication still provide dynamic sites for artists to investigate the acoustic and visual perspectives of urban environments. The curatorial question was around exploration of sound art and related art practices in responding to the protean and transformative nature of cities. CONTRIBUTION The festival was dispersed across numerous venues to highlight the unique nature of public space and included significant international and national composers and artists recognised as leaders in the field such as: Pierre Henry (France), Francisco Lopez (Spain), and Toshiya Tsunoda and Haco (Japan) SIGNIFICANCE Funding organisations: Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Victoria, City of Melbourne, Arts NSW, the Spanish Embassy, the Austrian Embassy, Kultur Niederosterreich, Yarra Trams and Emirates. Recognition included a one hour documentary on the festival by ABC Audio Arts Unit recognising the artworks generated new and unexpected encounters with the sonic, visual and physical attributes of cities drawing attention to its diversity and multiplicity.