Lecture
How does sound affect the body and mind? What hidden properties does it carry within?
A unique lecture by WdKA (Rotterdam) graduate and media artist Lena Chadaeva on how sound transforms into artistic material and becomes a medium for exploring the world.
11.12.25. 20.00
Lena Chadaeva
SPEAKER
Sonic matters. Sound as a creative medium
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About lecture
Sound permeates everything around us. Bypassing the filter of consciousness, it interacts directly with our emotions and body, becoming an invisible conduit into other states and spiritual dimensions. In this lecture, we will discuss how sound transforms into material for art and a medium for exploring the world. We will look at its physical and symbolic properties, its influence on body and mind, as well as examples from contemporary sound art.
Format:
  • 2 hours (1 hour theory + 1 hour case studies)
  • Language: englisch/russian

Entrance:
  • 20 GEL 1 lecture

Location:
  • Auditoria
lecture program
  • Physical properties: vibration, frequency, resonance, rhythm, silence.
  • The body as a resonator: how sound literally enters us and shapes us (synchronization of heartbeat, nervous system responses, vibration on the skin and in the bones).
  • Materiality in sound art: examples of artists working with installations that emphasize bodily perception.
Sound as a Physical Phenomenon
  • A direct line to the subconscious: how sound bypasses rationality and instantly affects emotions.
  • Psychoacoustics: why some sounds calm us, others irritate or induce trance.
  • Sound as a carrier of memory and intimacy (voices, soundscapes, personal archives).
  • Examples from sound art and contemporary music where emotional response is central.
Sound as Emotion and Memory
  • Symbolism of sound in cultures: singing, bells, drums, silence in rituals.
  • Sound as a liminal medium: connecting the visible and invisible, the human and non-human, the sacred and the profane.
  • The mythopoetic dimension of sound: myths of world creation through sound (“cosmic Om,” Logos, vibration as the origin).
  • Contemporary artists working with metaphysical soundscapes or ritualized performances.
Symbolic and Metaphysical Dimensions
  • Sound art as a discipline: history and intersections with experimental music, performance, and installation.
  • Hybrid practices: sound + visual art, sound + architecture, sound + technology.
  • Sound as a political and ecological medium: amplifying silenced voices, ecological listening/sound niches in nature, the practice of “deep listening” (Pauline Oliveros).
  • New technologies: generative systems, immersive sound environments.
Sound in Contemporary Art
Who is this Lecture for
Artists and media practitioners
o expand their toolkit and use sound as a material for art
Curators and cultural researchers
tto gain a deeper understanding of the symbolic and anthropological dimensions of sound
Musicians and sound designers
to explore new approaches to perceiving and working with sound
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About speaker
Graduate of the Willem de Kooning Academy (WdKA, Rotterdam) in Transformation Design.

Lena Chadaeva works at the intersection of digital art, interactive technologies, and anthropology, exploring how electronic media create new myths and dialogues between science and spirituality.

Her projects have been shown at Trixie (The Hague), Operator Radio and Brutus (Rotterdam), and independent venues across Europe, where she also performs as a VJ and media artist.
Lena Chadaeva
SPEAKER
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