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CALL FOR SCIENTIFIC PAPERS AND ARTISTIC PERFORMANCES


 

IV International Conference on Sonorities Research (CIPS)


www.sonoridades.net

 

Silences


 

Dates: June 4-7, 2025

Location: Federal University of Espírito Santo – Vitória/ES – Brazil


 

Online stage: May 31, 2025

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The story of composer John Cage is well-known, as he underwent an experience of deep silence in an anechoic chamber and found that he could still hear the internal sounds of his own body. This story confronts us with the inevitability of a complex phenomenon, of a multiple and inexhaustible nature: silence.


 

Silence, which would seem, at first, to be a counterpoint to sound, a kind of negative, reveals itself as an overflow of the audible boundaries. Western music makes explicit the inescapable importance of silences, from the staff to sound synthesis. In the score, the pause is a marked and significant element, a fundamental part of the composition itself. In digital audio workstations, silence is a block of time without a pulse that is added to the compositional timeline. The absence of sound, it can be concluded, is not a nullity of meaning, but rather the partial result of a broader communicational machination of power games to be mapped from interdisciplinary perspectives.


 

By adopting silences as a theme, we seek not only to address more formalist discursive perspectives in the musical spectrum, but also to bring the discussion to the social and political fields, thinking about the silencing of peoples, experiences and cultural repertoires. Despite Cage's contrary observation, silence can also be something that accompanies us and confronts us with the constant threat of nonexistence, erasure and dissolution. This paradox intrinsic to the idea of ​​silence presents itself as an important theme to be rescued and updated in order to understand the challenges of the present time in the field of sonorities.


 

The IV CIPS welcomes proposals for scientific presentations and artistic performances (for these, we will hold a separate call soon). We welcome papers that deal with all types of support, format, and media that deal with sounds. Some of the perspectives, but not the only ones, that are of interest to this conference are:

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  • Sound ecologies: noises that silence, silences that amplify;

  • Images and silences; voids and noises;

  • Technologies and models of production of silence;

  • Sound, immobility, and death;

  • Silence aesthetics;

  • Sound ambiances and atmospheres that are silent or that silence;

  • Silences, their affects and processes of signification and sensation;

  • Silence in compositional practices;

  • Becoming-silence;

  • Sound politics and cultures: sounds, silencing, struggles, and insurgencies of contemporary ways of life.


 

SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT SUBMISSION


 

Abstracts must be submitted by January 10th 2024 to the email cips.sonoridades@gmail.com in .doc (or .docx) format, with the following in the email subject line: “IV CIPS – Abstract”.


 

The IV CIPS will be an in-person event, but there will be an online stage for a limited number of scientific papers approved by the scientific committee. Such proponents must be located outside the Southeast region or outside Brazil and are unable to attend the event in person. We have reserved 24 spots for this modality.


 

The text must be formatted in Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.5 spacing. The document must include, in this order:


 

  • Title of the proposal;

  • Proponents, their respective emails and institutional affiliation (or main activity); maximum degree, occupation or area of ​​activity, city, state and country of residence; Abstract of up to 500 words, indicating the theme, objectives, research problem, theoretical framework, methodology and adherence to the general theme of the event;

  • Bibliography of up to 5 titles;

  • Indication of preference for online presentation (limited number of panels, only for authors from outside Brazil or outside the Southeast region).

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Abstracts can be submitted in Portuguese, Spanish or English. We will correspond with the first author of the paper regarding the receipt and evaluation of the abstract.

 

ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE SUBMISSION

 

The IV CIPS is accepting artistic proposals that address or relate to the event's theme, “Silences”. The following types of works will be evaluated, under the following conditions:


 

- Performances and happenings: Up to 20 minutes long. They will take place in open spaces on the UFES Goiabeiras Campus and cultural spaces in the cities to be defined;

- Installations: 5 works will be selected and will be exhibited in common areas on the UFES Goiabeiras Campus, during class breaks;

- Sound or Audiovisual Pieces: These will be made available in a common area on the UFES Goiabeiras Campus, with daily screenings during the event, during class breaks and on QR codes spread throughout the city. If possible, we request two versions, one of up to 20 minutes long to be exhibited on the QR codes and another of up to 8 minutes long to be exhibited in the spaces made available on the Goiabeiras Campus. If the work is already finished, it is suggested that the work or samples be sent, with a link for access for evaluation.


 

The IV CIPS will provide up to 3 multimedia projectors per proposal and a stereo sound system. Equipment, objects, images, materials, etc. will be the artist's responsibility. Assembly and disassembly are the artist's responsibility. Pieces must be sent in stereo. If there is interest in exhibiting in other formats, please indicate this in the proposal for evaluation. APPROVAL SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY OF STRUCTURE.


 

Only works that do not expose users or exhibition spaces to risk and that reflect good practices of democratic coexistence, tolerance and coexistence in general will be accepted.


 

Proposals for artistic performances must be submitted by January 10th 2024 using the electronic form available at the link. Add the files listed below in .doc (or .docx) format.


 

The text must be formatted in Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.5 spacing. The document must include:


 

  • Title of the proposal;

  • Authors and their respective e-mails;

  • Description of up to 500 words;

  • In the case of a sound or audiovisual piece, send an mp3 file of the piece or excerpt, if it is ready;

  • In the case of an installation, send an image file with the proposal/scheme of the expography/assembly;

  • Technique/Format and a brief description of the necessary equipment (or technical Rider);

  • Duration (in the case of a live performance), not to exceed 20 minutes;

  • Mini-bio of the author(s) of up to 100 words each, informing institutional affiliation (or main activity), maximum degree, occupation or area of activity, city and country of residence.


 

Proposals can be submitted in Portuguese, Spanish or English.

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