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Authors:

Anesio Azevedo Costa Neto, Stéphan Olivier Schaub, Marcelo M. Wanderley

Publication or Conference Title:

Organised Sound

Abstract:

This essay explores how the musical practices of four contemporary Latin American sound artists – Mar Alzamora, Pablo Bas, Ana Rodriguez and Eufrasio Prates – engage with ecological crises and socio-environmental issues. Focusing on the region’s biodiversity and colonial histories, we combined a critical literature review with the analysis of works involving soundwalks, electroacoustic compositions, free improvisation and real-time synthesis. These practices incorporate environmental sound, oral memory and situated listening to construct eco-sonic narratives critical of colonial legacies. Rather than aiming to highlight artistic innovation, the essay investigates how these works contribute to an expanded understanding of Latin American sound/landscapes within environmental sound art. Through the examination of aesthetic, technological and political strategies, we identified principles such as relational listening, spatial immersion and collective creation as central to these practices. Our findings contribute to discussions on art as a mode of knowledge, showing how sonic approaches can question dominant narratives, reshape perceptions of place and foster ecological awareness.

Publication Details:

Type:	Journal Paper
Date:	03/24/2026
Volume:	31
Pages:	10
DOI:	10.1017/S1355771825100691

IDMIL Participants:

• Anesio Azevedo Costa Neto
• Marcelo M. Wanderley

Additional Information:

This publication emerged from research developed during Anésio Azevedo Costa Neto’s 2024–2025 research period at the Music Technology Area of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, within the research environment of IDMIL.

The research investigated relationships between environmental sound, artistic practice, immersive technologies, spatial listening, ecological processes, and situated forms of knowledge. Rather than treating environmental sound simply as material for artistic production, the investigation approached listening as a relational practice through which connections between bodies, technologies, territories, and ecological processes can become perceptible.

The work formed part of a broader research trajectory focused on immersive audiovisual environments and environmental data, including Mata Atlântica – Ambientes Expandidos e Imersividade. This practice-based research brought together environmental recordings, spatial audio, generative audiovisual systems, and ecological information to explore new forms of perception and engagement with environments.

The article combines critical literature review with qualitative analysis of four contemporary Latin American artistic practices. These practices encompass soundwalking, field recording, electroacoustic composition, free improvisation, and real-time sound synthesis.

The research develops a conceptual framework centred on eco-sonic narratives, situated and relational listening, spatial immersion, and the politics of listening. From this perspective, environmental sound art becomes not merely a form of representation, but a means of questioning how environments are perceived, mediated, narrated, and shared.

The research contributes to ongoing dialogues between sound studies, environmental humanities, music technology, spatial audio, artistic research, and contemporary Latin American art.

Link to the paper: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/organised-sound/article/transdisciplinary-artistic-strategies-in-environmental-sound-art-and-the-politics-of-listening-in-contemporary-latin-america/D8C95FBBF346634AE70ED7619FFD8CE5