As a public event associated with the exhibition Magnified Ear, this everyday pedestrian route, established by John L. Drever encompasses public pavements, designated pathways, and the exploration of desired paths and privately managed land. The soundwalk begins at Goldsmiths, University of London, leading participants through Deptford and across the Thames via the Greenwich Foot tunnel, culminating at the Isle of Dogs. Each soundwalk offers a distinctive experience shaped by atmospheric conditions, socio-cultural events, and interactions, resulting in a dynamic fusion of factors and unpredictable variables. Through this workshop, our aim is to extend the exhibition beyond the gallery space and engage with the surrounding communities by bringing up auditory awareness while walking.

Biography

John Levack Drever operates at the intersection of disciplines that deal with sound including acoustics, audiology, environmental studies, sound art and urban design. He has a special interest in soundscape methods, in particular field recording and soundwalking. In 1998 he co-founded the UK and Ireland Soundscape Community (a regional affiliate of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology). He was awarded a PhD from Dartington College of Arts in 2001. Drever is an avid collaborator and a member of Blind Ditch. He has devised sound in many different configurations and contexts. Commissions range from the Groupe de Recherches Musicales, France (1999) to Shiga National Museum, Japan (2012). Most recently he collaborated with Ruralrecreation on the School of Insects (2021-22) at Trumpington Park Primary School, Cambridge. Together with Prof Andrew Hugill, he co-edited Aural Diversity (Routledge 2022). Drever is Professor of Acoustic Ecology and Sound Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he co-leads the Unit for Sound Practice Research (SPR). He first presented the concept of auraltypical hearing and auraldiversity at Hearing Landscape Critically: Music, Place, and the Spaces of Sound at Harvard University in 2015.