Abra Clawson
Freelance Sound Designer/Engineer
abraclawson@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:
This project explores the ways sound simultaneously amplifies and silences contemporary issues surrounding politics, religion, and tourism in Kagbeni, Nepal. In this project, I curated a series of four compositions along with written analysis, bringing attention to how sound claims space and reshapes communities based on anthropological observations of listening practices in Kagbeni. These compositions draw attention to how different listening practices impact perceptions of a place or community, specifically Kagbeni. This project hopes to shed light on the consequences of selective listening, and how analysis of listening practices can inform sound design. Based on this work, I provide generative questions to consider when creating a design, which take into consideration forms of friction between people that push us forward.

Compositions can be heard here: https://blog.uvm.edu/aclawson-thesis/sound-library/

FULL PAPER:
Sounds from a Dream Place: Selective Listening and Its Implications for Sound Design
Publication: USITT Current Practices and Research in Sound
April 16, 2020

PRESENTATION:
The 60th Annual USITT Conference
“Forum@Four” USITT Webinar Series
April 16, 2020

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