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Exchange Talk: Janet Sit – For Ties and Tides of Kinship by Janet Sit
Mon 28 April 2025
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How can we engage with sound beyond passive listening? How might embodied listening reconnect us with histories that have been forgotten, erased, or assimilated? This talk investigates the theoretical and creative foundations of my sound installation practice, which assembles a multi-sensory, immersive environment shaped by acoustics, sound art, and embodied perception. I consider speculative care and repair across time, using sound to uncover alternative ways of knowing and engaging with histories that exist beyond dominant or available records.
Rather than reinforcing static reference points—whether in historiography or sound design—I embrace the instability and interconnectedness inherent in ocean ecosystems. My work engages with selected histories from the Pacific Rim, where identities and worldviews have been shaped by interactions with water but are often overlooked or subsumed by dominant narratives. In response, I develop ways of listening that resist singular perspectives, creating installations that invite participants to co-create and co-speculate on their own sonic journeys across both physical and metaphysical spaces.
Drawing from my experiences as a scuba diver, ocean humanities scholar, and composer, this talk contextualizes my thesis research and prepares listeners for a new sound installation, presented as part of my EARTH scholarship in Glasgow, Scotland.
Born in Hong Kong, Toronto-based Janet Sit (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the University of California San Diego Music Department with a background in zoology and music. Her cross-disciplinary research explores decentering terrestrial references to underwater/near-water perceptions and histories within ocean humanities frameworks and her scuba diving experiences. Her artistic practices include acoustic/electronic compositions, sound installations and scholarly writing. Parallel to exploring music and sound in her works, Janet seeks to engage diverse audiences to support dialogue and community-building on environmental and social matters.
Online , Royal Conservatoire of Scotland