Broadcasting from a Deaf Planet

In this paper, we explore the dynamic encounters with Deaf and hard-of-hearing students that occurred within a socially engaged sound-and-radio art project. 'Audibility', part of 'B-AIR: Art Infinity Radio' Creative Europe program, intended an inclusive approach on sonic arts, for a minority excluded from sound art and radio ventures. The artworks produced focus on vibro-tactility and the radiophonic medium, that, as we argue, compels us to critically rethink the relational aspects of sound and hearing, emphasizing on the tensions between the senses and identity. From our perspective as sound artists and theorists on aspects of identity, alterity, audibility and inclusion, we sought to find alternative ways of relating to and experiencing the sonic event, even in groups that are traditionally excluded from it. Drawing upon ethnographic research on creative encounters with Deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents with sonic arts media and concepts, we observed that our relation with the sonic event is multidimensional and multisensory, a condition that can broaden the scope of auditory experience for Deaf, hard-of-hearing, hearing, as well as for sound and listening specialists. The potential of vibratory experience, wearable technology, sound sculpture and tactile media can create conditions of audibility that complement the ways in which we perceive sound, and thus the ways in which we experience it in all its manifestations. In this article, we reflect on our methods, questions, research results and the service they provided to the participating social groups and beyond. We will draw on the reflections of theorists and artists from the fields of Sound Studies and Disability Studies, with a focus on their convergence potential (such as Helmreich and Friedner). Moreover, we will explore philosophical concepts deriving from music, such as the deleuzian refrain-ritournelle, to explore the ways in which they can transcend the aural condition.