-1 Encounters Through Sounds: In and out of the Loop

In the first edition of Encounters, Nieuwe Instituut’s  is teaming up with the research project   for an evening of listening and discussion on how music and other sounds travel around digital networks. Researchers Edoardi Biscossi and Luca Bruls, as well as researcher and DJ Lynnée Denise Bonner, will share their insights.

In an age when we are almost constantly online, digital networks and platforms not only shape what we listen to, but also how and where listening happens. The sounds we listen to and exchange — from voice notes to music streams shaped by algorithms — are all digital traces. These sounds are part of our everyday relationships and vital signals that move between platforms and bodies.

Through conversations and sonic performances, this evening reflects on music’s long-standing role as a testing ground for technological change. Guest speakers will discuss how music cultures have adapted to the logic of platforms, how new versions of these have emerged from music subcultures, and how digital listening reshapes our identities. Are we perpetually caught in a loop of ‘future pasts’, or are we just beginning to break free of them?

About Through Sounds
Led by Federica Notari, Through Sounds is a research project by the Nieuwe Instituut exploring how and where we listen, whether in physical spaces such as concert halls, raves or city streets, or in virtual spaces such as CDs, MP3s and streaming platforms. As music circulates — from file sharing to streaming — the boundaries between online and offline blur into a new, mixed reality.

About -1 Encounters
-1 Encounters is a series of events initiated by -1 Digital Lab, the experimental space for digital culture and research studio located in the basement of the Nieuwe Instituut. In 2026, the lab will host a series of talks, discussions and other gatherings exploring the theme of desire and technology.

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