-1 Digital Lab-1 Digital Lab

It takes the form of modular furniture that doubles as a speaker system—four individual objects that can be separated, rearranged, and used for seating during performances or as resting spots in the space between events. These objects operate in two states: at rest, they are sculptural design objects and places for listening; during performances, they activate, projecting sound and supporting the live performance.

This work intentionally blurs distinctions between research and "finished" product, between passive objects and active sound sources, and between moments of rest and moments of experience. The investigation frames noise as a designed phenomenon—addressed sociologically, phenomenologically, and through sonic/architectural experiments. Using methods from archaeocoustics, contemporary design, and speculative fiction, the performance explores the possibilities of sonic logic as an intuitive mode of research. The approach moves freely across historical and imagined timelines and uses sound-making and listening as tools to think through the questions surrounding urban noise today. The installation, both as a piece of furniture and as an instrument, invites the audience to sit, listen, and reconsider their relationship to sonic environments.

Colette Aliman is an artist and researcher based in Rotterdam. Her work explores listening as a method for engaging with ecological, technological, and institutional systems. She is interested in the frictions that emerge within these infrastructures—how sound reveals submerged narratives, enables co-sensing across species and disciplines, and unsettles dominant ways of knowing.

Her practice spans field recording, installation, alternative publishing, and participatory workshops. She often collaborates with scientists, communities, and infrastructures-in-transition—whether in hospitals, farms, or energy islands. She is the founder and head of Sound Office, a platform for sonic research and experimental documentation.

Recent projects include Careful Listening: Shared Lands of Energy, Centering Listening in Designed Places of Care, and Conversations on an Energy Island. Her work has been supported by Creative Industries Fund NL, CBK Rotterdam, and Culture Moves Europe.