Listening as Doorways to Futures is a counter-intellectual art piece that resists recent cultural and sociological claims that humanity is experiencing the ‘End of Imagination.’ Participants from both within and outside the Central European University (CEU) community were invited to attend a two-part workshop by artist Chloe Kelly on how sound can be used as a tool for imagination. Chloe presented new ways of perceiving the local environment, equipping the participants with a disposition helpful for discovering doorways to futures. This workshop also facilitated discussion of sound as fluid, nonrational, and a medium which creates commonality. Participants were then asked to record their environments over the course of two weeks. The second part of the workshop was to reflect on common themes and stories among the recordings, and how they have shaped our imagination. Recordings took place with each participant’s own smartphone or zoom recorder which were available in Vienna and Budapest. Instruction on how to use the zoom recorders was provided. Based on the reflections from the second workshop, audio specialist Thomas Aichinger supported the postproduction of a sound collage.

Organized by Julian Willming, Central European University

Project contributors:

Chloe Kelly, artist

Thomas Aichinger, audio specialist