_{spæs Lab is a Berlin-based collective that explores how space becomes meaningful through listening.}

manifesto

^{What if we understood spatial audio not as a technique, but as a way of thinking–about perception, composition, and the spaces we inhabit?}

#01

Throughout the past century, an awareness of space has shaped disciplines across the board.

#02

With the introduction of spatial audio technologies, the production of sonic spaces has become a growing field of interest, not only for creatives, but for diverse audiences as well.

#03

till, the vast majority of research and creative practice aims to refine technologies and methods in order to (re-)create a naturalistic auditory experience, whilst paying little attention to how we experience space in its various dimensions, including the phenomenological, the social, and the emotional.

#04

Similarly, creatives limit themselves by formulating and realising ideas that are sourced from technology-enabled effects.

#05

For now, it seems that we have entered a phase of vast, loud, colourful and impressive sound images, compositions and effects: overwhelming and highly sensational, yet often confined by a narrow focus on the software-hardware-in-use debate.

#06

Are we just throwing around sounds? [Jonty Harrison, 1999]

#07

Although many recent spatialised musical works treat space as an afterthought, applied only once the piece has been composed, many composers working in the field of spatialised music are convinced that an understanding of the function of spatial characteristics is a crucial prerequisite to the work.

#08

Ultimately, spatial audio technologies are merely the tools that translate ideas into concrete listening experiences, a fact too often forgotten, yet spatial sound is rarely discussed, evaluated, or reflected upon in light of the multifaceted dimensions of space.

#09

We don't know enough. In fact, there is little shared agreement on the understanding of basic terms such as sound or space, on their multiple relationships, or on the implications of applying this knowledge to various fields, including art, music, design, theatre, film, architecture and scenography.

#10

Being aware of the structural limitations of academic and commercial institutions, we are establishing an independent lab dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of spatial aesthetics in sound.

manifesto

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#10

key concepts