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What does it mean to build a world from sound, feeling, and embodiment?
• 4. November - 2. December
• Online!
• Five-weeks, Tuesdays, 6-8pm CET
• Small class of participants
• Certificate of Completion
Artist / Student (Full Time)
€225* (Reg. €245)
Freelancer
€245* (Reg. €265)
Professional
€275* (Reg. €295)
Generous Supporter Ticket
€295* (Reg. €305)
*Early enrollments (by 21. October) keep our courses sustainable and help us plan ahead. Thank you for supporting!
course
description
This class invites you to create from a place beyond sight—using sound, sensation, movement, and memory to build a performance and, ultimately, a world. Over five sessions, you’ll move from sound-based drawing to performance, and finally to installation, crafting an immersive, multi-sensory art experience rooted in personal interpretation and imagination.
In a world dominated by images and screens, we’ll explore how sound, silence, and sensation can guide inspiration and artistic creation. We begin by watching a 1920's silent film, using it as a springboard to compose an original score made entirely from household or studio objects and noises not a regular instrument and you do not have to know anything about music. From there, we’ll translate that score into a list of sounds and words. These sounds and words then evolve into a performance—this could be a solo act or a group collaboration.
Your performance becomes the foundation for a character, and from that character, you will build a world or a home for them. That world might take the form of an installation, a painting, a sound piece, a meal, a walk through the woods—anything that uses your full sensory range and creative impulses. The focus throughout is on stepping away from the visual dominance of online and image-based culture. Instead, you'll experience a more embodied, multi-sensory approach to making art—one rooted in listening, feeling, tasting, touching, and imagining.
In this course you will explore
using all your senses
nothing has to be perfect
experimenting with sound and sculpture
How to listen to silence
wordplay
How to make noise
How inspiration can come when you least expect it
How to push through using art forms, maybe you're not comfortable with
how hand made is important in a digital world
who is this
class for?
This class is for artists, designers, creative makers and really anyone interested in breaking away from the idea of only using images to be inspired and create. No prior experience is necessary,
course
outline
Week 1: Sonic Research & Drawing from Sound
Transform sound into visual art through intuitive drawing exercises guided by music and noise. Create a handmade soundscape using everyday objects and studio materials while learning to translate rhythm, tone, and texture directly onto paper in real time. Apply your new skills by creating a score to a silent film using everyday noises!
Week 2: Sound Stories & Narrative Translation
Use your sonic scores as an opportunity to interrogate how different methods and approaches reveal something essential about ourselves. Learn how to break down your soundscapes into evocative phrases and original narratives into the foundation for live performances.
Week 3: Performances in Unlikely Places
Bring your sound story to life through performance in unconventional spaces: bakeries,
alleyways, parks, or kitchens. Learn how to develop characters from sound, and explore how technology extends social relations and the way we see through embodied perception.
Week 4: Building Worlds from Sensory Memory
Transform your performance into a tangible environment using any medium you choose: painting, sculpture, food, text, or nature. Learn world-building guided by smell, taste, texture, and emotions, turning sensory memory into immersive art. This is a studio week focused on process, experimentation, and building.
Week 5: Final Presentations & Reflection
Reveal your finished installation, performance documentation, or sensory artwork in whatever format best serves your vision. Engage in collective reflection on what it means to create worlds from sound, feeling, and embodiment, and get feedback on how you plan to apply sensorial world-building to your personal practice.
about online classes
Classes are 'live' meaning that you can directly interact with the instructor as well as with the other participants from around the world. Classes will also be recorded for playback in case you are unable to attend for any reason. For specific questions, please email us and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
about
scholarships
We are offering a limited number of reduced fee scholarships for this online class for those facing financial hardships. These allow participants to pay a reduced fee and are reserved for women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ who otherwise would be unable to attend. To be considered for one of these scholarships, please use this form.
To apply for a reduced fee scholarship, you must fill in the form no later than two weeks before the course begins. We will not accept any class sign-ups or scholarship applications after this date, as our regular sign-ups will determine the amount of scholarships we can accommodate. We will notify you only shortly thereafter if your application has been approved.
We are a small organisation with no outside funding and like many, we are also in survival mode. We depend on tuition fees for reimbursing class instructers, space fees, and operational costs. We ask you to consider this when applying for a reduced fee scholarship. <3
meet the
instructor
Abigail Portner
Visual Artist, Production Designer
Abigail Portner is a visual artist and production designer based in the US . She creates large scale interactive installations, videos and sculptures. Most of her work involves playful stop motions, printed patterns and illustrations. Abby has spent a lot of her career on the road as a touring lighting and production designer for bands like John Cale and Animal Collective. Her personal work reflects this experience and is often very light driven.