The most basic definition of EVP is a straightforward thing: sounds discovered within electronic recordings, inaudible at the time of recording, and hypothesised to be the voices of spirits communicating via the ideosyncracies of electronic recording equipment - static, noise, machine sound. Ghost hunters and parapsychologists stop there, with the ensuing argument centred around the veracity of the findings - that is, the question of whether they are genuine messages from beyond the grave, whether they're "auditory pareidolia" (mistakenly hearing voices in random sounds), or simply hoaxes.

But we, the real spirit-hunters, are not overly concerned with such arguments. We seek EVP for its purest values - for the process of seeking, for the intense experience of listening deeply to recordings of virtually nothing in search of something, for the sound itself. Our recording missions are soaked in deep historical research, atmosphere and intention, the results glowing with the charged energy of those silent moments and hours; and if, during the analysis process, something like a voice is found... for an artist working with sound, this is some of the most potent source material imaginable!

Over five packed days, we'll travel to a series of hand-picked sites including abandoned villages, ancient ruins, Cathar castles, and faded hotels of the Belle Epoque, seeking out spaces of interest in the daytime, and returning at night to record. We'll learn about, explore and experience the methods used to gather electronic voice phenomena, learn the analysis techniques used to find EVP in recordings, use the discovered EVP to create sound works, and finally present those sound works in concert.

CM von Hausswolff lives and works in Stockholm. Since the end of the 70s, von Hausswolff has worked as a composer using recording technology as his main instrument and as a visual artist using light projections, film/video and still photography as well as other media. His interests spans from social environmental issues and political statements to abstract penetration and supra/sub-reality. He has exhibited at dOCUMENTA (Kassel), the biennials in Venice, Moscow, Liverpool, Istanbul, Sarajevo etc and in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Nicosia, Kaliningrad, Tokyo, London, New York, Philadelphia, etc. His music has been played in festivals such as Sonar (Barcelona), CTM (Berlin), L'audible (Paris), el niche Aural (Mexico City), MUTEK, (Montreal) etc. and released works on record by labels like RasterNoton (Berlin), Touch (London), Laton (Wien), iDeal (Goteborg) and MonoType (Warszaw).

His audio compositions from 1979 to 1992 consist essentially of complex macromal drones with a surface of aesthetic elegance and beauty. In the early 2000's, Carl Michael boiled away even more ornamental meat from the bones, producing pure, intuitive studies of electricity, frequency functions and tonal autism within the framework of a conceptual stringent cryption. Lately he has also developed a more conceptual form of audio art overlooking subjects such as architecture and urbanism, rats and maggots. He has created a series of social platforms, places where people can meet and consume. His "Thinner- and Low Frequency Bar" was used at the Momentum biennial in Moss, Norway, Prato, Italy and London and his "Glue- (Tobacco-) and High Frequency Lounge" was used in Geneva and in Prato. These works show Hausswolff's critical view on the society's hypocritical treatment of drugs and addiction. The audience could sniff the highly toxic substances thinner and contact glue while smoking cigarettes and getting penetrated by the either low or high sine wave tones.

Carl Michael recently curated the 12th part the sound-installation FREQ_OUT in Vienna and collaborates with artist Leif Elggren, film-maker Thomas Nordanstad, and recently launched new projects with composer Hans-Joachim Roedelius, composer/artist Mark Fell, musician Jim O'Rourke, author/model Leslie Winer and as Dark Morph (with Jonsi of Sigur Ros). He has earlier collaborated with Pan sonic, The Hafler Trio, Organum and PHAUSS.

Michael Esposito is an experimental artist and EVP researcher. Under the banner of Phantom Airwaves, he has participated in hundreds of paranormal investigations all over the world, contributing extensive research and theory to the field, and devising numerous unique experiments. His EVP collection spans to thousands of recordings and videos, and he has appeared on TV, radio and in the press around the world talking about his practice.

Michael's particular focus is on EVP's relationship to experimental music - he combines EVP with field recordings and resonances from research sites to create intense, atmospheric works. He has collaborated with John Duncan, F.M. Einheit (Einsturzende Neubauten), John Duncan, Z’ev, Kevin Drumm, Leif Elggren and many others. His work has appeared on Firework Edition (published by Touch), Spectral Electric, and The Tapeworm.



WHERE AND WHEN?

The course takes place at our residential centre in Aulus les Bains. It's two hours south of Toulouse, high in the French Pyrenees, very near the border with Spain. For detailed travel information, see the transport section. The course starts on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. We advise that you arrive the evening before (17/09/2024) - dinner and accommodation that night is included. The course runs for five days, ending on Sunday night. Accommodation on Sunday night is included, then we leave on Monday morning (23/09/2024). If you decide to take the minibus with us, you will be picked- up in Toulouse at 6pm on 17/09/2024, and will be back in Toulouse at 11am on 23/09/2024.

You'll also have the option to stay at CAMP an additional 7 nights, following the workshop, for an additional cost of $329. Hang out, do some hiking, use our facilities, work on your projects and process the content of the workshop at your own pace.

HOW TO BOOK

To book your place on the course, click the button in the green section above. You won't pay anything right now - we'll send you a booking confirmation email with everything you need to know next. Your place is reserved without payment for three days.

You'll find a payment link in the booking confirmation email - follow the link to make a payment (either in full, or the first payment of a 4 month payment plan). In the latter case, a monthly payment plan will be put in place, so your card will be charged 1/4 of the fee today, and 1/4 each month (on the same day) for an additional 3 months. All card payments are handled by Stripe, and are extremely secure. We don't store any card data ourselves - all of this is handled securely off-site by Stripe. If you have a discount or grant code, you will be able to add it when you follow the payment link in your confirmation email.

Once you've made a payment, you'll receive another email containing your receipt, links to resources, contact information and access to our group chat to discuss the workshop with other participants.