WASTEWAVES – Free Workshop Series
Join us for the 3 Day Workshop Series
WASTEWAVES
These workshop series are guided by Nina Blume, Cara Mayer, Robin Vandenbussche, Martijn Van de Wiele and Lisa van Heyden.
Burned, buried, or recycled: with waste management rebranded as a renewable energy source, infrastructures of disposal are increasingly recast as sites of profit extraction. Digging through the dirt of this multi-billion-euro industry, Wastewaves centers around Rotterdam’s AVR waste-to-energy incinerator. This three-part workshop series uses sound to investigate the spatial politics, power relations, and material realities buried in the noise of waste.
Over three sessions, participants will learn about the history of AVR, assemble their own contact microphones, create site-specific recordings on a field trip to the incinerator, and work with their recordings to create collective sonic sketches of Rotterdam’s wastescapes.
1 Surface Tension: Contact Microphones and Material Sound
Date: 11 Nov | Time: 18:30-21:30 | Location: WORM | Duration: 3h
The first session explores the hidden sonic layers of discarded materials and industrial surfaces through a hands-on workshop on DIY contact microphones, which allow its users to pick up sound vibrations transmitted through matter. Participants will learn how to solder, assemble, and work with piezo discs, creating their own audio equipment that they may take home after the workshop ends.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND THE WORKSHOP, FILL OUT THIS FORM
2 Sonic Traces: Attuning to Wastescapes
Date: 13 Nov | Time: 10:00-14:00
Location: Field-trip to the AVR incinerator | Duration: 4h
Equipped with field-recorders and our home-made contact microphones as research tools, the second session invites participants to take part in a site-specific investigation around the AVR waste incinerator in Rotterdam‘s harbor. Starting with guided exercises, participants engage in situated listening, exploring the relational dimensions of recording.
3 Decomposed: Sampling the Sonic Archive of Waste
Date: 15 Nov| Time: 13:00-16:00 | Location: WORM | Duration: 3h
Back in the studio, we gather to interpret and process the materials we have recorded using sampling techniques. In small groups, participants use the recordings of the previous session to create short sonic sketches that resonate with Rotterdam’s wastescapes. Participants experiment with layering, looping, and manipulating their collected material, making audible the cultural and ecological entanglements of waste. We close the series with an informal listening session.
Practical Information
* All ranges of experience are welcome.
* Free participation, limited to 15 participants per workshop.
* Workshop equipment will be provided to share in smaller groups. If you have your own headphones, field recorders, or microphones, feel free to bring them along
* If possible, please bring a laptop for the 3rd session.
* We aim to keep this event accessible. If the time commitment for all three workshops is not manageable, they can be attended independently. Email wastewaves@proton.me to reserve a spot.
* NB, Part of the workshop takes place on site at the AVR incinerator. The meeting point is at WORM, and we will leave together.
* We encourage documentation during this field-research trip beyond audio. Bring your notebook, sketchbook, camera, whatever helps you tune in.
WASTEWAVES is part of WORM x Amarte 2025 collaboration in the context of which four collectives were invited to create a new workshop series. learn more here.
