UNIT/PITT Society for Art + Critical Awareness is excited to present the third and final iteration of our seasonal, solar, sonic project Sound of the Sun, guest curated by Jefferson Alade. Sound of the Sun Volume Three meditates on the cyclical nature of solar movements, and our relationship with the sun; again in flux as the days lengthen. 

The project invited 10 artists to observe, respond, record, and retell their experiences through music, poetry, field recordings, synthesis, storytelling, or any other audio-based method. Together, the playlist reverberates around and through a densely populous world—culminating in a noisy and ambient introspection on the oddity of the sun’s singular presence.

Released as both a limited-edition cassette and SoundCloud playlist, Sound of the Sun Volume Three features tracks from Immix (Robyn Jacobs), Matt Nish-Lapidus, Thomas Evdokimoff, Anju Singh, Marianne Thodas, Hân Phạm, Edith Skeard, Jen Yakamovich & Inkydew the Companion, Sam Meadahl, and Joel DeStefano.

Cassettes are available for purchase at our Khatsalano gallery or via UNIT/PITT’s online shop.

This project is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Shumka Centre’s Artist Apprenticeship Network 2024 Program.

Sound of the Sun, Volume III

On this episode of Below the Radar, Am Johal is joined by Roxanne Panchasi from SFU’s History Department and Brit Bachmann from UNIT/PITT. Together they discuss their latest collaboration, La Commune 2021, a free online school commemorating the 150 anniversary of the Paris Commune. 

Roxanne and Brit share how the idea of La Commune 2021 came about. They talk about the historical importance of the Paris Commune, how it has resonated in other historical periods, and its relevance in particular in this moment of history. 

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/111-roxanne-panchasi-brit-bachmann.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/111-roxanne-panchasi-brit-bachmann.html

Resources:
— La Commune 2021: https://www.unitpitt.ca/la-commune/ 
— UNIT/PITT: https://www.unitpitt.ca/ 
— New Books in French Studies podcast by Roxanne Panchasi: https://roxannepanchasi.com/portfolio/new-books-in-french-studies/
— The Anarchist Library: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/search?query=paris+commune
— Documents of the Paris Commune: https://www.marxists.org/history/france/paris-commune/documents/index.htm
— Club Atomique upcoming book from Roxanne Panchasi: https://roxannepanchasi.com/home-2/club-atomique/

Bio:
Roxanne is an Associate Professor of History at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada who specializes in the twentieth and twenty-first century France, and the French empire, and its legacies. Her first book, Future Tense: The Culture of Anticipation in France Between the Wars was published by Cornell University Press in 2009. She has written on a range of subjects including: nineteenth-century graphology, prosthetics, the Paris Commune, experimental film, and the teaching of History. Her current book project focuses on the cultural politics of French nuclear weapons and testing in the Algerian Sahara. In it, she examines military, scientific, diplomatic, literary, audio-visual, testimonial, and memorial sources as a broad archive of the”French” bomb in empire. Her most recent article, ‘“No Hiroshima in Africa”: The Algerian War and the Question of French Nuclear Tests in the Sahara’ appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of History Present. In 2013, Dr. Panchasi launched New Books in French Studies, a podcast channel featuring discussions with scholars of France and the Francophone world about their latest books that she hosts on the New Books Network. 

Brit Bachmann is a multidisciplinary artist who writes, draws, and throws clay in Vancouver, Canada, on unceded land belonging to the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. She is the Executive Director of UNIT/PITT Society for Art & Critical Awareness, and co-founder of ReIssue with Casey Wei. Brit has previously worked in administration and outreach at VIVO Media Arts Centre, Capture Photography Festival, The Cinematheque; and notably, as Editor-In-Chief of Discorder Magazine (2015-18). She has served on the programming committee of CFRO Vancouver Co-op Radio (2015-18), and the Polaris Music Prize jury (2016-19). Brit is a member of the Board of Directors of VIVO Media Arts Centre, and the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres (PAARC). She has a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of British Columbia–Okanagan.

Cite this episode:
Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “La Commune 2021 — with Roxanne Panchasi and Brit Bachmann.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, March 22, 2021. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/111-roxanne-panchasi-brit-bachmann.html.

La Commune 2021 — with Roxanne Panchasi and Brit Bachmann

Sound of the Sun, Volume I is the weird, entrancing, celebratory, sometimes gloomy, and somewhat euphoric summer mixtape of planetary travel, solar interventions, story telling, and frog choruses you didn’t know you needed for summer 2023.

As UNIT/PITT's first iteration of a multi-part project of sonic-celestial explorations, the Sound of the Sun project asks participants to consider their relationship to cycles of solar movement as the days lengthen on this half of the planet—to observe, respond, record, and retell through music, poetry, field recordings, storytelling, and any other audio-based methods in order to speak to this important time of the solar year.

Featuring sound works by 10 artists, Sound of the Sun, Volume I beckons the promise of sun-worship, long beach days, A/C, forest fires, and excess levels of Vitamin D.

Curated by Catherine de Montreuil and Marisa Kriangwiwat Holmes Recording, mastering, and project support from Nick Short
Artwork by Martin Steuck, Catherine de Montreuil, and Marisa Kriangwiwat Holmes

Lida Pawliuk - Feat. B. WEST - Cruel Summer

Joel DeStefano - Sun Song

Marianne Thodas - Cimarron Way

Anju Singh - Heat

Thomas Evdokimoff - Aeolian Harps

Matt Nish-Lapidus - prepare to stop

Immix - Forever In The Eye Of a Dreamer

Following the brutal repression of the Paris Commune in May 1871, what was the aftermath? The Conservative and Catholic backlash against the Paris Commune, paved the way for the building of the Sacré Coeur Basillica on the hill of Montmartre “to expiate the crimes of the Commune”, but attitudes changed towards the Communards and their eradication by the 3rd Republic. As sympathy grew for the ideals of the Paris Commune, RFI’s David Coffey asked Professor John Horne whether this sense of empathy towards “martyrs to their cause” led to the 1905 Separation of Church & State in France?

How Repercussions From The Paris Commune Led To The Separation Of Church & State - Prof John Horne

Artist-run center on unceded territories of Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples

Joel DeStefano - Sun Song

UNIT/PITT

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