radio history, art history, art theory, media arts history, media history, media studies, collectivism, collective practices, alternative media, pirate radio, Walter Benjamin, Ivan Illich, The Frankfurt School, experimental art, sound art, sound studies, acoustic ecology, energies in the arts
Heather Contant explores the collectivist tendencies in media arts through her research, teaching, and creative endeavours. Her award-winning research on the history of wireless media has gained recognition in multiple publications and leads to her current work, an investigation of generative collectivism throughout the history of media arts. She seeks to understand how collectives of producers explore the possibilities of media in a manner...view more
Heather Contant explores the collectivist tendencies in media arts through her research, teaching, and creative endeavours. Her award-winning research on the history of wireless media has gained recognition in multiple publications and leads to her current work, an investigation of generative collectivism throughout the history of media arts. She seeks to understand how collectives of producers explore the possibilities of media in a manner that leads to the development of new theories, practices, and technologies that make it easier for other collectives to form and explore the possibilities of media in their own unique circumstances as well.
My Qualifications
2018 Doctor of Philosophy in Art, Design and Media, University of New South Wales Art & Design, Sydney, NSW
2013 Master of Arts in Media Studies, The New School for Public Engagement, New York, NY
2007 Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, Eugene Lang College, New School University, New York, NY
My Awards
2018 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research, University of New South Wales Art and Design, Sydney, NSW
2012 Distinguished Thesis Award, The New School for Public Engagement, Department of Media Studies, New York, NY
2011 Excellence in Aviary Mockumentary for multimedia installation, video work, and performative lecture entitled “Re/Discovery of the Passenger Pigeon,” which presented archival and speculative research about the extinct passenger pigeon. This work was included in an exhibition curated by Christiane Paul at Soho Gallery for Digital Art
My Research Activities
Contant, Heather, “Radio and Media History as a Methodology for Conviviality” in Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media 18, 1, forthcoming in 2020.
Contant, Heather, “Makrolab as an Apparatus for Global Observation” in Transnationalizing Radio Research: New Approaches to an Old Medium, edited by Golo Föllmer and Alexander Badenoch, Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript-Verlag, 2018.
Contant, Heather, “Not at Home: The Uncanny Experiences of Radio Home Run” in Journal of Sonic Studies 16, 1, 2018.
Contant, Heather, “Review: The Tone of Our Times: Sound, Sense, Economy, and Ecology by Frances Dyson” in Soundscape 16, 2017, pp. 37-38.
Contant, Heather, Kusum Normoyle, and Peter Blamey, “Slow /Dark” in exhibition catalogue for Kusum Normoyle solo show at Artspace Ideas Platform (Sydney, Australia), May 2016.
Contant, Heather and Corinna Kirsch, “The Possibilities of Porosity: A Study in Sonic Skulls, the Hones, and Tape Translations” in exhibition catalogue for Resonant Structures, Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery, Stony Brook, New York, 2016, pp. 53-57.
Contant, Heather, “A Brief Introduction to Gremlins as Aesthetic Devices” Leonardo Music Journal 24, 2014, pp. 57-60.
Contant, Heather, “Packing My Library,” in Das Superpaper 33, 2014, pp. 28-29.
Contant, Heather, “Transduction: Cultural and Energy Flows of Radio” in Framework, no. 7, 2014, pp. 26-29.
Contant, Heather “Gremlins Attack Soundscape: Purposeful ISM Interferences on Pristine Sound,” in proceedings of Global Composition Conference on Sound, Media and the Environment, Hochschule Darmstadt, Media Campus, Dieburg, Germany 2012, pp. 443-445.
Contant, Heather, “Lessons from Radio During the Weimar Republic,” in proceedings of Trans-X Transmission Art Symposium, Deep Wireless Festival, New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA), Toronto, Canada, 2012.
