The essay is widely understood as a rigid (written) form which tends to neatly set out an argument line by line, working towards a conclusion. If we expand our understanding of the essay and position its creation and reception as an acoustic activity we find the audio essay, a loosely defined format of knowledge exchange reliant on recorded audio in a multitude of forms.

The audio essay looks to the boundaries of disciplines, ideas, modes or materials – testing the boundaries between fact and fiction, documentary or radio play, ghost stories or adverts, field recording and foley to center the multi-faceted potential for experiencing information via verbal or non-verbal sonic communication.

Perhaps within this experimental framework of audio narration experience we can find our way back to the French root of the word “Essai” meaning the action or process of ‘trying or testing’ and embrace sound’s privileged relation to abstraction which allows it to mobilize speculative fictions (or factual reportage) effectively and economically [*1]

This summer Goldsmiths MADEP students from the Communication and Experience studio have been challenged to write, record and produce a 3 minute audio-essay to accompany their early practice-research interests. This website is a constant 7 hour looping radio broadcast sharing acoustic insights and poetic into a constellation of expanded design enquiries.

[*1] Sonic Faction — Justin Barton, Maya B Kronic, Steve Goodman (Editors) — Urbanomic 2024