SONIC CELL | MINOR GESTURES

MULTICHANNEL CONCERT IN PUBLIC SPACE.

SONIC CELL adapts to its surroundings like an organism. Unfolding hidden layers of the city’s buzz, we explore surprising locations in public space to embed sound and musics in the neighbourhood.

This issue thematises the aesthetics of everyday life and the politics of minor gestures (Erin Manning, 2016) – those subtle, inconspicuous artistic interventions that make an impact not through volume or drama, but through their tender presence. This concept is taken up by the series of works "Daily Miniatures" (2025) by Iranian Santur player Roozbeh Nafisi and by Jasmin Guffond's Muzak for the Encouragement of "Unproductivity" (2025). Both draw on the prosaic as an aesthetic strategy against the economisation of space and time. Thresholds that enable coexistence and lingering in an overly competitive and overstimulated society. Ж Ignashev contributes his composition "Sehen mit den Ohren" (2025) diving into Vienna’s hidden acoustic superstructures. Home to 22 bat species — the Austrian capital turns during twilight into a resonance chamber for their nocturnal voices.