Patrick J. Reed

“Sonic Avenues” started in 2020 as a publication hosted by THE SEEN, Chicago’s international journal of contemporary & modern art. It was a monthly column about artists engaging with sound and the larger cultural implications of their work. Three installments of “Sonic Avenues” went live before the pandemic brought it to an end. The first essays touched upon the musician Jónsi’s sound-environment art, outcry in the work of Shirin Neshat, and Christine Sun Kim’s Superbowl 2020 ASL performance. A fourth, unpublished essay contemplated the ramifications of silence during a summer marked by protest, wildfire in the American West, and an air-borne virus that forced the world to rethink everything. With the support of Materials & Applications, “Sonic Avenues” became a radio program; the first part of which picks up where it left off, with notes on silence—and it ricochets from there. 

Primarily composed of texts written and read by the author, Patrick J. Reed, “Sonic Avenues Radio” favors content over form, while honoring formal simplicity. The idea of the field recording informs the project’s overall sensibility; hence, the acceptance and inclusion of occasional sound artifacts that arise from, for example, the urban environment, the modern home, and, indeed, the author himself. 

Please note: some of the statistics at the end of “Episode 1” have changed since the time of its writing, not necessarily for the better. Considering “Sonic Avenues” is as much a document of a moment as said statistics describe a specific era, these numbers remain unaltered, though amended by this caveat. 

Additionally, “Episode 1: Notes on Silence, Part 1” introduces several lines of thought regarding the powers of silence, most importantly the notion that “silence equals death.” “Episode 2: Notes on Silence, Part 2” will return to this idea with greater elaboration, as it builds on the discussion initiated in “Part 1.”

Sonic Avenues Radio is written, narrated, edited, and produced by Patrick J. Reed.

Thanks to Stephanie Cristello, Andrew Holmquist, and Marianne Zumberge for their help in making this project possible. Special thanks to Materials & Applications for the opportunity to bring “Sonic Avenues Radio” into the public sphere.