Acoustics often relates to the physical and material conditions for sound. But an expanded understanding of acoustics, as an atmosphere that include the immaterial, sets the framework for the types of sounds we make space for, and how we listen to them, and pose questions on which voices are heard; and which voices are overheard. Cultural norms affects what and who is deemed worth listening to, and we can see them as lines that outline possibilities for listening and expression. In this context, noise is that which escapes the lines that limits of permissibility and notions of order.

When dominant frequencies draw lines, and makes efforts to align ears and minds, noise is a form of resistance and protest. Beyond the perception of noise as something unwanted, it might also be understood to contain a complexity of voices. And in the midst of these voices, we find our own.

How might noise inspire, amplify and resonate?

‘That which is considered noise by some’ explores the acoustics for a socially and protest-conscious noise. The exhibition features two ‘noise carts’: one equipped with loudspeakers, that perform music and a spoken poem about listening to others, listening to oneself, and finding one’s voice in protest. In this cart is an essay about the Danish governments’ ignorance towards pro-Palestine protests in Denmark. In the other cart, a TV screen displaying static noise functions as a listening-station with a collage of audio pieces collectively titled ‘the anti-authoritarian mixtape’.

With sound, words, and acoustic elements, such as softening textiles on the walls and scrambled posters on the floor that function as sound diffusers, the exhibition is a love-declaration to activism, and an embrace of noise and its line-breaking and political potential.

Exhibited at XM3, Aalborg DK, in 2025

The exhibition is supported by Aalborg Municipality

Photos by Morten Poulsen

Thanks to Beatriz Gijón, Emma Sjövall and Mikael Madsen