School
for
Poetic
Computation
Aggressive Listening Lab (ALL) is a thought exercise in noise, surveillance, tinkering, and collective listening through the practice of dismantling technology.
Images courtesy of teachers.
Aggressive Listening Lab (ALL) is a thought exercise in noise, surveillance, tinkering, and collective listening through the practice of dismantling technology. We will study technologies that use sound to surveil, police, and control—including long-range acoustic devices (LRADs), or “sound cannons” used for communication and crowd control, and ShotSpotter, a system that claims to locate suspected gunfire using microphones and algorithms.
Through readings, listenings, discussion, and hands-on experimentation, students will work alongside the teacher to take apart an actual LRAD, slowly examining how it works, what its components make possible, and how those parts might be made to function differently. Against the logic of “move fast and break things,” we’ll move deliberately: What can we learn from picking a technology apart rather than destroying or discarding it? How might dismantling help us understand not only how something was built, but how it might be rebuilt toward liberatory ends?
Students are encouraged to respond to their experience through a final project, which might take the form of writing, performance, or an experimental work of their own.
This class may be for you if you:
This class may NOT be for you if you:
Bio: Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste is a Richmond, VA-based artist, composer, and performer. Some of Toussaint-Baptiste’s fellowships and awards include the 2024/Inaugural Triple Canopy Fellow, Camargo Foundation Core Program Fellow, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Sound Artist-In-Residence, Bessie Award for Outstanding Music Composition and Sound Design, the Jerome Foundation Airspace Resident at Abrons Arts Center, Issue Project Room 2017 Artist-In-Residence, and the Rauschenberg Residency 381 Artist-In-Residence. Toussaint-Baptiste is an Assistant Professor in Sculpture & Extended Media at Virginia Commonwealth University and recently received a 2025 Creative Capital Award for the land-art project "There, Eyes Were Watching.”
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Maxine de las Pozas is a music artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She has performed, published original music, and DJ’ed under the name Axine M since 2017. As Axine M, she was a 2024 Issue Project Room Artist in Residence. Maxine holds a master's degree in Music Technology from NYU Steinhardt, where she focused on the design of novel music controllers for live performance. Her thesis project was published in the proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2020) and International Computer Music Conference (ICMC 2021). Maxine works as a Technical Director and Sound Engineer.
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Applications open until Applications closed on November 16, 2026.
You can expect to hear back from us about the status of your application on . Please email us at admissions@sfpc.study with any questions you have.
For 5 classes, it costs $750 + processing fees, for a one-time payment. We also offer payment plans. Participants can schedule monthly payments of the same amount. First and last payments must be made before the start and end of class. *Processing fees apply for each payment.
SFPC also offers scholarships to attend for $600, $300, $100 or even $0. Over half of our students receive some form of scholarship. Our application will ask you how much tuition you are able to afford and if we accept you, you will only have to pay that amount. Learn more about scholarships at SFPC here.
For more information about what we look for in applicants, scholarships, and other frequently asked questions, please visit our applicant FAQ.
Interested in more learning opportunities at the School for Poetic Computation? Join our newsletter to stay up to date on future sessions and events, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Support our programming through scholarships. Get in touch over email.
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