Suzanne Thorpe, a sound-installation artist, is this year’s Victor E. Ferrall Artist-in-Residence.

She will give her keynote talk on acoustic ecology and her process of creating site-specific installations in relation to place at 12:30 p.m on Wednesday., Feb. 20 in Moore Lounge.

“[Thorpe] so beautifully exemplifies interdisciplinarity as a practice–both among different arts and beyond the arts. Her work combines sound, performance, improvisation, technology, feminism, and ecology, among other things,” says Yvonne Wu, assistant professor of music.

As a part of her week-long residency, Thorpe will perform among sound installations created by Beloit students on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wright Museum. Inspired by

David Tudor’s “Rainforest,” which Thorpe contributed to, students were charged with collecting the sounds of Beloit. They recorded in various spaces on campus including residence halls, the Science Center, and outdoors, then they composed soundscapes using these recordings. For Saturday’s performance, the compositions will be projected through different materials, like cork or cardboard, in mobiles hanging in the Wright Museum to create their own sound ecology.

“I hope that students will find inspiration as they learn about the path she has carved out, how it allows her to ask many interesting questions. It is always great to have students see artists in action,” says Wu. “I think students coming from any discipline can find this interesting–how an individual chooses to position herself–through a stance of listening, of responsive engagement–in our very complex and fast-changing world.”