Jared Brown, a Chicago-born interdisciplinary artist, brought their distinct exploration of sound, rhythm, and Black American subcultures to BADS_Lab 2024. Self-identifying as a “data thief,” Jared reclaims fragments of history, culture, and technology, transforming them into immersive experiences across audio, text, performance, and video. Their practice interrogates how the ephemeral—especially sound—can resist domination, serve as catharsis, and foster collective care.
For Jared, lament is more than a reflection of sorrow; it is an act rooted in rhythm. Their inquiry began by exploring how anti-Blackness and colonial violence disrupt the foundational pulses that sustain Black cultural expression. Jared described rhythm as both a metaphor and a method, pointing to how its interruptions reflect the distortions of history and identity. “Collectively building a rhythm can be powerful,” they explained. “It can inspire resistance, but also provide healing and calm in despair.” This duality became central to their practice: rhythm as both a source of agitation and reconciliation. Drawing from bodily sounds—heartbeats, breaths, and voices—Jared’s compositions modulate between harmony and dissonance, capturing the tension of survival. These disruptions, rather than being obstacles, become openings for recalibration, improvisation, and renewal.
In the appeal phase, Jared moved from reflection to action, considering how sound can be a catalyst for transformation. They described their practice as “sustaining expansion through sonics,” emphasizing the power of sound to shift emotional and spatial dynamics. By rejecting rigid roles within music-making—drummer, bassist, singer—they encourage participants to co-create rhythms that are fluid, collective, and improvisational. For Jared, sound operates sculpturally, shaping spaces both physical and emotional. “Sound processes pain and despair,” they explained, “but it also appeals for liberation and connection.” This approach came to life during the public Futurhythmachines event, where Jared performed as their DJ persona, girly*. Drawing on the liberatory ethos of Chicago House Music, their set bridged personal memory and collective action, invoking House Music’s historical role as a maroon space for joy, resistance, and belonging. Sound, here, became more than an auditory experience; it was a medium for creating a temporary sanctuary, a space to imagine freedom in real time.
Jared’s practice thrives in the moments where rhythm stumbles, shifts, and struggles to realign. These offbeat moments, they explained, are where resistance becomes most palpable. “Finding your way back into the groove,” Jared said, “is transformative. It’s in those dissonant spaces that music—and resistance—comes alive.” Improvisation is critical to their work, reflecting the dynamism of collective struggle. Using Zoom recorders, they capture spontaneous sounds, layering them into compositions that oscillate between chaos and order. This method mirrors the dynamics of collective action, where disparate voices find moments of harmony while retaining their individuality. Rhythm, in this sense, is both a tool and a metaphor for navigating tension, creating pathways for connection even amid disruption.
Jared’s work at the lab emphasized sound’s capacity to shape spaces that evoke visceral and emotional responses. Sampling intimate bodily sounds—heartbeats, breaths, and murmurs—they crafted sonic environments that oscillate between calm and chaos. These transitions reflect the complexities of embodiment, where moments of peace are always haunted by echoes of struggle. Sound, as Jared practices it, is relational. Their compositions create spaces that are neither fully secure nor entirely volatile, inviting participants to inhabit the in-between. In these sonic sanctuaries, rhythm becomes a tool for fostering community and generating emotional resonance. The spaces Jared builds are not static refuges but dynamic sites of connection, reflection, and collective care.
The final phase of Jared’s work at BADS_Lab centered on the fragility and power of working with the immaterial. Sound, by its nature, resists permanence—it is fleeting, vulnerable, and relational. In a world dominated by materiality and control, this ephemerality could be seen as a limitation. For Jared, however, it is a strength. They described sound as “sculptural,” capable of shaping intangible yet deeply impactful spaces. This perspective challenges the demand for permanence, suggesting instead that sound’s transience invites deeper engagement. By leaning into the impermanent, Jared’s practice encourages participants to let go of control and embrace sound as a dynamic, evolving force. In doing so, Jared reclaims the immaterial as a site of power—sound becomes a way of resisting commodification, a force that escapes the confines of static representation. Their work offers a quiet but potent challenge: to engage with the fleeting, to find resonance in what cannot be held, and to trust the transformative potential of what exists beyond the visible and material.
© Center for Concrete and Abstract Machines