This episode of alternate realities features a mix by sound artist Johann Diedrick, alongside excerpts from the black beyond sound workshop _sonic shelters. During the workshop Johann presented his Mozilla Creative Media award project Dark Matters, which exposes the absence of black speech in the datasets used to train voice interface systems in consumer artificial intelligence products such as Alexa and Siri. Following the presentation, participants created speculative soundscapes with found sounds and field recordings.

Dark Matters. Johann Diedrick. 2021.

As an artist, engineer, and musician, Johann makes installations, performances, and sculptures for encountering new sonic possibilities off the grid. He is the Director of Engineering at Somewhere Good; 2022 Future Imagination Collaboratory Fellow at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU; 2021 Mozilla Creative Media Award recipient, 2020 Pioneer Works Technology resident, a member of NEW INC, and an adjunct professor at NYU’s ITP program. His work has been featured in Wire Magazine, Musicworks Magazine, and presented internationally at MoMA PS1, Ars Electronica, Somerset House, and multiple NIME conferences, among others.

* alternate realities is organized by black beyond creative, founding director JAZSALYN. This episode is mixed by featured guest artist Johann Diedrick. The black beyond _sonic shelters workshop is organized by JAZSALYN, Shameekia Shantel Johnson, and Yvonne Mpwo.