[ENG] Close Listening, Sébastien Hendrickx on Nocturnes for a Society (Etcetera #173)

In this essay for Etcetera, Sébastien Hendrickx reflects on Nocturnes for a Society as a “beautiful, subdued nocturne” composed in time, space and collective attention. Starting from the question of the avant-garde today, he follows how amateur practice, deep listening, sleeping, eating and sound-making become part of a shared nocturnal experiment.
The essay asks what kind of social imagination can emerge when eighty strangers spend the night together without clock time or conductor.