The author traces the artistic and institutional complexities of preserving sonic art. He situates these problems in an analysis of the iconic public sound installation Times Square (1977–1992; 2002–present), which was constructed in an abandoned subway ventilation chamber by sonic artist Max Neuhaus (1939–2009). Next, the author describes how it aided a revitalization of the Times Square district but fell into disrepair and was dismantled in 1992. The author then describes a 2002 reconstruction that incorporated long-term speculative self-preservation strategies.

Luc Ferrari’s Presque rien, ou le lever du jour au bord de la mer (Almost nothing, or daybreak at the seashore) represents one of the most significant milestones in the development of field recording as it is understood today. His piece, recorded in 1968 in Vela Luka, is both a composition and an execution of auditory memory making. The work demonstrates the agentive capacity of Ferrari’s listening and sets a framework for future executions of the relational condition between human listening and the audition of the prosthetic ear: the microphone.

Urban ecological history can give us a fascinating glimpse into the sometimes completely obscured natural past right under our noses. It is also an effective vehicle for reconnecting people with their urban environment. Interdisciplinary artist Edmund Mooney uses eco-history as an invitation to walk into New York City, against the grid, with an eye and an ear to land and water features long erased.

Sound art is at the vanguard of contemporary creative practices seeking to establish a platform for meaningful debate on a range of accelerating global environmental crises.

Notes on LMJ26 audio tracks by Jen Reimer and Max Stein; Sarah Hennies; Maile Colbert and Rui Costa; Gerard Gormley; Christopher Haworth; Jacob Kirkegaard; Yvon Bonenfant and Cox Ring; and Tomomi Adachi and Jennifer Walshe.

This original audio companion features eight tracks by sound practitioners who focus our attention on listening as a creative act.