Sonic Avenues was a monthly column in THE SEEN, Chicago’s International Journal of Contemporary & Modern Art, about artists engaging with sound and the larger cultural implications of their work. Three installments of “Sonic Avenues” went live before COVID suspended its publication. On February 25th, 2021, the project was canceled. The journal did not survive the financial hardships of the past year.

Following these events Patrick created this multipart radio program, each part 15 minutes. The program’s core is a text, read by Patrick, that is accompanied by audio germane to the episode’s theme—a feature not possible in the original. The first “Sonic Avenues” essay touches upon Jónsi’s sound-environment art, the cry in the work of Shirin Neshat, and Christine Sun Kim’s Super Bowl 2020 ASL performance. A fourth, unpublished essay contemplates the ramifications of silence vis-à-vis the George Floyd protests.

Patrick J. Reed is artist and arts writer based in Los Angeles. He is a regular contributor to art-agenda and Sorbet Magazine, and he is a former staff writer for THE SEEN. His criticism is also featured in various publications, including ArtReview, ArtReview Asia, The Brooklyn Rail, Canvas: Art and Culture from the Middle East and Arab World, CURA, and Spike Art Magazine.