(3)
ESS Residency
Archival research about the lineage of feminist voices in Chicago. Culminating in a presentation, interview, and performance with Carol Genetti.
2025
Research, Event
Research Reflection
I went into the archives as a way to learn more about Chicago’s past. What I thought would be a map was actually a labyrinth with connections constantly shifting. We are accustomed to information that arrives instantly—summoned, displayed, complete. The archive resists any kind of immediacy or resolution. As Fred Moten said, “What is gathered is never just gathered; it’s broken open in the act of gathering.”
Working in the archive is an act of choreographing parts. The music files live on a drive, while the details and records are scattered across spreadsheets, scanned documents, and metadata. To navigate them is to play a kind of telephone: you inherit what someone before you inscribed, sometimes precise, often partial. Files can be muffled, warped, or cut off. Transfers occur slowly, by hand, one at a time.
To draw connections looking back seems like a wild dare, because I am arriving decades too late. However, one question has multiplied into so many more, with infinite lines to follow.
After spending so much time getting oriented, I realized there were a few main obstacles. First, not all the archives have been digitized. Something that seems obvious now, but never occurred to me beforehand. One person, who has many requests constantly piling up is transferring items one at a time. The ESS archives, which hold much of Chicago’s sonic history, are only partially digitized, and new collections are still being acquired. What is transferred is always political. Second, searching can be difficult unless you already know the precise name you’re looking for. Out of this came the idea to make a primer to help others request materials and trace feminist lineages more easily. What you hold is a preview.
Really, to work with the archive is an invitation to question and have conversations. I realize that many things remain buried because they were too complex, too unsettling, and too unprofitable for the smoothness of the mainstream. What is pulled from the archive depends on who is looking. This is the beginning of many conversations, and a tool for connection. It’s not comprehensive. It’s not final.
Event Description
Join us Sept 24 at ESS for an evening of conversation and performance with our 2025 ALBA Resident Sarah Lutkenhaus, joined by special guest Carol Genetti. Lutkenhaus shares discoveries from her time spent immersed in the Creative Audio Archives. Guided by an interest in female vocalists, Sarah’s research led her into unexpected terrain—intimate recordings, lo-fi textures, and voice qualities that reveal the personal and political resonances of underground sound. The evening begins with Sarah sharing reflections on working with the archives. The conversation will continue with Carol Genetti, a key figure in Chicago’s experimental music community and the CAA. The night concludes with solo performances from Genetti and Lutkenhaus, bringing archival inspiration into the present moment.
