Voyage with dublab into new worlds. Each week we present field recordings that will transport you through the power of sound. Metabolic Sonics specializes in exploring the captivating sound waves and vibrations of the web of life. The Metabolic Studio is an interdisciplinary art and research hub based in Los Angeles, California directed by artist Lauren Bon. The studio addresses critical social and environmental issues through art interventions and innovative projects aimed at reparation.

Each week we will bring field recordings of Metabolic Studio’s current projects, Bending the River, Meandros. Moving Mountains, and archival material from past ventures including the improvised music of Metabolic Sonics. Bending the River is an adaptive reuse of the LA River infrastructure that reimagines the relationship between Los Angeles and the river that brought it into existence.

This is the keynote speech Lauren Bon gave at the Oberlander Prize Forum IV: Soak it UP in December, 2025. She speaks about the Cyborg Watershed of the intermountain West, the nature of Rivers to meander and some of her projects to reconnect the LA River with her floodplain. You will also hear the gigantic Aeolian Harp strung on a silo on the edge of the Owens Lake, as well as an excerpt of an operatic work-in-progress, Bending the River, a Rite (librettist Lauren Bon, composer O-Lan Jones, Narrator June Carryl, and the Interdependence Community choir)