Tag Archives: sound art

Researching Black Sound Artists

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To write on the exclusion of black artists from the sound arts canon, it is important to focus in on a partticular artist’s work or methoology. I identified artists I could think of from previous knowledge, thinking on the ways in which they work with sound.

As my Knowledge of Klein is what iniially sparked my intetrest in sound art, I identified her as an artist I could speak about. Her practice involves performance using DIY instruments, as well as the manipulation of vocals and live triggered samples. Her “musical” works lack structure, rhythm and cohesiveness, likening them to the sound art works which we are introduced to throughout this course. Speaking about Klein would allow me to speak on perforance within sound art, as well as on this importance DIY cultures play in sound art. If I were to choose to speak about Klein within my essay, I would be held back in justifying my thoughts, as there isn’t any validated literature that concerns Klein’s work specifically. The documentaion of modern arts cultures, particuarly those coming from non-white backgrounds, is scarce. Therefore, Klein isn’t written into any litterature that can support my arguemnts through the academic lens. This not only exemplifies the prominence of the issue that I am attempting to discuss in this essay, but also creates an unmovable block in being able to write about Klein.

It made sense to look to artists working with installation / in a gallery context, as their works are therefore validated through an academic lense, even if not included within the sound arts canon. I decided to speak about Satch Hoyt, as his wrok with “Afro-sonic” mapping is something that really spoke to me.

I decided to speak about Actress, as I have a book that unpicks his methodology.

Information, Language and Interaction

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As sound artists, we may often assume the whole world feels sound the way we do, that feeling being one we emit within our sonic practices. And whilst the listener or consumer may be able to resonate and connect with that feeling, they may not truly understand whatever the message it is the composer is conveying. Audio papers become important in helping those not immersed within the world of sound to understand the meaning behind sound. Of course, those wanting to gain that understanding could read pre-written literature on topics of interest, so what is it that makes the audio paper so special? Of course, there’s a huge difference in format which makes it more accessible to some and many other practical factors, but what makes the audio paper truly special is its connection with its creator. For a successful audio paper, a sound artist must be aware of one’s voice and self as the performer of the audio paper.

I plan for my audio paper to be based around vinyl culture and abstract turntablism. As someone who is immersed within the world of dance music, it can be challenging to contextualise myself and my own practices within the world of sound art. Within the opening chapters of Richard Osbourne’s Vinyl: A History of the Analog Record, it is mentioned that the art of DJing (my sonic practice I use most) is an art of experimenting with the turntable in a way it was not initially manufactured to be used for. Scratching, pulling back and other small techniques DJ use wear out the records more than intended. This makes it appropriate to talk about vinyl culture in an audio paper within the realm of sound arts. This experimental nature of turntablism is challenged and taken to more extreme depths by artists such as Maria Cahvez, who breaks up records, layering them atop each other to create sound collage. 

Being immersed within the world of dance music, I would love to be able to interview vinyl collectors in my social sphere- people such as Bradley Zero, who runs Rhythm Section, where I work. This would allow the social and musical context of turntablism to be explored without simply rewording academic texts to understand the historical context. This would also allow my musicality away from the sound art realm to be presented within the audio paper. I would also like to explore my own record collection within the audio paper, which gives a brief insight into my upbringing and cultures that make up the sound artist I am today, giving the audio paper a sense of personality. 

Whilst the audio paper may seem like an attempt to keep my research safe, as it regards a practice I am heavily involved in, I feel as though I am taking it as an opportunity to open the mainstream listener of sound to the world of sound art. I honestly believe that a deep understanding of sound away from its musicality, and experimenting with any form of sound creation is what keeps our minds connected to the Earth and to God. Giving people this knowledge may just be what we need to heal as a human race and create a better world.

Sound Arts in the British Context 2

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When reading the Unfinished Business: A Conversation on Sound Art in the UK, a transcript of a conversation between Adam Parkinson and David Toop (the latter being the interviewee), I was able to understand better what separates the British understanding of what sound art is from other perspectives. David Toop, previously a Professor of Audio Culture and Improvisation here at LCC, is known for drawing connections between sound, listening, music, and physical art, and crossing the boundaries of how these themes interact with each other.

Sound art or, as Toop and other proponents of its scene in the 1970s would rather call it, “sound work”. The term “sound work” was preferred as it detached those involved in the practice from the art world and from music. This provokes the question; what is wrong with the art world? The most obvious answer is the exclusivity and eliteness associated with the art world. However, as time has progressed, in 2021 art is so much more understood and accessible that its become a lot more inclusive, and perhaps more comfortable to associate with the term “art”. However, exclusion and extortion still loom over the world of art. Though it could be debated that the prices of particular art pieces, exhibitions and experiences is only fair for the value of time and dedication that the artist(s) have put into their projects, there is zero doubt that this creates an immediate barrier, drawing a line of exclusivity.

Toop creates a very reasonable argument for detaching from the term “art”, but why then call it “work”? For me, the word “work” brings up thoughts of necessity rather than enjoyment, like being forced to do a job. Jobs, for the most part, require certain levels of skill, which, on the topic of exclusivity, could infer that skill is required to create sound art. This goes against my personal ethos, that art is one of our most innate functions, meaning that everyone has the ability to create it. On the flip side, the thoughts of “necessity” that were brought up could show that what differentiates sound art from music and the art world, is that sound art needs to have a purpose. Though Toop did not say this, its a nice thought to wonder on.

What Toop goes on to explain, is that in his practice of sound work compared to art, there is more value of the journey of the creation, rather than the outcome. This just goes to show, its up to you what sound art means to you, or whatever you call your practice, no matter what it may be branded as to others.

Introduction to Sound Arts

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Ontology: what is there? what exists?
Epistemology: How we go about knowing.

The big questions we were introduced to today were:
– What is sound art? Where does it happen? Who consumes it? Who produces it? How? Where? Why?
– How does it relate to other forms of listening and sound making?

Although these are questions we will never be able to define definitively, we started to think about how we can collectively define “sound art”. The two ideas I resonated with were:
– an expression of a concept through sound. Because of this, unlike music, sound art is not created with the intention of being pleasing to the ears, but rather to allow the listener to grasp the intended emotion and effect of the piece of art.
– sound that engages other senses than the ears; this could link closely to the condition synaesthesia, which for some can be a pleasing experience, and sound art can be a vessel for those without the condition to experience a similar sense.

Thinking on the idea of synaesthesia, I thought about my own experiences of pain synaesthesia, which isn’t pleasant at all. When describing the sensations and how disabling this can be for me sometimes, I’m not often understood. Perhaps, creating a piece of sound art, I will finally be able to communicate this experience. I would like to research into sound creating physical pain, as if this is a possibility, it is something I would like to experiment with.

Sound Works: Peter Vogel, Sound of Shadows.
Books: Rachel Mundy, Animal Musicalities: Birds, Beasts and Evolutionary Listening.