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Category: Contemporary Issues In Sound Art

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

Future Sound Study Idea:

Throughout my research centred around deeper listening I have found myself fascinated with the juxtaposition between manmade noise and the natural environment. As global change prevails around us – while living in a city it was vital to recognise the man-made human sonic influence.

Coming from the countryside I grew up with minimal noise pollution around me. When I then moved to London my new auditory environment entirely changed. In the beginning, I saw this as only a negative however as I have opened my ears beyond the first layers of listening I have discovered that there can be something beautiful found within this jungle of sounds.

London College of Communication is a centre piece for “noise pollution” however I am beginning to retire away from the word “pollution” but instead see this as an opportunity. Every sonic noise has stories to tell about the community and architecture that is based there. In the future, I feel inspired to take a field recorder and listen beyond this branding of “pollution” and delve into the sonic stories we can find. After I have recorded these noises I would love to create a soundscape that highlights the contrast/ similarities of sounds made by nature vs sounds made by humans. Exploring the beauty of both sides and potential areas in which they can influence each other. Se Below for contrasting areas in which I would like to record.

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

Joseph Kamari:

I found Joseph Kamari’s work profoundly moving as he talked about his awareness of the world around him. His work focussed so deeply on the everyday noises but simultaneously felt like something new and fresh. After watching his new live stream at HÖR Berlin if felt highly inspired by his sonic positioning and art.

Kamaru works with familiar noises in our society and applies different synths and drones which almost mask what are hearing. These sonic effects make his sonic sound inaudible to fully understand; I find such beauty in this. Blurring the boundaries between understanding and unfamiliar can almost place a mediative effect on the listener. Complications and chaos of civilisation can tarnish how we hear sounds. Our ethnographies build up a list of connotations linked to sounds we hear and can almost create a negative and presumptuous mindset. How his work blurs these certainties within this live stream leaves thinking space for the viewer to create new preconceptions around the sound.

As humans, we are so driven physiologically to the source of sound and how it looks. However, Kmaru’s work has inspired me to listen deeper beyond the context and around the sonic itself. Humans think about the source of sound when listening due to a combination of innate cognitive processes and learned experiences. I researched into this, finding that the main reasons stem from us having, survival instinct, spacial awareness, social interaction and being environmentally aware.

I will talk about the idea of this deeper listening within my essay and express the vitality of how we chose to hear and see rather this listen beyond the what who and where.

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

Auditory Documenting:

When creating my sound piece around indigenous sonic work I have to be careful not to appropriate this culture and heritage. By appropriate their auditory sonic practice this would be exploiting centuries worth of heritage without understanding or having lived their culture. Equally, I want to express the preservation of the first nation Powwow celebration and its continuing traditions to this day. Due to these hesitations, I decided to form a piece of auditory documented work; sampling historical sounds and interviews taken from first nation indigenous people themselves.

Other sound artists such as Alan Lomax, Sarah Koenig, and Chris Watson have all used sound to document their own stories. Their work blurs the lines between journalism, art, and narrative while providing a distinctive viewpoint on social, environmental, and cultural concerns. They immerse listeners into fascinating auditory environments through their precise artistry, which effectively captures the spirit of a moment in time, a location, or a community. The success of these sound artists resides in their capacity to challenge standard narrative techniques and broaden the boundaries of aural creativity while also emotionally and intellectually engaging listeners.

As a whole I wanted my documentary-styled sound piece to reflect the strength of heritage and community within first nation culture. When the music begins to drown out the interviews I wanted this to be heard in a positive stroke of optimism; highlighting its power and strength. The variations of the powwow song drown out Native Americans talking about their struggles and oppression living as an indigenous society. However, with the music overpowering this sonically it indicates the forceful connection powwow holds on preserving heritage. Within my research, I found the first ever recorded Powwow song which felt vital to include. Below are the first 15 seconds of the sound piece I am working on.

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

When All Is Said – Changing Medium In Live Performance:

Media art has been profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic, as have many other facets of our existence. Artists and curators have had to come up with new ways to present their work and interact with audiences as actual galleries, exhibits, and events have either been shut down or limited. The main method of presentation is now through virtual exhibits and online platforms, which enable viewers to enjoy art in the privacy and comfort of their own homes. The epidemic has also drawn attention to social and political themes, like loneliness, connection, and the influence of technology on our lives, that media art frequently examines. Despite its difficulties, the pandemic has inspired fresh kinds of creativity and teamwork in the media art community.

After the pandemic, this has continued within areas of live performance. I recently attended an online live show over the telephone – ‘When All Is Said’. This was a 5 short play written by black trans people. The play was completely improvised and delivered by their voices over the phone. The technological barrier between the actors and the audience became a bond within the mood and context of the play; mirroring a phone call. I found the piece extremely moving and effective. It proved the effectiveness technology within live performance can bring; making it more authentic to our reality.

The face of live performance is slowly changing and I would love to experiment in ways beyond the auditory and involve different mediums just like ‘When All Is Said’.

When All Is Said
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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

Characteristics of Powwow:

Within my new sound piece, I wanted to present the identity of Indigenous first nation people and how they use this within their sonic auditory. With my case study being ‘A Tribe Called Red’; they focus their work on the merge of EDM and Powwow music. I decided to sample traditional Powwow and learn the characteristics of the traditional sound and what it means.

Powwow music is a form of Native American music that is traditionally performed at powwows, which are social gatherings and celebrations of Indigenous culture and traditions. Here are some characteristics of powwow music:

Powwow music is an old heritage that more often is a social gathering to celebrate their culture and centuries of tradition and community. The first characteristic consists of Drumming. The Powwow drum is usually a large 2 sided drum which is played in unison by a group of drummers alongside singing. Secondly, the music usually has a strong vocal throughout. Mainly in a style of call and response between the lead singers and other members. Lyrics usually consist of indigenous first nation language – telling stories and spiritual messages about heritage and lore. Rhythmically the music depends on what dance they are performing during the Powwow performances. Sometimes, melodies may be incorporated through a flute, fiddle or guitar.

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

Noise Music – Meditative effects:

Examples of noise have been used for years within the avant guard sonic community. From John Cage’s ‘Oceans of Sound’ to Florian Hecker’s ‘Event Stream Objective’ reverberation has formed its genre of sonic auditory sound. Our ability to perceive sound is significantly influenced by noise music and reverberation. Noise music can provoke strong emotions and change our mood due to its rough and chaotic noises. Some listeners may feel uneasy or uncomfortable as a result, while others may find it freeing and energising.

On the other hand, reverb is the continuation of sound in space after the sound source has ended, which can improve the quality of music and speech by giving the sound more depth and richness. Additionally, it might provide the impression that the listener is immersed in the sound and space.

I believe Noise music can become meditative and create an extreme amount of emotional auditory space for people to reflect. For this reason, I chose to work with reverberation within sound for some screen work I have recently been working on. I felt this emotional room within the sonic would allow a place for the viewer to connect stronger towards what is happening on screen.

Overall, reverberations meditative characteristics worked extremely well with my sound for screen and I will continue to use this in future work.

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

Claiming Identity – The Power It Holds Auditory

As I listened to Samson Young speak about his form of storytelling and identity through his work, I later researched further into his piece ‘Nocturne’. The effect this sound installation held on the audience; creating a pathway of exploring old fallen soldiers from WW1 and a reflective soundscape, influenced me heavily.

The power of storytelling within the sound is a beautiful thing that explores the theory of deeper listening beyond the sound itself and the attached context within the sonic practice you hear. In my opinion, this forms a telling dynamic with the audience beyond the auditory; leaving room for empathy, sympathy and understanding. It gives a platform for the listener to connect further into a sound installation and see glance through the artist’s vision.

In the past, my work, I have touched upon identity and storytelling in sound installation previously. I chose to interview a series of people on portobello road discussing their purity stories and chosen music genre when growing up. Having insight into someone else’s life shapes a piece emotionally differently when not used. Despite this success, I have reflected on Young’s lecture and my previous work and contemplated the idea that I have never included anything about my own identity within my work. As an artist, I have always been driven towards the storytelling of others and lacked any self-reflection. Taking this I have decided to begin including a sense of identity with my future work. This way it will allow listeners to form a bond with me as an artist and hopefully clarify the context better than it did before.

This is a section taken from my previous sound exhibition showing Identity.

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

Sonic Environmental Practice – Results of Climate Change:

As our environment continues to diminish around us; as artists we are beginning to notice its beauty more than we did before. We understand the possibility of not having natural beauty around us in the future. One of the ways our climate is changing is through natural soundscapes. Natural habitats are being destroyed and replaced with manmade surroundings. Sound Artists Chris Watson and Jana Winderson are two artists who incorporate field recordings centred around endangered habitats and specifies. They use these sonic sounds to document the changes in our environment and risk towards habitats. Another example of sound artists using our environment is Francisco López and Robert Curgenven who study the way humans react within certain environments and with each other. Their works combine sounds from both urban and rural settings to create acoustic landscapes that emphasise how humans affect the natural world. By doing this, they inspire listeners to reflect more deeply on their relationship with the environment and to take into account how their actions may affect the environment. Within my future work, I hope to take these influences and embody sounds taken from the environment within my sound piece. As an artist, I get so focussed on creating foley and sounds created within a studio or artificially. It is vital to listen to what we have around us without human interference and record the beauty from its core.

Jana Winderen – Recording the World

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

Gatekeeping of Art – Fluxus Influence 

The art world is notoriously known for holding a self-acclaimed hierarchy. Its pretentious views have often stunted others from creating artistic work due to financial assumptions, classism, sexism, and racism. Within the education and historical sonic teaching nearly all noted musicians are often white Western men (Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy). Collectively, as a society, women and other minority composers are regularly not recognised. The Feminist artistic activists – ‘Guerrilla Girls’ state in their art “(hip’ o-crit) An art collector who buys white male art at benefits for liberal causes, but never buys art by women or artists of colour”. Society has developed sexist assumptions about the artwork they buy, create and observe. This gatekeeping mentality is stunting the influence of new art; instead encouraging a cycle of assumptions of how we think art should look.

After the rise of Fluxus artwork in the 1960s it began to influence new artists. The goal of the Fluxus art movement was to subvert conventional ideas of art and end the elitism that was frequently connected to the art industry. In this way, Fluxus artists aimed to dismantle barriers between social classes and produce a democratic and open form of art. Examples like Yoko Ono’s 1965 ‘Cut Piece’ showed the cutting segments of her hair and clothes on stage during a live performance. This type of artwork showed a sense of accessibility towards the public eye. Anyone could create!

Overall, Fluxus began to break down the boundaries and gatekeeping the art world holds upon the outside world. It was an invitation for minorities and under privilege members of society to perform and invent new styles of work. Anyone can create and with enough context, anything can be art. We must look and listen beyond the “norm” of Western assumptions and gatekept artworkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbQBD06N0Hs

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Contemporary Issues In Sound Art Second Year

How Global Change Encourages New Forms Of Sonic Practices:

Today’s civilisations are hyper-aware of the crisis we find ourselves in environmentally. Global warming rates are at the point of emergency; as a result, most of society is choosing to change their daily practice, including artists! Issues behind waste consumption are encouraging artists to change/be more aware of the materials they use. Makoto Oshiro is a Berlin – Tokyo-based performer and artist. He focuses his live work on vibration and interference; more often using recycled everyday materials and attaching them to motors or moving devices in order to sound. Working alongside his performance group ‘The Great △(夏の大△)’ their sonic work makes the simple- effective! Oshiro’s performance work could often be considered sculpture-based artwork; creating huge spectrums of sonic machinery from recycled materials. Aware of the fragility of materials, many artists are beginning to blend their practices. There has become a sense of efficiency and frugality within the sound art world; now we know about the delicacy of sustainability of objects. Oshiro’s work is a great example of how he merges more than one medium of artwork; making recycled junk the primary core of the creative process. I believe artists are beginning to create art with an echo wary conscience. Whereas before artists would focus their production process on sound; making it the primary source- searching for materials specifically suitable towards their sonic needs. This would encourage the overproduction of new materials. However, nowadays artists are looking beyond mass consumption and assessing materials before they chose to create sound. This slows down the rate of production and the creation of extra material in the world and ultimately becomes a more efficient and green way of creative thinking and doing.