THE USE OF SOUND

In this presentation, I will try to indicate how sound, in its widest sense can be used, both in terms of presentation, but also in terms of its ability to communicate meaning to a wider audience. I will utilise video performances as well as objects to develop a wider concept of how such a concept can be used, and give you some key words and phrases that you may want to use later.

Key words

Sound, noise, silence, image, voice.

When sound is created, it can provide a sense of history: of objects, of images, and also in its own right. Sound provides a new dimension: it communicates, it provides a sense of space and time, and gives a voice to things that might otherwise be mute and undescribed. It also has major implications for all areas of work: performance, installation, image –making , animation and theatre. Sound is not necessary to a performance or presentation, but hearing a sound provides a meaning to whatever is produced.

Noise

Noise can be about the clash and collision between different things, such as the noise of the city, the street, the disparate elements of daily life that we experience. It can also influence and inform, and perhaps permeate how we experience things. It is not something that is co-ordinated, as in music, and can be repellent as well as informative. But providing noise can be a creative experience, particularly when it clashes with our contemplation of particular things, or when it forms a part of our concept of how we observe and understand the environment in which we live and work.

Silence

The lack of sound and noise is also eloquent. We fill silence with our own voices, our own music, our own sense of the resonance of objects, and their sense of life. Nothing is ever silent: there is a hidden chorus of past histories, personalities and identities. Silence can communicate as much as sound or noise.

Image

Imagery also has its own voice. The image carries its own interior sound, whether it be music or noise. To see or experience an image, of whatever kind, allows us to hear its conception and its life. To view an image without hearing it is to deny it its essential quality – to hear when it was born, its development and its maturity.

Voice

The human voice is an essential tool to communicate and understand particular truths and concepts. To speak aloud, to hear the hidden meanings and interpretations of a text or poem is a powerful ad meaningful way of understanding. To hear one’s own work and writing spoken back, is sometimes disturbing: “…The ability to hear one’s own voice outside the confines of presence…” But it is such an important tool to use, and defines our own sense of identity.

These are simple notes to provide views and ideas for presentation and development. I hope they may be useful to you. I will discuss these further if need be.

References you might find useful:

Luigi Russolo – Art of Noise (1913)

Calvin Tomkin – Ahead of the Game – Four Versions of the Avant-Garde

Douglas Kahn – Noise, Water, Meat – A History of Sound in the Arts (1999)

Frank Jackson.

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