Sound art is an artistic activity in whichsound is utilized as a primarytime-basedmedium or material.[1] Like many genres ofcontemporary art, sound art may beinterdisciplinary in nature, or be used inhybrid forms.[2] According toBrandon LaBelle, sound art as a practice "harnesses, describes, analyzes, performs, and interrogates the condition of sound and the process by which it operates."[3]
According toBernhard Gál's research, the first published use of the term was found inSomething Else Press on the cover of their 1974Yearbook.[7] The first use as the title of an exhibition at a major museum was 1979'sSound Art at theMuseum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), featuringMaggi Payne, Connie Beckley, and Julia Heyward.[8] The curator,Barbara London defined sound art as, "more closely allied to art than to music, and are usually presented in the museum, gallery, or alternative space."[9]
Commenting on an exhibition calledSound/Art at theSculptureCenter inNew York City in 1984 art historianDon Goddard noted: "It may be that sound art adheres to curator Hellermann's perception that 'hearing is another form of seeing,' that sound has meaning only when its connection with an image is understood...The conjunction of sound and image insists on the engagement of the viewer, forcing participation in real space and concrete, responsive thought, rather than illusionary space and thought."[10]
Sound installation is anintermedia and time-based art form. It is an expansion of anart installation in the sense that it includes the sound element and therefore the time element.[11] The main difference with a sound sculpture is that a sound installation has a three-dimensional space and the axes with which the different sound objects are being organized are not exclusively internal to the work, but also external.[12] A work of art is an installation only if it makes a dialog with the surrounding space.[13] A sound installation is usuallysite-specific, but sometimes it can be readapted to other spaces. It can be made either in closed or open spaces, and context is fundamental in determining how a sound installation will be aesthetically perceived.[14] The difference between a regularart installation and a sound installation is that the latter contains a time element which gives the visiting public the option to stay longer to explore the development of the sound over time. This temporal factor also gives the audience an incentive to explore the space more thoroughly and investigate the disposition of the different sounds in space.[15]
Sound installations sometimes use interactive art technology (computers,sensors,mechanical andkinetic devices, etc.), but they can also simply use sound sources placed at different points in space (such asspeakers), or acoustic instrument materials such as piano strings played by a performer or by the public. In the context of museums, this combination ofinteractive digital technology and multi-channel speaker distribution is sometimes referred to assound scenography.[16]
The simplest sound form is a repeatingsound loop. This is mostly used inAmbient music-like art, and in this case the sound is not the determinant factor of the art work.
The most used sound structure is theopen form, since the public can decide to experience a sound installation for just a few minutes or for a longer period of time. This obliges the artist to construct a sound organization that is capable of working well in both cases.
There is also the possibility to have a linear sound structure, where sound develops in the same way as in amusical composition. This type of structure can be seen in interactive sound installations like "The Zone," created by the collaborative group Volumetric Units, which explores the phenomenological experience of hyperreal cyberspace[17]
Sound sculpture is anintermedia and time-based art form in whichsculpture or any kind of art object producessound, or the reverse (in the sense that sound is manipulated in such a way as to create a sculptural as opposed to temporal form or mass). Most often sound sculpture artists were primarily eithervisual artists orcomposers, not having started out directly making sound sculpture.[18]
Cymatics andkinetic art have influenced sound sculpture. Sound sculpture is sometimessite-specific.Bill Fontana's research on urban sound sculpture delves into the concept of shiftingambient noise music within cityscapes to produce distinct auditory encounters. Through this approach, he modifies the surrounding soundscape, impacting how listeners perceive their environment while highlighting both the auditory and visual elements of a particular space.[19]
Sound Artist and Professor of Art atClaremont Graduate UniversityMichael Brewster described his own works as "Acoustic Sculptures" as early as 1970.[20] Grayson described sound sculpture in 1975 as "the integration of visual form and beauty with magical, musical sounds through participatory experience."[21]
^"Museum of Modern Art, Museum exhibition features works incorporating sound, press release no. 42 for Sound Art exhibition 25 June–5 August 1979". No. Exh. 1266. MoMA Archives.
^Hellerman, William, andDon Goddard. 1983. Catalogue for "Sound/Art" at The Sculpture Center, New York City, May 1–30, 1984 and BACA/DCC Gallery June 1–30, 1984.[page needed].
^Ouzounian, Gascia (2008).Sound art and spatial practices: situating sound installation art since 1958. San Diego: UC.
^[2] 11 Essential Sound Artworks, from Reviled Noise Orchestras to Protest-Minded Installations by Tessa Solomon October 8, 2020 Artnews
^[3] 11 Essential Sound Artworks, from Reviled Noise Orchestras to Protest-Minded Installations by Tessa Solomon October 8, 2020 Artnews
^[4] 11 Essential Sound Artworks, from Reviled Noise Orchestras to Protest-Minded Installations by Tessa Solomon October 8, 2020 Artnews
^[5] 11 Essential Sound Artworks, from Reviled Noise Orchestras to Protest-Minded Installations by Tessa Solomon October 8, 2020 Artnews
^Brückner, Atelier (2010).Scenography / Szenografie - Making spaces talk / Narrative Räume. Stuttgart: avedition. p. 209.
^Grayson, John (1975).Sound sculpture : a collection of essays by artists surveying the techniques, applications, and future directions of sound sculpture. A.R.C. Publications. p. V.ISBN0-88985-000-3.
Jensenius, Alexander Refsum; Lyons, Michael, eds. (2017).A NIME Reader: Fifteen Years of New Interfaces for Musical Expression.Springer.ISBN978-3-319-47214-0.
Kim-Cohen, Seth. 2009.In the Blink of an Ear: Toward a Non-Cochlear Sonic Art. New York: Continuum.ISBN978-0-8264-2971-1
LaBelle, Brandon. 2006.Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art. New York and London: The Continuum International Publishing Group.ISBN0-8264-1844-9 (cloth)ISBN0-8264-1845-7 (pbk)
Peer, René van. 1993.Interviews with Sound Artists. Eindhoven:Het Apollohuis.
Rogers, Holly. 2013.Sounding the Gallery: Video and the Rise of Art-Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schaefer, Janek, Bryan Biggs, Christoph Cox, and Sara-Jayne Parsons. 2012. "Janek Schaefer: Sound Art: A Retrospective". Liverpool: The Bluecoat.ISBN978-0-9538896-8-6.
Schafer, R. Murray. 1977.The Soundscape. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books.ISBN0-89281-455-1
Schulz, Berndt (ed.). 2002.Resonanzen: Aspekte der Klangkunst. Heidelberg: Kehrer.ISBN3-933257-86-7. (Parallel text in German and English)
Skene, Cameron. 2007. "Sonic Boom".The Montreal Gazette (13 January).
Wishart, Trevor. 1996.On Sonic Art, new and revised edition, edited by Simon Emmerson (with accompanying compact disc recording). Contemporary Music Studies 12. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers.ISBN3-7186-5846-1 (cloth)ISBN3-7186-5847-X (pbk.)ISBN3-7186-5848-8 (CD recording)
