Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art

'Background Noise follows the development of sound as an artistic medium and illustrates how sound is put to use within modes of composition, installation, and performance. While chronological in its structure, Brandon LaBelle's book is informed by spatial thinking - weaving architecture, environments, and the specifics of location into the work of sound, with the aim of formulating an expansive history and understanding of sound art.
At its center the book presupposes an intrinsic relation between sound and its location, galvanizing acoustics, sound phenomena, and the environmental with the tensions inherent in what LaBelle identifies as sound's relational dynamic. For the author, this is embedded within sound's tendency to become public expressed in its ability to travel distances, foster cultural expression, and define spaces while being radically flexible.' - from back cover.

Includes a bibliography and an index.

Access level

Onsite

author

Brandon LABELLE

publisher

Bloomsbury Academic (London, United Kingdom)

Location code

REF.LAB

Language

English

Keyword

sound art, art theory, space

Publication/Creation date

2006

No of pages

314

ISBN / ISSN

9780826418456

No of copies

Content type

monograph

Chapter headings

Part I: 4'33': Sound and Points of Origin

Sociality of Sound: John Cage and Musical Concepts

Exposing the Sound Object: Musique Concrete's Sonic Research

Automatic Music: Group Ongaku's Performative Labors

Part II: Box with the Sound of its Own Making: From Gags to Scultural Form

Rhythms of Chaos: Happenins, Environments, and Fluxus

Minimalist Treatments: La Monte Young and Robert Morris

Conceptualizations: Michael Asher and the Subject of Space

Part III: I am Sitting in a Room: Vocal Intensities

Performing Desire/ Performing Fear: Vito Acconci and the Power Plays of Voice

Finding Oneself: Alvin Lucier and the Phenomenal Voice

Word of Mouth: Christof Migone's Little Manias

Part IV: Public Supply: Buildings, Construction, and Locational Listening

Turning Space: Max Neuhas and Site-Specific Sound

Other Architectures: Michael Brewster, Maryanne Amacher, and Bernhard Leitner

Composing Intensities: Iannis Xenakis's Multimedia Architectures

Part V: Soundtracks: Environments and Aural Geography

Seeking Ursound: Hildegard Westerkamp, Steve Peters, and the Soundscape

Language Games: Yasunao Tone and the Mechanics of information

Complicating Place: Bill Fontana and Networking the Soundscape

Part VI: Global Strings: Interpersonal and Network Space

Interactions: Achim Wollscheid's Production of the Local

Global Events: Atau Tanaka and Network as Instrument

Live Streams: Apo33 and Multiplying Place

Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art

Citation

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In Copyright

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Tag

Art Writing