Writing on sound/writing with sound: intersection between sound art practice and research in sound studies

Abstract

The paper intends to develop a discourse on sound’s correlation to the written word attempting to describe, explain and articulate sonic phenomena as part of an establishing body of research in sound art. Through the exploration of a number of sound­based writing and artistic projects and their methodologies, I will argue that sonic phenomena often activate thought processes that, when expressed in writing, can transcend the epistemological constraints of sound and involve the listener’s poetic or contemplative state. This process can delineate the listener’s unfolding auditory situation, demonstrating sound’s transcendental potentials. The interdisciplinary nature of the paper may help to shed light on the complex relationship between the act of listening and the act of writing, bringing focus to an underexplored area in sound studies, that is, the inherent problems of writing on sound. In this context the paper examines the cross­disciplinary intersections of and fertile interpenetration between sound art practice and research creation in sound, tracing the formation and ascent of interdisciplinary research fields like sound studies. The paper will aim to assess how this interpenetration impacts on the reconstruction of media art histories towards the production and documentation of new knowledge.