Background Noise Perspectives on Sound Art

by Labelle, Brandon

• ISBN13: 9780826418456
• ISBN10: 0826418457
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-19
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Brandon Labelle is an artist and writer working with sound and questions of locational identity

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
Introduction: Auditory Relations	ix
Fade In	xvii
Part 1: 4'33'': Sound and Points of Origin	1	(46)
Introduction to Part 1	3	(4)
Sociality of Sound: John Cage and Musical Concepts	7	(17)
Exposing the Sound Object: Musique Concrete's Sonic Research	24	(11)
Automatic Music: Group Ongaku's Performative Labors	35	(12)
Part 2: Box with the Sound of Its Own Making: From Gags to Sculptural Form	47	(52)
Introduction to Part 2	49	(5)
Rhythms of Chaos: Happenings, Environments, and Fluxus	54	(14)
Minimalist Treatments: La Monte Young and Robert Morris	68	(19)
Conceptualizations: Michael Asher and the Subject of Space	87	(12)
Part 3: I Am Sitting in a Room: Vocal Intensities	99	(48)
Introduction to Part 3	101	(7)
Performing Desire/ Performing Fear: Vito Acconci and the Power Plays of Voice	108	(15)
Finding Oneself: Alvin Lucier and the Phenomenal Voice	123	(10)
Word of Mouth: Christof Migone's Little Manias	133	(14)
Part 4: Public Supply: Buildings, Constructions, and Locational Listening	147	(48)
Introduction to Part 4	149	(5)
Tuning Space: Max Neuhaus and Site-Specific Sound	154	(13)
Other Architectures: Michael Brewster, Maryanne Amacher, and Bernhard Leitner	167	(16)
Composing Intensities: Iannis Xenakis's Multimedia Architectures	183	(12)
Part 5: Soundmarks: Environments and Aural Geography	195	(48)
Introduction to Part 5	197	(4)
Seeking Ursound: Hildegard Westerkamp, Steve Peters, and the Soundscape	201	(17)
Language Games: Yasunao Tone and the Mechanics of Information	218	(12)
Complicating Place: Bill Fontana and Networking the Soundscape	230	(13)
Part 6: Global Strings: Interpersonal and Network Space	243	(50)
Introduction to Part 6	245	(6)
Interactions: Achim Wollscheid's Production of the Local	251	(16)
Global Events: Atau Tanaka and Network as Instrument	267	(13)
Live Streams: Apo33 and Multiplying Place	280	(13)
Fade Out	293	(2)
Conclusion: Auditive Pivot	295	(4)
List of Works Cited	299	(10)
Index	309