Salomé Voegelin: Listening to Noise and Silence: Towards a Philosophy of Sound Art (2010)

“Listening to Noise and Silence engages with the emerging practice of sound art and the concurrent development of a discourse and theory of sound. In this original and challenging work, Salomé Voegelin immerses the reader in concepts of listening to sound artwork and the everyday acoustic environment, establishing an aesthetics and philosophy of sound and promoting the notion of a sonic sensibility.

A multitude of sound works are discussed, by lesser known contemporary artists and composers (for example Curgenven, Gasson and Federer), historical figures in the field (Artaud, Feldman and Cage), and that of contemporary canonic artists such as Janet Cardiff, Bill Fontana, Bernard Parmegiani, and Merzbow.

Informed by the ideas of Adorno, Merleau-Ponty and others, the book aims to come to a critique of sound art from its soundings rather than in relation to abstracted themes and pre-existing categories. Listening to Noise and Silence broadens the discussion surrounding sound art and opens up the field for others to follow.”

Publisher Continuum, London and New York, 2010
Music/Sound Studies series
ISBN 1441162070, 9781441162076
256 pages

Reviews: Daniela Cascella (Journal of Sonic Studies), Brian Kane (NonSite).

Author
Publisher

PDF (updated on 2018-4-30)