Sound Art: The First 100 Years of an Aggressively Expanding Artform

Sanne Krogh Groth, Holger Schulze

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

"A brief history of sound art is, in a nutshell, a history of sonic forms of expression that throughout the twentieth century can be traced within music, the visual arts, and contemporary dance, as well as in performance art, conceptual art, and media art. Attempts to capture sound art as a detached and isolated art form or artistic phenomenon have been made, but this is definitely not the approach of this handbook. On the contrary, we conceptualize sound art as a persistent and expanding art form, that is entangled with a broad diversity of genres and cultural phenomena—through its sound practices. Sound art today both stimulates and builds, challenges and destructs, reinvents and subverts institutions. It is concrete and physical, material and corporeal—calling for reflection, speculation, and abstraction to surprisingly excessive degrees. Sound art is rooted in a longer history and culture, but incessantly seeks a critical politicizing, decolonializing, and rethinking of the same. A history of sound art can, of course, be shaped in various ways depending on the argument or approach one wishes to frame. In order to support our argument we stress a canon of works and approaches that consider technology, performativity, social and political awareness, and utopia and dystopia. These are, in our understanding the main reasons why today it still holds true to claim: Sound art is generative.

...

With this handbook we hope ... to provide a contemporary journey in postapocalyptic times across the grid of sensibilities, thinking, making, and institutionalizing that can serve artists, curators, activists, developers, inventors, listeners, researchers, and aficionados as well. May sound art further expand!"
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art
EditorsSanne Krogh Groth, Holger Schulze
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherBloomsbury Academic
ChapterIntroduction
Pages1-20
ISBN (Electronic)9781501338816, 9781501338809
ISBN (Print)9781501338793, 9781501393112
Publication statusPublished - 2020 Feb 20

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Cultural Studies
  • Musicology
  • Art History

Free keywords

  • sound art
  • sounding art
  • sonic art
  • experimental music

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  • The Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art

    Groth, S. K. (Invited speaker), Schulze, H. (Invited speaker), Holt, M. (Invited speaker), Grossmann, R. (Invited speaker), Eisenächer, J. (Host), Mello, L. (Artist), Moltrecht, E. (Invited speaker) & Woodruff, J. (Host)

    2022 Jun 9

    Activity: Participating in or organising an eventParticipation in public lecture/debate/seminar

  • 120 years of sound art

    Groth, S. K. (Invited speaker), Schulze, H. (Invited speaker), Jørgensen, S. H. (Invited speaker), Schmidt, U. (Invited speaker) & Hansen, L. L. (Artist)

    2022 Mar 23

    Activity: Participating in or organising an eventParticipation in public lecture/debate/seminar

  • Book presentations: Negotiating Noise and The Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art

    Groth, S. K. (Invited speaker), Schulze, H. (Invited speaker) & Mansell, J. (Role not specified)

    2021 Aug 20

    Activity: Talk or presentationInvited talk

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