We discussed between us after lecture the questions surrounding our sound art practices, interviewing each other on what inspires us, what challenges us. I think a point that almost all of us came away agreeing on was our ranging difficulty in verbalising our work. Sound Art is a nebulously-defined discipline, and we all shared our issues explaining our interests and work to the average person. “I make weird stuff with sound but not music”, “it’s sound, lights, lasers, noise, art”. I find “I work with sound but from an artistic perspective” is effective. It’s concise yet vague enough to avoid digging in deep with strangers. Fun!
Another interesting topic that I discussed with a classmate was, ‘what has/will challenge you?’. We talked about how we respond and reflect when encountering a work we unabashedly hate, in our case John Cage’s 4’33. My ultimate realisation being that emotional reaction doesn’t undermine, or deny the possibility of, an interesting analysis or discussion about challenging works. It’s very easy to hate, but digging into reasoning, finding justification for artistic choices is always important for gaining a theoretical frame of reference.
‘What has inspired you so far?’
The boundlessness of how to conceptualise sound art, the way it can arguably be anything.
‘Where are you at with your practice right now?’
Despite the perceived, often debated, delineation often drawn between music and sound art, I’m exploring the combination of popular musical forms with processed field recordings to create immersive sonic environments.
‘What direction are you heading in?’
Away from utilising sound as performative political violence. Moving toward a potential exploration of romanticism’s place in contemporary art.
‘What have been/will be the challenges?’
Becoming assured with the format difference in presenting sound artworks and fine artworks, gaining more confidence in producing a more concrete foundational, conceptual descriptor for my work that I can draw from when in a crit. It has been challenging pivoting towards the necessity of having something to say about a work; the expectation of reaching beyond the self.