sonic.focus, this weekend's conference on sound art, was initially conceived to create a dialogue between sound artists and sound theorists on the relationship between the image and sound, according to the event's program. But the conference itself involved more presentation than conversation.
Organized by Associate Professor of Modern Culture and Media Anthony Cokes, Professor Emeritus of Visual Art Roger Mayer and Christoph Cox '87, a professor of philosophy at Hampshire College, sonic.focus consisted of two film screenings, five panels, three lectures and two evenings of performances.
The conference's initial event was a scientific and historical lecture given by media archaeologist Douglas Kahn, director of the Program in Technocultural Studies at the University of California at Davis.
Kahn began his lecture by explaining that his scholarly work will fill the void of critical writing on the cultural role of electromagnetism.
Electromagnetism interacts with human perception in two forms, the radio wave and visible light, Kahn said. Interest in electromagnetic signals and noises developed in the late 19th century with the invention of the telephone and the telegraph, he noted.
Kahn then moved from the historical aspects of electromagnetism and sound aesthetics to discussing contemporary efforts of artists like Joyce Hinterding to make invisible electromagnetic currents visible. As an " energy scavenger," Hinterding created a type of battery, which she called aeriology, by channeling free-floating electromagnetic signals, he said.
Hinterding exemplifies a new generation of artists who are using the limited number of sound frequencies not used for mass popular consumption, he said.
While Kahn's lecture focused on the scientific and historic rather than the cultural aspects of sound art, the panels and lectures that followed him presented the broad range of possibilities in sound art.
Guests ranged from renowned sound artist Christian Marclay, who pioneered the use of turntables to make experimental music in an artistic context, to musician and e-poet AGF (Antye Greie-Fuchs).
One panelist, painter and sound artist Steven Roden, admitted that he initially did not perceive a link between the image and sound. "I thought there was an awkward relationship between these two things at first and for a long time they existed in separate worlds for me," he said.
After talking to his audience, Roden addressed the links between sound and the image in his painting. This connection led him to embark on his current artistic project: to reproduce sound in a visual way, he said.
Yet Roden's emphasis remains on creativity rather than accurate transcription of sound. "70 percent of my work is based on the actual score, the piece of music I am working with. 30 percent of my work is based on me being a painter," he said.
Another panelist, composer David Shea, who combines seemingly eclectic sounds, compared himself to DJ Grandmaster Flash, a mainstream 1980s rapper. Composing without physical instruments, he reveals natural connections among different types of music.
"I didn't compose it. It's about how to find these connections that feel natural," he said.
Additionally, Cokes showed a thought-provoking video describing the relationship between race and techno music. His work highlighted some under-explored parallels between race and certain genres of music.
Cokes explained that he hoped to show how the audience and artist mutually construct each other.
