Select one of the artists which were presented yesterday. (As a comment to this posting) Write a short description of what the artist created and how it uses sound as an artform. In what ways does it engage the listener, how are these works different from a film, a painting or a sculpture.
Some of the artists:
Luigi Russolo
Kurt Schwitters
Laurie Anderson
Janet Cardiff
Laurie Anderson's work is an amusing mix of recognizable sounds and avant garde production that, together, forms an entertaining and enjoyable art piece that often portrays a narrative. He work has a lot of visual qualities to it due to her focus on the human voice, along with a combination of atmospheric sounds - one is transported to her world while listening. This type of work differentiates greatly from other forms of artwork (film, painting, or sculpture) in that it is tightly hinged on only one human sense. Relying on on someones hearing, sound art is very in-the-moment and fleeting; one is required to gain a sense of its meaning in a very a short time and thus, the art has to be very on-point if the artist wishes to truly leave the audience with the emotions and messages that they wish to imply.
ReplyDelete- Jon
As an Italian futurist artist, Luigi Russolo experimented with unusual materials to express the modern life. Sound of heard and unheard were revolutionary materials for him. Noises represented awakening of the city . He believed that noises reflect modernity of the society which had developed tremendous improvements of technology such as transportation. He embraced noise music, worked with experimental composers and assembled a noise concert and orchestra. His noise works engage the listener by connecting the sounds that people ordinarily hear from everyday life with more abstract yet rhythmic touch, leading the noises to an art form.
ReplyDeleteSo Yeoun Park
In the lecture, we were shown 2 examples of Luigi Russolo's pieces. The first was the painting of the train, the other the sound piece roughly translate as "awakening in the city". Focusing on the sound piece, it was a compilation of the many sounds and noises that are heard in the city. However, it was edited in such a way that there were many, many layers of sound... more than a typical amount that one would normally hear. By layering these sounds, it allowed for Russolo to build the piece and create such a crescendo as if the city itself was awakening and becoming more alive as the amount of noise built. It requires the listener to engage on a deeper level. We almost have to work to decipher each of the sounds, and yet we have to work to listen to all of the separate sounds as a whole, and complete sound. Also, once the piece is over, we are left with the memory of it. The listener must remember what they hear to analyze it. Once it is over, it is over. This differs from any painting, sculpture, etc. in the fact that it cannot be brought back. It is an experience and requires quick thought and analysis. It is intangible and yet a solid work of art.
ReplyDeleteLuigi Russolo's piece "Waking Up in the City" wasn't a piece that necessarily stood out to me during lecture as a favorite. Actually, the piece I enjoyed most was Laurie Anderson's "Ouji Board". However, I think this very observation explains why I am drawn to Russolo's piece. Of course I liked Laurie Anderson. She's current. But Russolo was in an entirely different generation of my own. As a futurist artist, Russolo embraced the unknown. As a person of the future (in relation to Russolo) the sounds he created in this piece did not strike me as unfamiliar nor beautiful. They just sounded similar to things I would normally hear waking up in New York City. But that is what makes this piece so special. As we discussed in class, up until that point in history, this noise was not common. The fact that Russolo was able to compose these sounds in such an artful way was really interesting and impressive. I was reminded of my city at home with the overwhelming and at times uncomfortable sounds that surround me. His ability to do this proves his piece as an artform and actually linger with the audience much longer than a painted cityscape would ever do.
ReplyDeleteJanet Cardiff-
ReplyDeleteMs. Cardiff used sound as a medium by creating "Audio Walks." During these "Audio Walks," listeners must actively participate in the piece by listening to a recorded work and looking at certain photographs as they take a walk through a specific site. Ms. Cardiff's works seem to seek to engage the listener by surprising them with sound effects, narrations and photographs that come from different time periods and provide the listener with unexpected connections to the environment they are immediately immersed in. This work is extremely unique to itself. Unlike a film, painting, or sculpture, the work asks the listener to take part in the creation of the experience by taking the walk. The work is of a transient nature, and can differ upon each listening depending on the walker's speed and direction, and how the environment itself might change on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis.
-Margaret Hitch
Laurie Anderson
ReplyDeleteIn many ways her piece was the most captivating out of all of the pieces heard yesterday. She created a narrative using an experience she had, which described a situation where she was renting a room above his studio. Here, Anderson begins to describe the things she heard as she lived above the studio, developing this second world that her listeners were now in, being pulled in by this detailed and eloquent story. Anderson also begins to narriate her story deeper, bringing in an Ouija board. Its here where I really was captivated. I felt as is I was in the room with her, watching this Ouija board speak to me personally. The dark, masked voice that she used to signify when the borad was talking was mystical and intriguing, pulling me further into the story. I wanted to know more of what the borad was going to say in that moment. Her use of imagery was so profound, that it became frightening to listen to the story. All her sounds helped push the vibe of her tale, making this story truly a reality for me.
-Jay Armstrong
Laurie Anderson's The Ouija Board is a sound piece that includes narration as well as percussion and nature sounds to recount an experience of using a Ouija board with the Hawaiian drummers that lived below her in California. The piece completely inwraps the listener, affecting him or her in a way that strictly visual pieces cannot, because you have no choice but to listen, whereas with films, paintings, or sculptures, you can look away. Her piece is specifically different from a film in that The Ouija Board depends entirely on sound to create an atmosphere whereas a film utilizes a balance of the two, and as such is not as strong in either area. The Ouija Board undeniably creates an eerie atmosphere, beginning with just the primal sounding drums and the noises of what seems to be a tropical rainforest. She then strengthens this eerie feeling even further with her own narration. The way in which she recounts this tale is as effective as what she is describing. She has the pacing of a ghost story, and speaks in a dramatic whisper, both elements making the listener feel, as Stephanie Rowden said, as if the listener is hearing it in a dark room. The subject matter also contributes to this sinister feeling, detailing the Santa Ana winds and the previously lives understood. The sound piece held my attention and controlled my complete experience of living for the minutes it was playing. I can't imagine even how much more effective it would be if I had my eyes closed and really had no other sensory experience but hearing.
ReplyDeleteOne of the sound artists that really stood out to me was Laurie Anderson. In my opinion, she really takes sound to an extreme level. Instead of using objects, instruments and/or every day life to create her pieces, she uses her own voice: an element that is used most frequently through out quotidian life. Instead of using only words, though, she uses different sounds of the voice to construct something with an end product more like music than anything else. Her tape-bow violin is a step out of the ordinary. The average person would not think to make an adjustment to an instrument that has immense history and is already proven to be fully functional and pleasing to the ear-- yet she has, and made it work. Her Ouija board excerpt really stuck with me. the sounds were unusual and even the tone and whisper-like way of her voice transformed my experience by taking me to a dark place. Laurie cut the lines a certain way so that there would be pauses at times of suspense. The story within itself really kept me interested.
ReplyDelete--Carly Zelenetz
I found the piece by Janet Cardiff very fascinating. Cardiff's pieces are usually audio-based installations, as this one is. When I watch a movie or read a book, the text or visual takes me inside the story; I feel like I am there with the character or narrator. This piece takes me to New York, but using mainly audio. I find her voice very relaxing and reassuring, as she guides me through Manhattan, a city I've never been to. Her calmness and confidence makes me feel comfortable, because I am walking with a woman who presents herself as very familiar to the area. When her voice stops, I almost long for it and feel slightly alone. More so than the other examples I saw in lecture, this one really defined the importance and ability sound can have.
ReplyDelete- Anna P
Laurie Anderson-
ReplyDeleteThis artist created a story uniquely through sound, like a radio-story. It included sound effects that illustrated her words, and her voice set the rather mysterious tone. The story drew the listener in and took them to another place. Unlike a movie, the fine visual details of the experience were left up to the listener, while the narrator described and implied the environment and situation with a carefully nuanced voice. Each moment was fleeting, unlike a painting or sculpture, but similar to a film. It reminded me of a book-on-tape, a world created inside your mind as you drive in the car or listen at home - but unlike a book-on-tape, the extensive and exquisite sound effects added another dimension of reality, as though being led into a new place.
Zoe Allen-Wickler
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ReplyDeleteJenna Tacher
ReplyDeleteLuigi Russolo created the first noise music composer. This was an experimental noise machine that was able to relate art with music. Russolo believed that music gives greater ability to use sound. His number of noise-generating devices are used in many performances till this day. His piece "Awakening in the city" attracted me because it represented a large place with a wide range of noises. In just a short period of time Russolo was able to convey many different sounds to keep the listener engaged. Not only was Russolo a composer and an Italian Futurist, but a painter as well. One of Russolo's painting combines a fast moving train with music. This combination engages the viewer as it applies to many of the human senses. It really gets the viewer involved and allows them to make a stronger connection to the art piece.
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ReplyDeleteJanet Cardiff was the artist that was most appealing to me. Her work called "Her Long Black Hair" is a recording of her voice telling viewers exactly what to do and where to go in a large city. She uses and erie and edge voice to order the viewer what to do. This tone made me uneasy about what the outcome would be if the viewer were to go astray her directions. The tension made me feel that the viewer had so much pressure on them to focus on what she was saying, This was an extremely important aspect for me because it really captivated the viewer to pay attention to the voice and the background.Sound recording is different from film. pairing and sculpture for many reasons. A viewer can only experience a sound recording once. A viewer must listen closely every time or they will miss the next variation of sounds. It also allows the viewer to not over analyze any one sound and enable them to envelop themselves in the entire recording.
ReplyDeleteCarly Imber
Janet Cardiff created "Her long black hair" a sound recording of the one voice describing the directions along with the sounds of the background. This particular recording allows the audience to be involved with the piece in a way that requires the audience to pay attention closely to the sound of the voice out of all the other sounds in order to hear exactly what that one voice speaks. Since this whole audio enables the audience to almost imagine in their mind of what it would like to be actually in the same place, the audio itself makes the audience to walk through the place or the space that she created with the descriptions and the background sounds. I think this particular form of art is different from any other types of arts, such as visual forms, because it allows the audience to be involved physically, imaginatively, and "lively."
ReplyDelete~Young
Luigi Russolo was an Italian sound artist who placed conventional sounds together to create an unconventional experimental sound piece. The piece engages its audience by forcing listeners to take in different types of everyday sound and hear them as music. Russolo categorized each sound he interacted with in the forming Industrial Era and played the sounds together to create a visual piece inside every listener’s imagination. That is the real difference between tangible visual art and sound as an artform—the sound transports the listener somewhere metaphysically, creating the image inside the listener’s mind as opposed to a physical art piece directly in front of the viewer. Russolo may have been the first experimenter with sound to create a music genre like dubstep and electronic dance music, as these genres take conventional sounds and turn them into music, which an artform of sound.
ReplyDeleteJanet Cardiff.
ReplyDeleteHer piece Her Long Black Hair is about a journey in central park. She used different sounds that you could encounter during the journey. You could hear sounds of people talking, animals, gunfire, and so many other interesting and vivid sounds all layered together, constructing different stages of the journey. The whole piece has a edgy feeling to it. I can especially feel it from her voice. Her narratives guide the audience in to the scene and experience the three-dimensional place through the audio. I also feel really engaged in this piece by the walking sounds, as if it was I taking the journey.
Ziyi Su
Laurie Anderson uses various sounds in addition to her voice to create an
ReplyDeleteaudio experience of a memory of moving into a new apartment in NYC. Laurie
uses her voice as an instrument in itself, by creating variations in tone
and volume. By repeating and overlaying multiple sounds, Laurie takes the
audience on an audio journey of how various sounds are woven and introduced
in the experience. Unlike other forms of art, such as television or
painting, Laurie's audio art relies on only one sense (hearing). However by
including so many variations in sound as well as changing how she narrated
the story with her voice, Laurie fills in the descriptive gaps left behind
by the absence of other senses.
Janet Cardiff's Her Long Black Hair is more of a sight specific interactive work and audio piece in one, where as the other pieces we have listed to in class fall specifically in the category of audio pieces. To experience Cardiff's piece one must go out of their way to seek it out, take the time to walk around the city fallowing her directions and be totally devoted to the experience, where as other audio works such as Lauri Anderson's Oh Superman can be experienced without the surrendering of self and undivided attention. For example someone could be listening to the song in their car as they drive to work of in the background as they talk on the phone. In this case, the audio can become part of the background. Cardiff's piece prohibits the audio from becoming lost for she pairs the audio with specific visuals to create a narrative and full body experience. Cardiff's piece is only intended to be experienced one, where as Andersons can be played multiple times in different settings as the listener is doing different things as they go about their day.
ReplyDeleteLuigi Russolo was an Italian futurist painter who was an author of the manifesto, "The Art of Noises." He used sound of heard and unheard and created an unconventional experimental sound. He also was the first noise music experimental composer. He experimented noise machine and believed that industry had given more sounds to people. His piece, “Awakening in the city” includes the sounds heard in the city. It could have been very typical and boresome, but he created beautiful sounds that not only awaken the city but also my ears to the sound.
ReplyDeleteSoo Hyeon Kim
Art is a way to inform people-a visual way. This is exactly what Luigi Russolo did with his audio piece. He created an abstract way to take people of rural lifestyles to what it would be like to wake up in the new industrial cities. Because This piece is Sounds and noises only it commands your attention. there is no way to look away like you could a painting. And because the noises are so abstract and foreign it has the potential to command more attention, we are a curious species and would naturally be inclined to try and figure the noises out. An audio piece is different from a film in that a film gives you sort of a guide of what you are supposed to be experiencing with your audio. In an only audio piece there is only you and the noise. You go through a more raw experience.
ReplyDeleteJorge Maldonado
ReplyDeleteLaurie Anderson had many tricks up her sleeve. She was a trained sculptor, a performer, composer, and a musician. She's been known to use sound to engage her audience in an interesting experience. Even pieces such as "O-Superman" reached a larger audience by being played on the radio. What caught my eye the most out of the works that I've been exposed to by Laurie Anderson was the interesting take on music she created when she played a violin that had cassette tape instead of horse hair for the bow. Anderson has actually been known to create new instruments, using pre-made instruments as her template. Her style of using sound is unique to that of painting and sculpting because its time of existence. Once one of her sound pieces are done, we are not able to refer to it in the same aspect as we do paintings and sculpture. In a painting, you are able to reflect consistently because the piece is there in front of you for as long as you want it. Once the sound piece is done, it is gone and in order for you to dissect it, you have to listen to it multiple times.
Jane Cardiff’s piece, Her Long Black Hair caught my eye the most. Sound is one of her main mediums as an installation artist. In order to fully respect and understand her work, the viewer must actively participate and engage themselves with her installations. Her work has very strong visual qualities attributed to the decisive placement of her sounds and effects. Whether it is strictly just sounds or a narrative, Cardiff is able create a true “experience” for her viewers. Her work is best categorized as transient rather than a painting or photograph that have a more permanent and lasting aspect to them.
ReplyDeleteJanet Cardiff is an installation artist, her piece, Walks, is a sound
ReplyDeleteinstallation that takes place in New York city. Taking you through an
experience of a walk in Central Park on the 19th century. This journey is
both an intimate journey with the mind, and also the body. The listener
walks through central park, listening to Cardiff's voice as she directs you
through the park. The listener hears not only her version of events at the
time, but also an interesting inner monologue, allowing Cardiff's audience
to divulge into an intriguing psychological journey. These works are
different from a painting or sculpture because you are only experiencing it
through a set time, your moments involved in this piece are limited, unlike
an experience with a painting which you can revisit.
Laurie Anderson's "Ouija Board" uses a simple, continuous drum beat as a background for her piece. This creates a tropical, Caribbean, atmosphere along with the fact that she describes living under a Hawaiian drum class. The way she talks also creates an eerie, mysterious vibe. She uses all these different sounds and rhythms seamlessly to create a picture in the listeners head. This work is different from other artworks because she really takes you into the story she is telling.
ReplyDelete