Background Noise Second Edition

Abstract

Background Noise follows the development of sound as an artistic medium and illustrates how sound is put to use within modes of composition, installation, and performance. While chronological in its structure, Brandon LaBelle’s book is informed by spatial thinking - weaving architecture, environments, and the specifics of location into the work of sound, with the aim of formulating an expansive history and understanding of sound art. At its center the book presupposes an intrinsic relation between sound and its location, galvanizing acoustics, sound phenomena, and the environmental with the tensions inherent in what LaBelle identifies as sound’s relational dynamic. For the author, this is embedded within sound’s tendency to become public expressed in its ability to travel distances, foster cultural expression, and define spaces while being radically flexible. This second expanded edition includes new chapter about the future of sound art, revisions to the text as well as a new preface by Brandon LaBelle. Intersecting material analysis with theoretical frameworks spanning art and architectural theory, performance studies, and media theory, Background Noise makes the case that sound art should be at the core of contemporary culture.

Lowercase Strategies in Public Sound Art: celebrating the transient audience

“…Identifying (naming) an object precludes surprise and personal/independent discovery, which, at least in some of the instances described above, is what makes the experience so compelling. Public spaces permit unknowingness; they permit the erasure of the name, which ‘allows a name’ (and an experience) ‘to occur according to its own directives and force’ (Labelle 2006: 21). In conjunction with the quiet in public sonic art, this empowers the listener, while nevertheless encouraging an individual's ecological awareness of their sonic environment.…”

Doors

“…Sound butts in, and then falls back, pushing forth its source, whether object, body, music or movement, into the frames of perception. I stand by sound, and sound invades my space – it disrespects borders, thereby making explicit the intensity of territory—Brandon LaBelle (2015)…”

“…All that fumbling for keys did not make for great audio. But as LaBelle (2015: 24) says, sound “makes explicit the intensity of territory.”…”

“…Musical silence in architecture has hardly been considered at all, except by a small group of artists, radio makers, and composers. The 60-year old ideas of Cage overwhelm the discussion, but critic Kyle Gann’s No Such Thing as Silence (2010) offers some brilliant potential jumping-off points, as does the work of LaBelle (2015, 2018) and Voegelin (2010), coming from the sound art and radio perspectives. Indeed Cage’s theories have worked their way into other fields, including that of international diplomacy: drawing on the language theories of Wittgenstein and the writings of John Cage, international relations and counter-terrorism expert Elisabeth Schweiger (2018) analyzes recent decisions of the International Court of Justice and their use of silence.…”

Context-based Composition in an Interdisciplinary Collaborative Framework

“…Creative practice involving the use of field recordings has had a considerable boost in the last decade (Carlyle 2007: 4–5; Lane and Carlyle 2013: 9–13). In recent years professional field recording equipment has become more accessible and flexible, making it easier for practitioners from diverse disciplines such as anthropology, architecture, film, music and visual arts to engage in artistic projects involving the use of field recordings (Bull and Back 2003: 6; Krause 2004: 73; Labelle 2006: 203–5; Licht 2007: 73–7; Crook 2011: i; Sterne 2012: 2–4). In the last decade, new environmental legislation and the limited results of traditional noise abatement projects for cities have led to the development of ambitious interdisciplinary research projects investigating acoustic, ecological, perceptual and social features of environmental sound (Botteldooren et al 2011; Davies 2013: 223; Lercher and Schulte-Fortkamp 2013; Kang and Schulte-Fortkamp 2016: vii).…”