Experiencing Sound Installations: A conceptual framework

Abstract

We propose a conceptual framework for describing and documenting sound installations from a visitor’s point of view. In the form of a taxonomy, the framework includes four complementary perspectives: sound sources, sound design approaches, visiting modalities and visual aspects. Its elaboration was informed by a review of contemporary sound installations in Quebec as well as a literature review on conceptual and theoretical frameworks on sound art and sound installations. Compared with existing frameworks, the taxonomy is useful for describing and comparing sound installations across meaningful perspectives from a visitor’s stance. To illustrate the potential benefits of the taxonomy and the diversity of installations it can portray, we provide a comparative analysis of four contemporary sound installations from different perspectives. We conclude with the use of this taxonomy for documentation purposes.

Review of Contemporary Sound Installation Practices in Québec

“…14 Our goal is thus not to produce a comparative study of the Québec scene that would position itself within the larger domain of sound installation practices but rather to bring a methodological focus on this scene, leading to the development of a descriptive framework that portrays this scene in a formal way to inform subsequent studies. The framework was developed by Fraisse, Giannini, Guastavino, and Boutard 15 in the course of the Sound Art Documentation: Spatial Audio and Significant Knowledge (SAD-SASK) project, where the methodological developments are reported in detail. In the present paper, we report on the general outcome of our study of the contemporary production in Québec and discuss the use of the framework to investigate empirically the sensory experience of sound art installations.…”