![[Column] Avant-Garde Instrumental / Sound Art](/../assets/images/column-avant-garde-instrumental-sound-art.webp)
Introduction: How sound becomes a work of art
Text: mmr｜Theme: Focusing on Alvin Lucier and Christian Fennesz, we will organize the continuous lineage from analog sound experiments to digital processing and clarify the structure of sound art, including its relationship with images.
Since the 20th century, music has moved away from the framework of temporal art centered on melody and harmony, and has expanded into a comprehensive realm of expression that includes physical phenomena, space, and the recording medium itself. Avant-garde instrumental and sound art is not a form that shows off the skill and performance ability of an instrument, but rather presents the entire process by which sound is generated, propagated, reflected, altered, and perceived as a work.
In this field, musical works are not necessarily reduced to musical scores, nor is the possibility of replayability assumed. Rather, the work exists as a set of conditions, producing different results each time. What is important here, rather than the composer’s intentions, is the structure itself, how the acoustic phenomenon stands up and connects with space and technology.
Chapter 1: Historical establishment of sound art
1-1 From experimental music to acoustic art
Since the 1950s, with the development of electronic music studios, sound has been separated from musical instrument performance and has become an object that can be manipulated as a signal. Technologies such as magnetic tape, oscillators, and filters made it possible to record, process, and rearrange sound.
With this change, musical works are no longer limited to performance venues, but are moving into museums, galleries, and public spaces. The concept of sound art has been used to refer to a group of works that use sound as their main material but do not necessarily follow musical systems or performance conventions.
1-2 From temporal art to spatial art
In sound art, spatial arrangement is more important than temporal development. The placement of multiple speakers, the architectural structure, and the movement of the listener are the conditions for the creation of the work. Sound does not travel in one direction, but continues to circulate within the environment.
Chapter 2: Avant-garde instrumental concepts
2-1 Redefinition of musical instruments
In avant-garde instrumental music, instruments do not have a fixed form. Existing instruments are expanded or modified, or the environment itself is treated as an instrument. Microphones, speakers, resonators, and architectural spaces are equivalent components.
2-2 Changes in performance behavior
Performance is not about demonstrating physical skill, but rather about setting conditions and operating systems. The performer does not directly control the sound, but is responsible for designing the conditions in which the sound is produced.
Chapter 3: Alvin Lucier’s acoustic philosophy
3-1 Composition based on sound waves
Alvin Lucier is a composer who places the physical behavior of sound waves at the center of his works. In his works, the composer’s intentional manipulation is kept to a minimum, and the acoustic phenomena unfold autonomously.
In his most famous work, I Am Sitting in a Room, by repeatedly playing back and re-recording the spoken word in the same space, the resonant frequencies unique to the room are emphasized, and the language eventually disappears. This process clearly shows how sound moves from information to physical phenomenon.
3-2 Feedback and self-generation
Lucier used feedback phenomena and often used structures in which sounds change in a self-generated manner. Here, composing is more like setting the starting conditions, and the results are different each time.
Chapter 4: Space and Hearing in Lucier
4-1 Architectural acoustics
Lucier’s work relies heavily on spatial dimensions, materials, and reflective properties. Even if the piece is the same, the acoustic results will vary greatly if the installation location is different.
4-2 Spectator position
The position and movement of the audience is a factor that changes the acoustic experience. The work is not intended to be listened to from a fixed point.
Chapter 5: Christian Fennesz’s production environment
5-1 Guitar and digital processing
Christian Fennesz deconstructs and reconstructs electric guitar sounds through digital processing. The original sound is altered through effect processing and computer calculations, and the causal relationship between performance actions and auditory results becomes unclear.
5-2 Noise and resolution
Factors such as distortion, compression, and missing data are treated as components rather than defects. As the sound loses its clarity, it acquires a new texture.
Chapter 6: Fennesz and visual media
6-1 Parallel placement with video
In Fennesz’s work, images are arranged as parallel elements rather than as explanations of sound. Sound and video are often not synchronized.
Chapter 7: Analog and Digital Continuity
The physical sound that Lucier deals with and the digital processing that Fennesz deals with are not discontinuous, but a continuous flow. Both respect the autonomy of sound and limit human control.
Chapter 8: Sound in the exhibition space
8-1 Sound as installation
Sound is placed in the exhibition space in the same way as sculpture and video. Duration is an attribute of the work, and the starting and ending points are not necessarily specified.
8-2 Setup and technical conditions
Power supplies, wiring, and equipment placement are treated as part of the work. Differences in construction conditions also mean differences in the works.
Chapter 9: Transformation of listening behavior
In sound art, listening is not a passive act. Spectators move, choose, and partially experience. The whole picture is only possible as a collection of individual experiences.
Chapter 10: Chronology (Extended)
- 1930s: Research on electroacoustic devices
- 1950s: Establishment of electronic music studios
- 1960s: Experimental music and minimalism
- 1970s: Sound installation took hold
- 1990s: Digital signal processing and notebook PCs
- After 2000s: Integration with images and space
Conclusion: Structural practices surrounding sound
Avant-garde instrumental/sound art is a practice that dismantles the boundaries between music and art, performance and environment, production and reproduction. Although Alvin Lucier and Christian Fennesz use different eras and techniques, they share a common direction: exposing sound as a phenomenon.
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