[-empyre-] Feminism Confronts Audio Technology

Tue Jul 1 07:07:01 EST 2014

of interest, perhaps, to a future discussion, the poet
Anne Carson's essay, "The Gender of Sound," in her collection
*Glass, Irony and God*

Stephanie

Stephanie Strickland

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On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 4:47 AM, Caroline Park <carepark at gmail.com> wrote:

> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> thank you, lyn, for bringing up the topic of space in these conversations.
>  the study of specifically gendered spaces is new to me, and i greatly
> appreciate having my brain be nudged forward in this direction.  i of
> course have no answers to the questions you bring up -- i'm sure i will
> continue to slowly gather my thoughts in this area.
>
> as for the idea / question of sound being seen as gendered, my initial
> thoughts were that yes, sound is perceived as gendered if it comes from a
> visible body in space, and/or if the source is known.  but even if the
> source is known, and not seen in space, does the source carry gender; to
> what extent can or does gender carry from invisible to visible sound source
> in space?  and in thinking about silence as sound or source, it seems with
> silence we begin to migrate into the sociocultural, as it feeds between and
> within gender, race, and sexuality.
>
> i also agree that the "blank white box" is not the best / only solution --
> in this reality these blank white boxes exist perhaps exclusively in
> high-art institutions, and our reality as human beings is not abstract
> enough that we can strip away context (of space, of humans) entirely.  very
> glad to now know of christina kubisch's consecutio temporum: how she
> explores these existing sites seems much transparent and true to its
> history / ecosystem.  still so much to mull on regarding sound, space, and
> light, with regard to the last few questions that lyn has posed here ... i
> am excited to think about these for a good while.
>
> speaking of light, i might give a connecting nudge back to asha's bringing
> up of the minimum/abstract as more a form of feminist, cultural, and queer
> expression in another thread ... but the week is done!  quick thank you to
> everyone -- much to think about, and the semi-real-time nature of the past
> week was too fast for my mind to process all that has been said.  thank you
> monisola, rachel, lyn, and asha, for the conversation, and to renate and
> tim, for having us at -empyre-.  i have no doubt these discussions will
> continue!  thank you.
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 3:59 PM, Lyn Goeringer <lyn.goeringer at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>> I want to step back a bit and enter into the concept of space in this
>> discussion. A lot of our focus so far has been on performance and
>> instruments, but I'd like to consider the spaces and sites of sound art for
>> a moment in this. Rather than making any statements, I will probably wind
>> up asking more questions than posing solutions or answers for.
>>
>> If we consider space and the presence of a body in space a gendered body,
>> and we cannot be in a space without being an object in that space, it makes
>> sense to me that we would then have a gendered experience of that space.
>>  Some have even suggested that spaces themselves are gendered (Lynda
>> Johnson, Robyn Longhurst and many, many others), I am left with a few
>> questions about how/what kinds of spaces are being built that push
>> boundaries or explore feminist and/or queer ideas and identities.  In
>> essence, the final question becomes: can a sound be seen as gendered, and
>> if so, how does that sound reflect/resound in the spaces that it is then
>> re/presented in?
>>
>> I could see an argument that the 'blank white box' is the ideal for
>> changeable expressions of gender, of a slate to start from scratch in, but
>> I am not convinced that it is the best solution or only solution.  To that
>> end, I am thinking of the klanglicht works of Christina Kubisch (such as
>> her consecutio temporum), where she often uses vapor lamps to reveal the
>> hidden flaws and changes over time within existing sites, often combining
>> them with soundscapes and musical compositions.  Could, in fact, this allow
>> for a deeper exploration of the gendering of space and site through the use
>> of sound and light? How can/does the use of the medium, of sound itself,
>> reveal the sites we are in to be gendered, to be representative of any
>> representative state of body? And, if it can, how can we subvert this to
>> create and transform a space/site into a place where we can create an
>> awareness of the existing structures, and then create alternative locations
>> to fit our own needs and means?
>>
>> I look forward to any thoughts you may have on these very open ended
>> questions.
>>
>> Lyn
>>
>> Lyn.Goeringer at gmail.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
>> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>>
>
>
>
> --
> CPARK
>
> blanksound.org
>
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