[-empyre-] Feminism Confronts Audio Technology

[Caroline Park]

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
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>



-- 
CPARK

blanksound.org
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