Daniel Campbell Blight
Medium: Sonic Art/Art Theory
Born: London, 1983
Education: BA (Hons) Sound Arts and Design, The London College of Printing, London Institute (currently undertaking MPhil research degree, RCA.)
Updated: 8 March 2007
Research Abstract:
Innate Response(s) vs. Socioaural Nostalgia
- How Can Interdisciplinary Study with the Cognitive Neurosciences Allow For a Greater Understanding of the Human Perception of Sonic Art?
Sonic art may be thought of as the impregnating of the ideas and philosophies of the arts, into experimental music: the amalgamating, coalescing, converging of societies musical creativity and developing artistic expression, with technology and the increased awareness of our sonic environment. People are more familiar with ways of appreciating, and to some extent understanding visual art and music. This awareness of visual language is less common for the act of listening. Using the ears to interpret sonic art within a fine art context is an unfamiliar act in conflict with hearing as a sensory activity that prioritises verbal communication and musical appreciation. Now is a time when, in galleries and public spaces all over the world, on a larger scale than ever before people are being asked to pay attention to their own aural surroundings and consider this 'audibility' an art form in its own right.
The human perception of sonic art must be grounded by, and relate firstly to, the biological mechanics of the ear, and secondly to the neuro-processing of auditory information, gathered by the ear, before it can be considered in a philosophical context. In this sense cognitive neuroscience (specifically neuroaesthetics and processes of auditory memory storage and perception) can be thought of as a tool, informing the specific art-theories referenced and revealed throughout the research. The development of the philosophical context would need to facilitate sonic art as an analysable, communicable form of artistic expression, outside the boundaries of music or musical intentionality. Without thoughtful integration into higher education, mainstream academic criticism and public debate; sonic art will never be regarded or embraced as a contemporary art form by wider society, and will sit confusingly in the gallery and academic spaces. I believe that one of the most complex and difficult issues currently facing the perception of sonic art concerns its presentation and contextualisation: can sonic art communicate itself clearly to its listening audience?; and, indeed, can pronounced and precise theoretical discourses or communicable ontologies be established with regard to its modern and continued contemporary development?
With this research I will address how humans process and integrate abstract auditory information at a level higher than 'just hearing', in order to evoke deep emotions and recall distant memories when listening to abstract sound.
My practical sound work stems from, and is underpinned by, my interest in a 'philosophy of sound'. The process in which I compose or perform sound works grows out of ideas and more often than not, a specific text I have composed. In this respect it could be argued that my practical sound work is created in order to sonically reflect upon my theoretical ideas or perspectives. The reasoning behind my performance or composed sound work in this specific context is to enable me to create and promote an environment that allows for the study of the interaction between listener (individual) and social space (inhabited acoustic environment): and in turn the relationship between innate responses to sound in the mind and (what I have doctored as) socioaural responses or memories. Through improvisation with logically chosen sounds it may be possible, through gesture, to control electronic sound producing devices, in real-time, and audibly 'annotate' the social space that surrounds. It then may be possible to expose the influence the performance had on both audience and performer, and analyse how that may in turn affect the social and philosophical interpretation of the artistic product itself. I argue that these states of human perturbation are audible within the performance space through the dynamics of changing and evolving sound. Eventually on this basis a back-and-forth or vacillating effect can occur, allowing for the communication of idea and emotion between artist and audience.
This research will begin with the writing of three large pieces of text constituting a larger work entitled Innate Response vs. Socioaural Nostalgia. Each piece of text will follow on from the last, clarifying and developing the issues and arguments under discussion. The first part is near completion and is entitled Finding the Sonic Object: (Im)Material Existences, Ontology and Objecthood. Each part of this larger volume of work will have accompanying sound pieces to demonstrate and reflect upon the theories being postulated in the text itself.