Sound art

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Sound art is a loosely associated group of media art practices that concern sound and listening as their focus. Some are rooted in early 20th Art Music while others are derived from non-musical and architectural origins. From the Western art historical tradition early examples include the Luigi Russolo Intonarumori or noise machines created by Luigi Russolo, and subsequent experiments by Dadaists, Surrealists, the Situationist International, and in Fluxus happenings. Experimentations and more serious sound works have continued to grow out of these early ideas being exacerbated by the rise of digital technology and it's accompanying conveniences. Because of the diversity of Sound Art, there is often debate about whether Sound Art falls inside and outside of both the visual art and experimental music canon.

Like many genres of Contemporary Art, Sound Art is often very interdisciplinary, commonly engaging psychoacoustics, digital audio technologies, found sound, and extended techniques of musical instruments in conjunction with the standard set visual issues found in Contemporary Art.

Though some sound artists are inspired by the history and practice of experimental or Avant Garde music it is important to note that works of sound art are often not considered "music" for a variety of formal, conceptual, and political reasons.

Other artistic lineages from which sound art emerges are spoken word, avant garde poetry, and experimental theater. Early practitioners include Kurt Schwitters, Hugo Ball, Tristan Tzara, and Henri-Martin Barzun.

1 Sound Artists
2 See also
3 Further reading
4 External links

[edit] Sound Artists

Further information: List of sound artists

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

Cox, Christoph and Daniel Warner (Editors) (2004) "Audio Culture". ISBN 978-0826416155.
de la Motte, Helga; Leitner, Bernhard; and Schulz, Bernd (Editors) (2003). Resonances. ISBN 3-933257-86-7.
Jim Drobnick, Jim (Editor) (2004). Aural Cultures. ISBN 0-920397-80-8.