I went on a little exploration in some sound artists - especially in this article I found.. and it was really fascinating and made me see just the range of ‘sound’ and what a beautiful and different kind of medium it is compared to text or video.. you quite literally have to really listen closely to absorb the work. it’s fascinating how different mediums are able to do different things.
this work here ‘little tikes’ are sounds made from a, I’m guessing broken toy (those ones that have buttons you press) and it is horrifying. that vintage horrific toy sound you don’t want to be around. it’s great. it sounded so human. Anyway, I was looking at their website and their other works and I can really feel their playfulness with found materials and technology. I really like the combination of the two - sort of making use of what’s around you and inventing new circuits and all. And I never looked at sound as one of the main ingredients in a work so this was fascinating. it’s like, what are they getting at? I think it’s easy to brush over sound works like they’re too conceptual to understand. but when you do, it’s amazing. https://thessiamachado.com/portfolio/little-tikes/
and then there’s sound works that are more performative (like Matt stokes with his work in the recording studio) or this project on the article - the 40 part Monet - and I don’t know if I’d say it is performative but the result was really beautiful. the human voice is something so powerful. you can use it to do so many evils and so many beautiful things.
this makes me think of Peter liversidges work at the Tate - where he’d gathered all the staff and they sung together in the turbine hall. it was sort of a strange, heartwarming United thing. I think I’d feel weirdly emotional if I was there. I always feel that feeling when I was in choir at school. I’d probably be too embarrassed to admit this at that age but, the feeling of being a part of a group that could in turn create a beautiful harmony of sound, it was a form of art I was proud to be part of.
this makes me think of Peter liversidges work at the Tate - where he’d gathered all the staff and they sung together in the turbine hall. it was sort of a strange, heartwarming United thing. I think I’d feel weirdly emotional if I was there. I always feel that feeling when I was in choir at school. I’d probably be too embarrassed to admit this at that age but, the feeling of being a part of a group that could in turn create a beautiful harmony of sound, it was a form of art I was proud to be part of.
anyway, it was really thought provoking in looking at these works, pushing me to think about ways to play with materials outside of painting ones...
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/12-sound-artists-changing-perception-art-587054
https://thessiamachado.com/portfolio-category/instruments/