Hörorte / Klangräume

"Politics is not necessarily speaking, but can also be listening. And perhaps we lack a practice of political listening." (Roland Barthes) Works of installation sound art are significantly influenced by the characteristics of the presentation venue and the type of exhibition, both in terms of the artistic and curatorial design strategies used and in terms of the public impact and reception of the works. However, to date, only a few scientific studies have dealt with specific presentations based on empirical data collected on site. This work examines seven sound art presentations using interdisciplinary field research methods and demonstrates that the scientific discourse on the 'phenomenon of sound art' cannot be conducted solely from the perspective of cultural studies, art history, or musicology. Rather, the examination of installative sound designs, space- and location-related sound phenomena, continuous or non-linear time structures, and multimedia artworks requires a continuous expansion of the methodological apparatus and applied vocabulary in the sense of a polyvalent, open-ended transdisciplinarity.

"The literature on sound art is still riding the wave of novelty and elusiveness. Until now, more profound texts on sound art have generally been written by musicologists, cultural scientists, and media theorists. The fact that a sound artist and curator of sound art is now taking the scientific helm himself may well reveal a new perspective on the phenomenon of sound art. Over 508 pages, seven selected listening locations are described, along with their origins, concepts, reception, contexts, surveys, participating artists, etc. The diversity and ever-changing nature of sound art are excellently reflected in Gál's dissertation. First and foremost, it is, in the most literal sense, a labor of love, which is by no means meant negatively. The bibliography alone shows how much (systematic) work went into this study. With this dissertation, Bernhard Gál has expanded the map of sound art. In his "concluding remarks," he brings together facts and figures in a way that I have never seen before in any academic publication." Martin Supper

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