Monday 3rd December
I have compiled my six static shots of spaces with their respective binaural recordings as a simple ‘slideshow’-style film. Each image remains on screen for 1 minute whilst the audio plays. I listened to it using headphones so that the stereo remained accurately spaced around my head. The whole effect was a lot more powerful than I could have imagined, because the audio presence of movement (such as passing speech or opening doors) actually tricked my brain into momentary illusions where I thought I saw the figure move through the static image. The images do not have any figures in; they are purely architectural. This is a fairly well-known effect, explained by Gestalt psychologists, in which the brain is trying to make sense of a number of stimuli to form a whole perception of an event. It is for this reason that I am so interested in the role of the visual in the work of a sound artist. The brain is always trying to form links between all stimuli it receives, so it is important that all perceptual elements of an artwork have been considered by the artist if the work is to communicate any consistent content to the viewer/listener.
In this age where music has started to lose its visual context (the increasing use of downloaded mp3s, divorced from the packaging and explanations of printed material; the commonplace laptop performances with little guide for the audience as to how the sounds are produced, or indeed whether they are ‘live’) I wonder how sound art can exist in the physical world without shifting entirely into download territory. One important way is perhaps to reconsider the Gestalt: how will the audience perceive the work from a combination of sensory stimuli?
