The Noises of Art: Audiovisual Practice in History, Theory and Culture

The conference addresses what is arguably the most prolific, varied, and groundbreaking period in the coming together, exchange, and mutual influence of visual art and sound-based practices (such as music and the spoken word). It aims to explore (principally) the visual artist’s engagement with sound, noise, music, and text while at the same time recognizing that there is a traffic of musicians, sound artists, and text artists moving in the opposite direction, who aspire to cultivate visual analogues for their work. Thus, the conference is situated at the intersection of several movements that are converging upon a point of visual-audio synthesis and exchange. In general, although not exclusively, the forum will provide and the opportunity to:

draw together visual artists and text-based artists who also use sound as a mode of creative production as well as musicians and sound- or noise-based artists who also use images (static or kinetic) as a mode of creative production; discuss, describe, exemplify, and present individual and collaborative practice; examine the commonalities, distinctives, and relationship of image, sound, and aural text in terms of their essence, methodologies, technologies, theories, aesthetics, historical trajectories, and modes of discourse; explore audio-visual practice from the perspective of cognitive, perceptual, and psychological studies.

We welcome abstracts for 20-minute-long papers, in all media and on any periods and regions, that deal with either case studies or broader methodological, theoretical, and historical questions, as well as proposals for improvisatory projects or presentations of
20-minute duration that can be performed at the conference. Please send either abstracts of 250–300 words or proposals of 700 words (including sample image (JPEG format) and sound or video files (mp3 or mp4 format), where appropriate) and a short biography of 100–150 words, and all inquiries to Sophie Bennett (sobaber.ac.uk) by 30 March 2013.

For more information, please visit http://noisesofart.weebly.com