Gabriel Paiuk’s project Mutable Audible investigates how that which is heard – the audible – is formed as inherent to material, collective and technical circumstances. The audible is conceived as... Show moreGabriel Paiuk’s project Mutable Audible investigates how that which is heard – the audible – is formed as inherent to material, collective and technical circumstances. The audible is conceived as not exclusively bound to the private realm of the mind or the will of the individual listener, but as dependent on the diverse operations that inform how a sensorial engagement with sound takes place. To account for the mutable character of the audible, Paiuk postulates a novel concept of sound image built upon the work of the French philosopher Gilbert Simondon. This notion is unhinged from previous uses of the term, namely those that define it as a visual surrogate or a mental representation. Rather, the image is conceived as a node in a cycle of functions that articulate a metastable relationship between sensing agent and milieu. The result of this reconsideration is twofold. On the one hand, the sound image is postulated as a tool to address the audible as a variable locus of engagement with the world. On the other, it unsettles assumptions that keep the image anchored to its traditional visual-centric forms and techniques and drives its transformation to encompass the realm of sound. The variable form in which the audible is produced is explored across four artistic works which constitute the experimental backbone of the dissertation. Show less
Applying French philosopher Gilbert Simondon’s concept of image to the domain of the sonorous, this article aims to tackle how imagination is constitutional in our grasp of sound, and how this... Show moreApplying French philosopher Gilbert Simondon’s concept of image to the domain of the sonorous, this article aims to tackle how imagination is constitutional in our grasp of sound, and how this grasp is informed by the protocols and affordances of technological tools of sound reproduction and manipulation. Simondon proposes a notion of imagination that, rather than referring to the capacity of a subjective consciousness, designates a series of processes within which the image emerges. The image is conceived as the product of an activity, a node in a circuit of processes of anticipation, reception, recollection, and invention which articulate the interaction of an agent and its medium. Conceiving the sound image through this model emphasizes how perceptual instances of sound take shape within modes of engagement, articulated through the affordances of technologies of audio manipulation that we use on a daily basis. By applying this notion, this article aims to address technology within the realm of artistic practice not as a tool to expand the palette of possibilities of our imagination, but as inherent in the conditions of our grasp of the sonorous. By elaborating on my sound installation Focus, I aim to outline a practice that exposes the way imagination is entwined with imprints of technologies and particular circumstances of sound mediation. Show less
In 2013 I had the chance to listen to a performance of Italian composer Luigi Nono’s work No hay caminos . . . a Andrei Tarkowskij (1987), for seven instrumental groups distributed around the... Show moreIn 2013 I had the chance to listen to a performance of Italian composer Luigi Nono’s work No hay caminos . . . a Andrei Tarkowskij (1987), for seven instrumental groups distributed around the audience, at the main hall of the Cité de la Musique, in Paris. I recall being startled about three-quarters through this piece, which lasted approximately twenty-five minutes, by a substantial transformation in the way I experienced some of its sound components. This transformation was not the result of the manipulation of any of the sound elements of the work but of a displacement of my listening focus. It revealed sound as an essentially manifold instance, susceptible of acquiring diverse statuses.In this chapter I would like to use Deleuze’s notion of the “time-image,” developed in his investigation of the role of the image in cinema, to explore what was significant about this experience. Along with this, I sketch a proposal to use the concept of “time-image” as a tool to reassess aspects of how we conceive sound and its role within artistic practices. Show less
In 2013 I had the chance to listen to a performance of Italian composer Luigi Nono’s work No hay caminos . . . a Andrei Tarkowskij (1987), for seven instrumental groups distributed around the... Show moreIn 2013 I had the chance to listen to a performance of Italian composer Luigi Nono’s work No hay caminos . . . a Andrei Tarkowskij (1987), for seven instrumental groups distributed around the audience, at the main hall of the Cité de la Musique, in Paris. I recall being startled about three-quarters through this piece, which lasted approximately twenty-five minutes, by a substantial transformation in the way I experienced some of its sound components. This transformation was not the result of the manipulation of any of the sound elements of the work but of a displacement of my listening focus. It revealed sound as an essentially manifold instance, susceptible of acquiring diverse statuses.In this chapter I would like to use Deleuze’s notion of the “time-image,” developed in his investigation of the role of the image in cinema, to explore what was significant about this experience. Along with this, I sketch a proposal to use the concept of “time-image” as a tool to reassess aspects of how we conceive sound and its role within artistic practices. Show less
