Fikrat's Blog

The term ‘sound arts’ came into use in 1983.

In the 70s it was referred to as “sound work” (perhaps to detach from the world of music and art). The term sound work underlines the importance of the process. The idea of process – in its widest sense – came in part from discourse and practice of the early 70s. However, using the word “work” might set barriers and gives in to the capitalist appropriation of work.

The concept of “musicking” refers to interacting with music or doing something music-related but without necessarily creating music. This term focuses more on the process rather than the end result – similarly to the way Toop prefers to use the term sound work rather than sound art.

Sound art is a hybrid form, especially in the UK – because of the resistance many people have to accepting sound art as a ‘true’ art form.

“What I’m trying out at this stage in my life is new formats, or new settings maybe or formats and settings that have been tried before but then been forgotten or put aside because established formats have such a powerful hold on our thinking. I’m frustrated by […] all the familiar routines that frame practice and discourse”

Toop, D. Parkinson, A. (2020) Unfinished Business: A Conversation on Sound Art in the United Kingdom, MIT Press

Some might find the term “sound art” problematic. Using this word could be considered elitist or exclusive. Perhaps due to the status of artists in society, often labeled alongside poverty – whilst expensive artwork is used as a money laundering strategy by the ultra-rich.

It’s important to understand the cultural context in Japan throughout history and today, the influence of Buddhism and other religions, the second World War, the country’s distinctive natural and geographical properties.

Sound sculptures have traditionally been a part of Japanese culture, for example the suikinkutsu is a type of garden ornament that creates splashes of water which ring the inside of a koto, producing pleasant bell-like sounds.

The Japanese would use sound sculptures like the suikinkutsu or the shishi-odoshi for practical use. The latter was originally intended to startle deer or boars away from agriculture, but shishi-odoshi became primarily a part of the visual and sonic aesthetic of a traditional Japanese garden.

I find it interesting that some of the aural signatures that make up the Japanese sound as we know it came from practicality and were originally conceived to serve a purpose, rather than purely for aesthetic enjoyment.

Gagaku

Gagaku is the oldest Japanese traditional performing art. It began between the 5th and 7th centuries, when music from Korea and China made its way to the Japanese islands. It is characterised by long, slow songs and dance-like movements. It is performed at banquets and ceremonies in the Imperial Palace and in theatres throughout Japan. A Gagaku ensemble consists of 16 to 30 musicians, divided into woodwinds, strings and percussion. Instruments include the sho (mouth organ), the hickiriki (double reed flute), the ryuteki (transverse flute), kaki and taiko drums, shoko (bronze gong) and koto and biwa strings. In ancient Japan, commoners were not allowed to hear Gagaku – it was sacred, and only members of the Imperial court were allowed to attend a performance.

Artists

Keijiro Sato is an artist whose work explores the concepts of sonic materialism.

Hitoshi Nomura is a Japanese contemporary artist. He explored many ways of thinking about time throughout his career as an artist

Akio Suzuki is a legendary Japanese sound artist, born in Pyongyang, North Korea. He has been performing, building instruments and presenting sound installations since the 70s. He uses unique self-made instruments such as the Analapos. His music sounds pure, it is very easy to lose yourself in its simplicity. He worked with younger Japanese artists like Aki Onda as well as with international artists such as David Toop.

Dallas Museum of Art (collections.dma.org)

Ryo Ikeshiro and Atau Tanaka, Sound in Japan: Silence, Noise, Material and Media

Sound Art in its contemporary Western sense did not really exist in China until the 1990s. However, China has a rich history of aural aesthetics and advanced sound theory. Early on, the Chinese rulers were aware on the link between sound and authority, and how powerful sound can be when used as a tool to bring out certain emotions in a population. Each Chinese dynasty had a separate chapter on the tuning system, this shows to what extent the court had control over a tuning system in each period.

In China, there was less of a focus on the sounds themselves or acoustics but rather an emphasis on the correlations of sounds and what various sounds and music might evoke in the listeners. Sound, music and tuning is correlated to cosmology, astronomy, astrology, philosophy, medicine. This is something that we might see less of in a Western setting.

Philosophers like Zhuang Zi and Lao Zi (the founder of Taoism) had concepts on sound similar to the ideas of Luke Cage, for example.

As China was not as in sync with other cultures when regarding sound art for the latter half of the 20th century, there was not much outer influence changing the way sound art was created within China until the 21st century, with the rise of the internet breaking this sonic isolation.

In 2003, Post-Concrete produced and released China: The Sonic Avant-Garde. This was essentially a compilation of individual sonic experiments by young artists, with avant-garde sounds and experimental noise work. I personally really enjoyed this project, especially Dfaonocle and Lunch Life by Wang Changcun and Fish Cooking 4 by Fu Yü. It is cutting edge and innovative Chinese sound work, there are no traditional Chinese instruments to be heard throughout the 2 hour tracklist. There were 15 artists featured, bringing forward a wide range of styles and techniques. The compilation includes plunderphonics, musique concrete, experimental electronics, ambient, sample collage, plug-in modulation, text-sound, sound poetry, mixer feedback improv, hardcore noise, radio art…

Dajuin Yao, Sound Art in China: Revolutions Per Minute