Sonic Worlding. Per una teoria speculativa degli ecosistemi sonori

Nicola Zolin

doi:10.54103/connessioni/26221

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No. 8 (2024): Sound: the sound dimension of everyday life between visual arts, machines, electronic music. Theoretical, practical and cultural perspectives (Vol. 2)

Sonic Worlding. Per un’esplorazione speculativa dei progetti sonori contemporanei

Nicola Zolin^▸^▾

PDF (Italian)

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.54103/connessioni/26221
Submitted: September 25, 2024
Published: December 31, 2024

Abstract

This paper focuses on the theme of world-building applied to a series of contemporary sound projects, proposing a multidisciplinary approach aimed at outlining their characteristics in relation to the interaction with the listener. The text explores the speculative dimension of these projects, highlighting how, in addition to representing reality, it is also questioned, fostering a critical analysis of contemporary political and social issues. The article begins with Alice Bucknell's New Worlds exhibition and Simon Reynolds' The Rise of Conceptronica, which provide the theoretical context to understand the growing role of sound-based world-building. By applying Azuma’s “database” model, the structure of these projects will be explored, with particular attention given to the agency of sound, which plays a crucial role in transforming bodies and spaces. Furthermore, sonic fiction and speculative design will be analyzed as practices within these projects, subverting traditional narrative structures and acting as key tools to explore contemporary themes such as control, resistance, and inclusion. These works offer new ways of conceiving the future, proposing alternatives to dominant visions and opening spaces for critical reflection on reality and its potential transformations.

References

Azuma, H., Otaku: Japan’s Database Animals, The University of Minnesota Press, Minne-apolis 2009.
Atwood, M., The Handmaid’s Tale, Vintage Publishing, New York 2010.
Cheng I., Fare Mondi. Vademecum per Emissari, Timeo, Palermo 2024.
Collins, K., Playing with Sound. A Theory of Interacting with Sound and Music in Video Games, MIT Press, Cambridge 2013.
Deleuze, G., Pourparler, Quodlibet, Macerata 2019.
Derfoufi, M., The potential realities of videogames, in Klumpp, J., Marschall, T., Şimşek, Ş., Schulte, R., (ed.), World Building, Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2024.
Dunne, A, & Raby, F., Speculative Everything. Design Fiction and Social Dreaming, MIT Press, Cambridge 2013.
Durfee, T., Aspirants to Reality. Possible Essays on the Made Up, in Durfee, T., & Zeiger, M., (ed.), Made Up. Design’s Fictions, ArtCenter Graduate Press, New York 2017, pp. 10-15.
Eshun, K., More Brilliant Than the Sun. Adventures in Sonic Fiction, Verso, London 1998.
Fisher, M., The weird and the eerie. Lo strano e l’inquietante nel mondo contemporaneo, Minimum Fax, Roma 2018.
Frankel, F., Hearing the Cloud, Zero Books, London 2019.
Goodman, S., Sonic Warfare. Sound, Affect and the Ecology of Fear, MIT Press, Cambridge 2012.
Gualeni, S., Virtual World Weariness: On Delaying the Experiental Erosion of Digital Envi-ronments. in Gerber, A., & Götz, U., (ed.), «Architectonics of Game Spaces: The Spatial Logic of the Virtual and Its Meaning for the Real», Bielefeld, Germania 2019, pp. 153-166. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839448021-011
Hegarty, P., Noise/Music. A History, Bloomsbury, New York 2007.
Jenkins, H., Cultura Convergente, Maggioli Editore, Santarcangelo di Romagna 2014.
LaBelle, B., Sonic Agency. Sound and Emergent Forms of Resistance, MIT Press, Cambridge 2020.
Le Guin, U. K., Always Coming Home, Harper Perennial, New York 2023.
Merleau-Ponty, M., Fenomenologia della percezione, Bompiani, Milano 2003.
Papacci, R., Elettronica Hi-Tech. Introduzione alla musica del futuro, Arcana, Roma 2019.
Paul, C., Digital Art, Thames and Hudson, Londra 2003.
Portanova, S., Rhythmic Parasites: A Virological Analysis of Sound and Dance, in Goffey, A., (ed.), «The Fibreculture Journal», Vol 4, New South Wales 2005.
Rumori, M., & Zeller, L., The Institute of Sonic Epistemologies. Life-world Fiction within Augmented Auditory Space, in Smite, R., & Smits, R., (ed.), «Acoustic Space Journal», Vol 17, Lituania 2019, pp. 103-120.
Schulze, H., Sonic Fiction, Bloomsbury, New York 2020.
Schulze, H., Sound Works. A Cultural Theory of Sound Design, Bloomsbury, New York 2019.
Steinberg, M., World and Variation: The Reproduction and Consumption of Narrative, in «Mechademia », Volume 5, 2010, pp. 99-116.
Terranova, T., Dopo Internet. Le reti digitali tra capitale e comune. Nero, Roma 2022.
Vieira de Oliveira, P., Design at the Earview: Decolonizing Speculative Design through Sonic Fiction, in «Design/Issues», Volume 32, n. 2, 2016, pp. 43-52.

Keywords

Sonic fiction
World-Building
Sound Studies
Agency
Speculation

How to Cite

Sonic Worlding. Per un’esplorazione speculativa dei progetti sonori contemporanei. (2024). Connessioni Remote. Artivismo_Teatro_Tecnologia, 8. https://doi.org/10.54103/connessioni/26221

[1] Azuma, H., Otaku: Japan’s Database Animals, The University of Minnesota Press, Minne-apolis 2009.

[2] Atwood, M., The Handmaid’s Tale, Vintage Publishing, New York 2010.

[3] Cheng I., Fare Mondi. Vademecum per Emissari, Timeo, Palermo 2024.

[4] Collins, K., Playing with Sound. A Theory of Interacting with Sound and Music in Video Games, MIT Press, Cambridge 2013.

[5] Deleuze, G., Pourparler, Quodlibet, Macerata 2019.

[6] Derfoufi, M., The potential realities of videogames, in Klumpp, J., Marschall, T., Şimşek, Ş., Schulte, R., (ed.), World Building, Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2024.

[7] Dunne, A, & Raby, F., Speculative Everything. Design Fiction and Social Dreaming, MIT Press, Cambridge 2013.

[8] Durfee, T., Aspirants to Reality. Possible Essays on the Made Up, in Durfee, T., & Zeiger, M., (ed.), Made Up. Design’s Fictions, ArtCenter Graduate Press, New York 2017, pp. 10-15.

[9] Eshun, K., More Brilliant Than the Sun. Adventures in Sonic Fiction, Verso, London 1998.

[10] Fisher, M., The weird and the eerie. Lo strano e l’inquietante nel mondo contemporaneo, Minimum Fax, Roma 2018.

[11] Frankel, F., Hearing the Cloud, Zero Books, London 2019.

[12] Goodman, S., Sonic Warfare. Sound, Affect and the Ecology of Fear, MIT Press, Cambridge 2012.

[13] Gualeni, S., Virtual World Weariness: On Delaying the Experiental Erosion of Digital Envi-ronments. in Gerber, A., & Götz, U., (ed.), «Architectonics of Game Spaces: The Spatial Logic of the Virtual and Its Meaning for the Real», Bielefeld, Germania 2019, pp. 153-166. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839448021-011

[14] Hegarty, P., Noise/Music. A History, Bloomsbury, New York 2007.

[15] Jenkins, H., Cultura Convergente, Maggioli Editore, Santarcangelo di Romagna 2014.

[16] LaBelle, B., Sonic Agency. Sound and Emergent Forms of Resistance, MIT Press, Cambridge 2020.

[17] Le Guin, U. K., Always Coming Home, Harper Perennial, New York 2023.

[18] Merleau-Ponty, M., Fenomenologia della percezione, Bompiani, Milano 2003.

[19] Papacci, R., Elettronica Hi-Tech. Introduzione alla musica del futuro, Arcana, Roma 2019.

[20] Paul, C., Digital Art, Thames and Hudson, Londra 2003.

[21] Portanova, S., Rhythmic Parasites: A Virological Analysis of Sound and Dance, in Goffey, A., (ed.), «The Fibreculture Journal», Vol 4, New South Wales 2005.

[22] Rumori, M., & Zeller, L., The Institute of Sonic Epistemologies. Life-world Fiction within Augmented Auditory Space, in Smite, R., & Smits, R., (ed.), «Acoustic Space Journal», Vol 17, Lituania 2019, pp. 103-120.

[23] Schulze, H., Sonic Fiction, Bloomsbury, New York 2020.

[24] Schulze, H., Sound Works. A Cultural Theory of Sound Design, Bloomsbury, New York 2019.

[25] Steinberg, M., World and Variation: The Reproduction and Consumption of Narrative, in «Mechademia », Volume 5, 2010, pp. 99-116.

[26] Terranova, T., Dopo Internet. Le reti digitali tra capitale e comune. Nero, Roma 2022.

[27] Vieira de Oliveira, P., Design at the Earview: Decolonizing Speculative Design through Sonic Fiction, in «Design/Issues», Volume 32, n. 2, 2016, pp. 43-52.