A Friend's Dable in Sound Art

[Aman]

So an old friend of mine recently sent me his first "Sound Art" composition. He said it was improvised for the most part, and was done entirely through code which he wrote himself. For those familiar with Sound Art, you may understand how much it differs from even the most avant-garde of musical compositions, so do keep that in mind.

I was asked for an opinion to see if he should persue this further, and I asked if he would be okay if I posted it here, and he agreed. So, here it is:

http://osmp.yourowndisaster.com/fuper.mp3

The wikipedia entry here, for those not familiar with Sound Art: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_art

I'll forward any opinions on this piece to the author - and don't be afraid to make any constructive criticisms. That's what will make his work better!

 

[Duggeh]

Im going to be brutal, to perhaps the point of being rude.

This recording, and the concept of sound art, seems to me to be a way of passing off cocophany as listenable material.

This is the Tracy Emins unmade bed of audio. It sounds like the stuff I have in Ejay when I randomly drop 4 minutes of samples prior to shuffling them.

However, with a bit of directional mixing either toward ambient or toward techno. Or if it were employed as the soundtrack to art with a visual half or film half. Itd probably be alright.

 

[shplorgh]

I don't really see the point, it's not enjoyable to listen to and has seemingly no artistic relevance, so what's the point?

I agree with Duggeh, maybe if it was pushed in some kind of musical direction or used in conjunction with visual art it would be better, but as it stands it seems like someone is either incredibly pretentious or just playing around with noises when making this.

 

[Aman]

Thank you for the opinions so far, guys. I'm not so sure if these were comments he was looking for - he was hoping that those who enjoy Sound Art could comment.

I've been to a lot of sound art exhibits, and in my experience, this sounds a lot like the rest of them. A similar concept and style, at least. I think that it is a good first attempt, considering what sound art is and what the purpose of its creation is. I think at times not enough is going on, although. Anyway, as music, I don't think it works. It has no rhythm or melody. It's a landscape of sound waves, nothing the least bit resembling "music".

Can anybody who already enjoys visiting Sound Art exhibitions comment on this? I, and Harry, would be very appreciative.