Beyond Representation and Signification

Toward a Sonic Materialism

Bibliographic Data

ID5828022
AuthorsChristoph Cox (corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume10
Issue2
Pages145-161
Publication date2011-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Visual Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1470-4129 • E-ISSN: 1741-2994
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1470412911402880
OpenAlexW2074995903
LanguageEN
Citations received80
References cited22

Why does sound art remain so profoundly undertheorized, and why has it failed to generate a rich and compelling critical literature? It is because the prevailing theoretical models are inadequate to it. Developed to account for the textual and the visual, they fail to capture the nature of the sonic. In this article, the author proposes an alternative theoretical framework, a materialist account able to grasp the nature of sound and to enable analysis of the sonic arts. He suggests, moreover, that this theoretical account can provide a model for rethinking the arts in general and for avoiding the pitfalls encountered in theories of representation and signification

Materialism · Representation · Sound art · Cybernetics and Technology in Society · Music Technology and Sound Studies · Visual Culture and Art Theory

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