Sound Art: Creativity with Minimal Resources

The students were introduced to the concept of Sound Art. Different from music, sound exists in almost everything we do. So it is a matter of training oneself to hear the sounds and their potential to become art. Thus, several videos were shown to illustrate the concept; one video shows the interview with John Cage, a precursor of sound as music, and the others show the work Gustavo Matamoros, a musician and sound artist.

John Cage

Gustavo Matamoro's Sound Consumption

The students were asked what was their relationship with sound as well what they thought of Sound Art; some of the answers are shared bellow:

Amanda Kuperman

I hear noises every day yet I don’t pay much attention to them. Most sounds around my house such as sirens, cars, and loud music are usually annoying to me. However, I enjoy the sound of rain and thunderstorms. Something about rain and thunder is very calming to me. I also enjoy sound in music. If I think about it, I also like the tones and sounds of my friends and family’s voices. However I haven’t explored sound separately from music. It’s definitely an aspect of life I don’t pay enough attention to.

Sound art: I think any sound can be an art. It’s the creation of various sounds to evoke emotion or feeling.

Marisa Petrillo

Sound is interesting to me because it can come from anywhere and has such an enormous range. Sound and music both have the ability to let your mind wonder in different ways. Music has always been something that I am super interested in and passionate about. I think it’s awesome that a certain genre of music can make you feel a certain way, remember a certain memory, or think a certain thought.

Sound art is the ability to make aesthetically pleasing sounds or noises from any object.

Sami Shinder

My personal relationship with sound has a lot to do with music. Ever since I can remember I have had an affinity for singing and took lessons starting from a young age. In addition, my family is also very into music and we listen to it on most occasions or activities. Furthermore, I have also discovered that I need sound, whether it be from a TV, music or people talking around me in order to focus and study for exams. I often have my TV on in my room while doing work not to watch but just to help me focus. To me, sound art means the utilization of sound as a medium to convey creativity.

Melanie Gershman

Sound can be important in many aspects of life. It relates to my life for survival with fire alarms that alert us that there is an emergency, signaling us to leave an area. It can also relate to communication because talking is a sound, so everyone is able to learn and give information to others through this. Sounds can also be a form of music, coming from an instrument or vocally. Music can help people relax.

Sound art is a form of art in which sound is the medium. It can include making music beats with your voices, like acapella groups. Creating music remixes by taking a song to one tune and changing the beats. Just by making sounds from innovative techniques can also be seen as sound art.

Alexandra Page Gange

My relationship with sound relates to dance. Ever since I was two years old I have danced. I used sound of not only music but the sound that is generated from tap shoes to make rhyme and choreography. In one of my tap dances when I was older, we recreated the sound of a sound that only contained beats with our tap shoes and preformed it at a dance competition.

On a more serious level, sound is something that can protect you - the honk of a horn, the ringing of your phone for an important call, etc.

I think sound art can be demonstrated through many different forms. The sound of poetry, music, or just the sound of nature is something I would consider art. I don’t think people think of sound as a form of art often- myself included- and it is a very interesting thought and concept.

Sami Shinder

My personal relationship with sound has a lot to do with music. Ever since I can remember I have had an affinity for singing and took lessons starting from a young age. In addition, my family is also very into music and we listen to it on most occasions or activities. Furthermore, I have also discovered that I need sound, whether it be from a TV, music or people talking around me in order to focus and study for exams. I often have my TV on in my room while doing work not to watch but just to help me focus. To me, sound art means the utilization of sound as a medium to convey creativity.

GROUP SOUND ART