Sonic Advances and Retreats - curiosity, leaky acoustics (and a note on how care killed the cat) by Eduardo Abrantes published on 2020-04-15T21:22:28Z Sonic advances and retreats: artistic research, leaky acoustics, and a note on how care killed the cat Is it fair to think of hearing as the most investigative of the senses? The most defined by the complex, intersecting, border hopping choreographies of curiosity – by permeability? Be it through walls (which themselves, a well-known fact, have ears), behind one’s back, in passing, overheard. Made meaningful by everyday rituals, such looking around to see if someone is listening, the visual straining to encompass the primacy of the acoustic. “Eavesdropping” is an architectural metaphor tuned to public spaces. “Eaves” are the overhanging external edges of the roof of a building, under which one would casually hang around, for example seeking protection from the rain (though still getting peppered by “drops”), while in hearing range of the conversations leaking from within. Resonating thus with the dynamics of excess and the unintentional, exchanges between within and without, overflowing. Exploration, investigation, inquiry – if these share curiosity as their operative principle, then artistic research is no exception. This paper explores selected intersections between artistic research and sonic strategies, relating to a multi-layered understanding of “curiosity” as an operative principle.
