User:Anita!/thesisoutline

Thesis Outline draft

Introduction

Sound connects. It is not physical but exists so powerfully in space. It identifies places but is not usually thought of, or used to describe one, other than the simple ‘noisy’ or ‘silent’. I want the reader to imagine and play with mundane sounds, explore the urban landscape with no visual aid, to notice and create new imaginary paths in their mind. I want the text to be an invitation to listen, truly listen and not just hear. I plan to do this by reporting on listening exercises and experiments i will carry out in public space, as well as expanding on the activities themselves and inviting the reader to perform them. I will also illustrate and reference the work of other artists and composers who engage in similar practices surrounding the topic. In order to do this, I feel it is extremely determining to directly ‘talk’ to the reader, making them feel engaged and prompted to try this out for themselves and look further into the topic. I want the thesis to be a love letter to listening, and the reader to want to write a love letter to listening at the end of it as well.

Chapter 1: Do you listen or do you hear?

Chapter containing previous references to this practice, other artists and researchers work on the topic. There will be a focus on the practice of Deep Listening (Pauline Oliveros) and on practices of sound walking, like 'LISTEN' (Max Neuhaus), 'Inaudible Cities' (Jacek Smolicki) and others. This chapter aims to contextualize the rest of the thesis as well as the graduation project.

Chapter 2: Methods for listening

This chapter will contain methods, exercises and experiments that will made through the development of the text to listen carefully. It will 'activate' the research explored in the first chapter by showing how I will implement some of the examples into my own listening practice, as well as illustrate and propose exercises (that I will also carry out) for the reader to perform. To me, this chapter is the heart of the thesis as it advances methods for listening in public space and invites to implement it.

Chapter 3: Caught sounds

An outline of the findings and results coming from the ‘methods for listening’ chapter, as well as observations on the sounds encountered during the research period. I would like to include samples of sounds in the text, both in an auditory and written capacity.

References

key text Deep Listening A Composer's Sound Practice, Pauline Oliveros

key text Walking, Listening and Soundmaking, Elena Biserna

LISTEN, Max Neuhaus

Inaudible Cities, Jacek Smolicki

Listening: A Research Method in Art & Design, Femke Dekker

Basta Now: women, trans & non-binary in experimental music, Fanny Chiarello