SONICZNE MASZYNERIE: WINDOW KATHARINE NORMAN I EARJOBS JOHANNESA KREIDLERA
SONIC MACHINERY: WINDOW BY KATHARINE NORMAN AND EARJOBS BY JOHANNES KREIDLER

Summary/Abstract: The context of this article is the term sonosphere, which, according to Tomasz Misiak, is one of the three sonic spheres and one that relates directly to the achievements of the musical avant-garde. The article opens with a polemic against the claim that the sonosphere refers exclu- sively to avant-garde and experimental music (i.e. music that has been institutionalized) but admits that art can conceptually problematise the sonosphere. The author therefore undertakes an inter- pretation of two works that are themselves reinterpretations of John Cage’s concept of silence. The former is Katharine Norman’s Window piece from the digital literature genre, which uses interface interaction and various sensory stimuli (sound, image, text) to rethink the sonosphere of the home and the relationship between the private and public sonosphere. The latter is Johannes Kreidler’s Earjobs, in which the composer combines the act of listening to experimental music (such as John Cage’s 4’33”) with hired labor. In doing so, he stimulates a discussion on the meaning of the avant-garde, the act of listening, and the status of the listening subject in the capitalist system, especially when we talk about silence.

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