Linscott, Charles P. Final Dissertation 8-5-2015
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Sonic Overlook: Blackness between Sound and Image A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Charles P. Linscott August 2015 © 2015 Charles P. Linscott. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Sonic Overlook: Blackness between Sound and Image by CHARLES P. LINSCOTT has been approved for Interdisciplinary Arts and the College of Fine Arts by Michael B. Gillespie Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts Margaret Kennedy-Dygas Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 ABSTRACT LINSCOTT, CHARLES P., Ph.D., August 2015, Interdisciplinary Arts Sonic Overlook: Blackness between Sound and Image Director of Dissertation: Michael B. Gillespie Proceeding from the fact that blackness is yoked to the visual, this dissertation uncovers some of the ways in which performative, expressive, and artistic uses of sound and music can work to disquiet racializing scopic regimes or “black visuality.” Herein, I follow scholars like Paul Gilroy, Lindon Barrett, Fred Moten, and Nicole Fleetwood—the latter of whom enjoins that foreclosing the visual to blackness is self-negating. My methodology consists of extremely close analysis performed on a heterogeneous array of black cultural objects and practices that function as interconnected case studies. Specifically, Sonic Overlook examines the voice, noise and improvisation, sampling and remixing, natural and industrial soundscapes, avant-garde film and cinematic voiceover, film scores, and jazz, hip-hop, and blues. Chapter One thinks through issues of blackness and sonicity by performing an exegesis on Miles Davis and his “voice,” which comprises a variety of significatory and affective practices including, but not limited to, vocal utterances. In reading an iconic post-beating photograph along with Miles’ music and performance, I demonstrate how the use and refusal of the (black) voice assumes deep significance. Chapter Two considers William Greaves’ singular cinematic experiment, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm (1968), arguing that a seemingly oblique or “absent” engagement with blackness is foundational to the film’s overarching strategies of misdirection and leads to explicit epistemological and ontological claims about race made through sound; 4 Symbiopsychotaxiplasm elides black visuality by not talking about blackness but by sounding it instead. Chapter Three reads a variety of objects—DJ Spooky’s The Rebirth of a Nation (2004), Black Kirby’s remix-inspired visual art, and Killer Mike and El-P’s song and video, “Reagan”—in order to establish remixing as a signal sort of conceptual mobility often connected to visual fields but that also works to disrupt racist ocular modes. Chapter Four deals with John Akomfrah’s oeuvre, which regularly engages the audiovisual in the interest of reimagining the aesthetics, epistemologies, and ontologies of African-descended peoples within and against racist cultures that have historically occluded blackness. In the end, this study demonstrates how sound works to ensure that the persistence of the visual does not promise the persistence of racist visuality. 5 DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my family and friends. Like me, this dissertation is the result of collective effort and is still in progress. I love you all. 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As is so often the case, much of what needs to be said will not be, and I apologize for the inadequacy of this section. My thanks are broad and deep and run through my lifetime. Much of the thinking leading up to this dissertation emerged from conference presentations and publications with which I am privileged to have been associated. In particular, I am grateful to SCMS, World Picture, and Rendering the Visible for indulging some of my most speculative notions and introducing me, in person, to thinkers whose work I have long admired. At World Picture, Brian Price and Meghan Sutherland always made me feel at home amidst numerous impressive scholars. At “Rendering,” Angelo Restivo, Jennifer Barker, and (of course) Alessandra Raengo put on two of the most groundbreaking and festive conferences one could imagine. Early on, an old (pre- academic) friend, Felecia Carlisle, was instrumental in bringing me to UWF to give a talk on African film for the school’s Genius Loci visiting scholar series. Along the way, this process reversed itself, and many of my academic colleagues also became friends. I am grateful to the Georgia State posse—Kris Cannon, Drew Ayers, Karen Mars, Michele Beverly, Lauren Cramer, and Sam Perry—for stimulation, camaraderie, and support through the years. Further, Michele invited me to work on both an SCMS panel and a stunning In Media Res week, while Lauren shepherded me through IMR and an article for liquid blackness. At OU, Andrea Frohne and Ghirmai Negash graciously gave me my first shot at academic publishing with a piece on Sembène, whose work remains a favorite. Michael B. Gillespie and Akil Huston have been very patient with my work for 7 their upcoming volume, Black Cinema Aesthetics Revisited, and Alessandra Raengo and liquid blackness let me write about Akomfrah, another passion. Institutionally (which is itself an illusory term—for so many of us, the institutions to which we belong are deeply and personally constitutive), many long-overdue thanks are owed to my UWF family, all of whom helped an idealistic fledgling work his way toward maturity. William Mikulas, William Mountcastle, and Terry Prewitt all taught me so much, including how to achieve an improbable balance of impassioned professing, deep human kindness, and expert training. June Watkins was there when I needed a push to the next step, though she probably does not know it. Amir Karimi got all this film business started and deserves to be more widely recognized; UWF was lucky to have him, as was I. Nick Power and Barry (“Doc”) Arnold have helped me in immeasurable ways. I quite plainly wouldn’t be here without them. Nick taught me so much about philosophy, provided funding from the ether, shepherded me through two eclectic degrees, and has remained a steadfast friend. (The beers are on me, buddy.) Finally, Doc simply changed my life. In class, he turned me into an ethicist, always taught “up” to students, and showed me what scholarly writing is (and is not); moreover, he was “interdisciplinary” before most had even heard the term. In life, he showed me that love and kindness are political and personal practices, kept me sane, and made me a much better human being. If ever there were true saints in this ferocious world, Barry Arnold must be one. At Ohio University, The School Of Interdisciplinary Arts has been generous, rigorous, raucous, and singular. I count myself lucky to have had a diverse lineage of 8 NYU-trained professors, from Keith Harris to Alessandra Raengo to Ryan De Rosa to Michael B. Gillespie. Each has his/her own style and expertise, and each has taught me much, whether our time was short or long. As Chairs of the School, I am grateful to William Condee, Dora Wilson, and Charles Buchanan for knowledge, opportunity, and uncommon dedication. I must thank Andrea Frohne for Africa, Vladimir Marchenkov for philosophy and Casa, and Marina Peterson for sound and music. Each has helped whip me into shape. I have also learned much from all of my fellow PhD students in IARTS, to whom I remain indebted. The OU School of Film has nurtured me over the years, and I am truly appreciative for the wisdom, assistance, and guidance of Steve Ross, Ruth Bradley, Louis-Georges Schwartz, and Ofer Eliaz. Much love and thanks go out to all of my many students, and I am particularly happy to have had the opportunity to design and teach a sound studies course, for which I am grateful to Eric Williams in The School of Media Arts and Studies at OU. Dr. Sheila Williams knows what she did, and she does it better than anyone. This work is marked by her skill and concern, though she would never take any credit. I have been very lucky to have a dissertation committee composed of diverse and formidable scholars. Each has brought something different to my work, and each has helped me both personally and professionally. Louis-Georges Schwartz was involved early on, but his fire and erudition follow me still. Akil Houston picked up where Louis left off, and his hip-hop scholarship continues to inspire. Bob Miklitsch is simultaneously one of the kindest and most dazzling scholars I have yet encountered; he made all the difference in my journey. Marina Peterson, both friend and advisor, has shown me that 9 incisiveness, precision, and rigor can be combined without sacrificing passion. She is a treasure. Of course, Michael B. Gillespie is the mastermind, but he gets his own paragraph. Michael B. Gillespie is the last holder of a triple appointment shared among IARTS, Film, and African-American Studies at OU. That the position will no longer exist when Michael returns to New York is tragic, but such is the world sometimes. Michael’s brilliance, creativity, eclecticism, and humor have carried me throughout the last six years of this process. He never hesitated to push, defend, console, and advise me. He shared drinks and meals, read sloppy drafts, adventured in far-flung cities, and guided me past various pitfalls. He is downright inspiring, but above all, he is a dear friend. He, along with Alessandra (who also requires her own paragraph), lit a fire under my work. It would not be without them. Alessandra Raengo and I quite literally began this journey together—she as a newly minted professor and I as a nascent PhD student. As it turns out, she held the triple appointment before Michael, and I was her first advisee on her very first day.