Ambient Poetics and the Ecology of Listening in Four Militant Sound Investigations
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 9-14-2016 12:00 AM Becoming Sonic: Ambient Poetics and the Ecology of Listening in Four Militant Sound Investigations David C. Jackson The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Tim Blackmore The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © David C. Jackson 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Audio Arts and Acoustics Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, and the Theory and Criticism Commons Recommended Citation Jackson, David C., "Becoming Sonic: Ambient Poetics and the Ecology of Listening in Four Militant Sound Investigations" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4166. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4166 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract This dissertation Becoming Sonic: Ambient Poetics and the Ecology of the Ear in Four Militant Sound Investigations offers a critical and historical analysis of acoustic ecology and soundscape recording —the sounds, noises, and silences that make up our ambient sonic environment and are found and recorded “in the field” by artists to create recordings and performances are then experienced by listeners. Field recording captures the diverse and often unwanted or inconsequential sounds of a space, which can then be used to bring attention to the often unheard and unconscious processes that stratify space. By stratification I am referring to the processes of urban planning, architecture, business, policies, and governance that shape and grid the environment. Analyzing four case studies by the sound collective Ultra-Red, sound activist Christopher DeLaurenti, and field recording artist Chris Watson, that explore the soundscapes of housing redevelopment, using a food bank, public sex in parks, and the slow violence of ecological devastation, this dissertation builds on and analyzes the sonic environmental and spatial implications of ecology by both critiquing acoustic ecology and employing it as a concept to explore the political, aesthetic, and epistemological consequences of soundscape recording. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine what sound indicates through cultural practice and how it can be used and deployed to create different understandings of the places we live and act. This research articulates a poetics of listening to space that constructs worlds and questions how the environment can be used for aesthetic purposes, how the sounds of the city and ‘nature’ influence artists, how artists practice and experience sound by listening, and what kind of knowledges these aesthetic practices produce. In order to accomplish this, it relies on critical approaches to ecology, space and urbanism (Gilles Deleuze and Fèlix Guattari, David Harvey, Nigel Thrift, and Edward Soja); ecologies of sound and listening (Steve Goodman, Murray Schafer, Susan Bickford, Frances Dyson); and affective politics (Brian Massumi, Erin Manning). Keywords Soundscape; ecology; listening; sonic; media theory; ecomedia; ecocrticism; militant research; field recording; space; city; rhythm White and aimless signals. No One listens to poetry. —Jack Spicer, “Thing Language” ii Acknowledgments Much thanks and gratitude go to my supervisor, Dr. Tim Blackmore, for his feedback, generosity, and for providing me with a model of scholarship and teaching based on empathy, kindness, and understanding. His guidance, patience, and willingness to chat on the phone for hours has made me a better scholar and person for knowing him. I also wish to thank my secondary supervisor, Dr. Carole Farber, for her contributions, willingness to discuss everything, and thoughtful suggestions. To the members of my examining committee: Dr. Ira Wagman, Dr. Douglass St. Christian, Dr. Regna Darnell, and Dr. Grant Campbell. Thank you for your questions, thoroughness, and scrutiny, and for making the day of my defense an experience I will always remember. On the first day of my doctorate, Michael Daubs invited me to join some students for a beer, which opened the gate to a number of friendships, arguments, and foggy nights. In no particular order, Daubs, Henry Svec, Brian Brown, Trent Cruz, Elise Thorburn, Christopher Cwynar, Vince Manzerolle, Atle Kjøsen, Wendy Daubs, and probably many more I am forgetting —I am lucky to have so many caring and righteous people in my world. Thank you. Some my earliest memories are of weekly trips to the library, hours spent in bookstores, and days at the cottage reading for hours on the veranda with my father, Don Jackson. He never denied me a book, always answered my questions, and always encouraged me to ask more. Throughout his life he always talked to me about what I was doing, thinking, and how it was going. If anyone planted the seeds of pursuing a PhD, it was my dad. I know that no one would be prouder and I wish so much he’d been with us to see it. One of the last things he said to me was “go get them” —and I got them. Much love and thanks to my mom Gayl, from whom my slightly twisted sense of humor, deep love of my music, and willingness to fight come from. To my in-laws Marg Cunningham and Jim Butcher who have always been supportive, even if Jim won’t call me Doctor until I can fix his knee. My friends Susan and John and their three exuberant and excellent children, Milo, Petra, and Stella, provided a number of moments of levity, video game playing, taco nights, music, loud singing, and most importantly, hugs. iii Finally … to Megan. I feel like you came in the middle of a whirlwind and showed me how to hold on with more tenacity than I knew I had. Simply, this would never have got done without your careful and caring listening, advice, strategizing, and insistence. I love you and I can’t wait to see what we’re going to do next. iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... I ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................ III TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................... V 1 SOUND, CITY AND THE ECOLOGY OF THE EAR ......................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Political Research and Militant Sound Investigation ......................................................... 4 1.2 THEORETICAL ORIENTATION: ECO-CRITICISM ..................................................................................... 7 1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND QUESTIONS ..........................................................................................12 1.3.1 Research Objectives .........................................................................................................13 1.3.2 Research Questions ..........................................................................................................15 1.4 METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES ...................................................................................................18 1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................................21 1.5.1 Sound Studies ...................................................................................................................21 1.5.2 Soundscapes and Sonic Atmospheres ..............................................................................23 1.5.3 Rhythm and Poetics .........................................................................................................30 1.5.4 Space and Urban Theory ..................................................................................................33 1.5.5 Recording .........................................................................................................................38 1.6 CHAPTER OUTLINES .....................................................................................................................39 2 AURAL TRADITIONS: THE SOUND OF THE WAR ON THE POOR IN PUBLIC HOUSING REDEVELOPMENT ...................................................................................................................... 43 2.1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................43 2.2 SOCIAL SPACE AND THE RIGHT TO THE CITY ......................................................................................47 2.2.1 The Spinal Cord of the Common .......................................................................................56 2.3 SPATIAL POLITICS AND NEOLIBERAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT .............................................................60 2.4 FREQUENCY POLITICS: FIELD RECORDING THE CAPITALIST CITY ............................................................68 2.5 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................74