NOISY FIELDS: INTERFERENCE AND EQUIVOCALITY IN THE SONIC LEGACIES OF INFORMATION THEORY A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Nicholas Adrian Knouf August 2013 © 2013 Nicholas Adrian Knouf Some rights reserved (see Appendix A). NOISY FIELDS: INTERFERENCE AND EQUIVOCALITY IN THE SONIC LEGACIES OF INFORMATION THEORY Nicholas Adrian Knouf, Ph.D. Cornell University 2013 Noisy Fields: Interference and Equivocality in the Sonic Legacies of Information eory discusses the ways in which noise causes interferences within disciplinary fields. Noise tends to bring diverse disciplinary approaches together, interfering in their constitution and their dynamics. I understand noise to be more than ei- ther positive revolutionary potential or negative disruption; instead, noise functions equivocally, possessing aspects of each pole in varying degrees. As such, it is vi- tal to follow the machinations of noise. Considering noise as a material-discursive phenomenon, I trace its intersections with sonic practices and information theory. Noise was a key point of contention in the early debates surrounding the develop- ment of information theory,and I examine some situations that provide alternatives to the standard formulations. I then trace the interrelationships between informa- tion theory, noise, and early electronic music in the 1950s, outlining how artistic experiences necessitated the development of new information theories. Consider- ing the confluence of sound and information in finance, I show how noise is both understood as a potential source of monetization while ultimately confounding at- tempts at complete capture. I turn to the nexus of speech, the voice, and noise, to consider situations of parrhesia, or “fearless speech”, that consists of noisy interfer- ences within social systems via the activity of robotic performing objects. Finally, I listen to the electronic vocal manipulations of Maja Ratkje and Holly Herndon iv to consider a micropolitics of the noisy voice. In sum, I show how the analysis of noise requires a transdisciplinary approach in order to elucidate the complicated dynamics of its interferences. Biosketch Nicholas Adrian Knouf was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Applied Science from the California Institute of Tech- nology in 2002. He worked as a research assistant and lab manager in a cognitive neuroscience laboratory from 2002–2005, conducting research on face and object perception using functional MRI. He received his Master’s degree in Media Arts and Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007. He com- pleted his PhD in Information Science at Cornell University in August 2013. Be- ginning in the fall of 2013 he will be an Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at Wellesley College. Acknowledgements I have been privileged to receive a tremendous amount of support—intellectual, emotional, and financial—throughout my graduate career. My dissertation committee has been incredibly accommodating over the past six years, understanding my continual need to integrate theory and practice and the consequent challenges of such an approach. I chose Cornell because I knew I could work with my chair, Phoebe Sengers, someone who would understand my idiosyn- cratic interests and support me in my own peripatetic path. Her ability to navigate differing disciplinary fields is a continual source of inspiration. Tarleton Gillespie has always provided probing questions that helped me to frame my work in more precise ways. I have worked closely with Timothy Murray in both his capacity as a member of my committee, as well as his position as Director of the Cornell Society for the Humanities. Tim’s support, insight, and friendship has been indispensable while navigating the trajectories of academia. In María Fernández I found someone committed to the close study of the history of new media arts, and her suggestions and knowledge have always helped me to produce better work. I have been honored to receive financial support that provided focused periods of writing; support to attend conferences and visit festivals or archives; and materi- als for the construction of artworks. I finished the dissertation through the support vii of the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship for the 2012–2013 aca- demic year. Previously, I was the recipient of a Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Graduate Fellowship at the Cornell Society for the Humanities during their 2011– 2012 theme year on “Sound: Culture, eory, Practice, Politics”. I also want to thank the Cornell Department of Information Science for the fellowship I received in my first year. I received travel support as a Intel Science and Technology Cen- ter for Social Computing Graduate Researcher, many times from the Cornell Uni- versity Graduate School, and via a Rose Goldsen Graduate Award to attend the transmediale festival. I additionally received funding for my artistic projects from the Cornell Council for the Arts and via a commission from turbulence.org. One of the most stimulating periods during my time at Cornell was the year that I spent as a Graduate Fellow at the Cornell Society for the Humanities. e camaraderie I felt during our discussions, lunches, and workshops highlighted the best aspects of academia. With my fellow Graduate Fellow Sarah Ensor we navi- gated the ups and downs of the academic job market. e other Fellows provided just the right mix of intellectual challenges and support. I am proud to consider them amongst my colleagues: Eliot Bates, Marcus Boon, Duane Corpis, Miloje Despic, Ziad Fahmy, Nina Sun Eidsheim, Andrea Hammer, Brian Hanrahan, Michael Jonik, Jeanette S. Jouili, Damien Keane, Brandon LaBelle, Yongwoo Lee, Eric Lott, Roger Moseley, Norie Neumark„ James Nisbet, Trevor Pinch, Jonathan Skinner, Jennifer Stoever-Ackerman, and Emily ompson. My home at Cornell was the Information Science Program and Department and the Culturally-Embedded Computing Group (CEmCom). I want to thank the following for their support throughout my time there: Phil Adams, Eric P. S. viii Baumer, Kirsten Boehner, Dan Cosley, Paul Ginsparg, Maria Håkansson, Hrönn Brynjarsdóttir Holmer, Nitesh Goyal, Shion Guha, Hansen Hsu, Steven Jackson, Laewoo Kang, Jofish Kaye, Vera Khovanskaya, Carl Lagoze, Lucian Leahu, Gilly Leshed, Meena Natarajan, Karin Patzke, Stephen Purpura, Sadat Shami, Niranjan Sivakumar, Jenn om, eresa Velden, Janet Vertesi, Kaiton Williams, and David Williamson. My future home will be in the Cinema and Media Studies Program at Wellesley College. I look forward to working with my new colleagues there, Maurizio Viano and Winifred Wood. Portions of this work have been presented in many venues over the past six years, and I want to acknowledge the feedback, thought-provoking questions, and generosity I received from audience members and colleagues: University at Buffalo; Wellesley College; Pratt Institute; Stevens Institute of Technology; Society for Lit- erature, Science, and the Arts; Society for the Social Studies of Science; Science Studies Research Group at Cornell University; Department of Information Sci- ence Breakfast Series; Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival at Ithaca College; transmediale; Piksel; University of California at Berkeley; dis/connecting/media; Emerson College; Upgrade! Boston; and Oberlin College. Friends and colleagues near and far have provided much needed personal and professional support: Rosemary Adessa, Mary Ahl, Saba Alemayehu, Stewart Auyash, TashPreetimaB., KarenM. Brummund, JessicaCarnevale, Mickey Casad, Nicole Casi, John Criscitello, Carl DiSalvo, Park Doing, Kevin Ernste, Jessica Evett, Renate Ferro, Cara Frankowicz, Leslie Garcia, Lindsey Glover, Anthony W. Graves, Jo-Anne Green, Monica Haller, Megan Halpern, Minnie Jardine, Patrick ix Lichty, Christine Liu, Polly Nordstrand, Julian Oliver, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Arzu Ozkal, Molly Reichert, Corinne Russell, Wylie Schwartz, omas Shevory, Chris- tine Stenglein, Rebekah Billings Stout, Orkan Telhan, Helen orington, Danja Vasiliev, Emily Rudolf Rocker Votruba, Wendy O. Williams, Hyejong Yoo, Pa- tricia R. Zimmermann, and Jonathan Zorn. Patricia Moses and Tom Haller provided much-appreciated hospitality during the final writing of the dissertation. Christoph Both provided me with a copy of his dissertation. e archivists at the Rockefeller Archive Center helped in tracking down names and initials. Many thanks to Gimme Coffee, CTB, Mexeo, e Shop, Stella’s, Madeline’s, and Man- ndible Cafe for fueling my work. My family has always supported me throughout this long educational journey. My aunt, Linda Arneson, provided needed gustatory and emotional support. Sadly my sister, Robin, and my dad, Philip, were not able to see this to the end. Yet I know they are looking upon its completion in joy. ank you to my mom for everything. Ixchel has left her furriness on everything I do. In the end, thanks to Claudia, whose passion, intelligence, and support infuses this work. ank you for being with me on this journey. Contents Biosketch v Acknowledgements vi Contents x List of Figures xiii Preface xvii Introduction 1 NoisyPractices ............................ 2 OnNoise ............................... 10 ChapterBreakdown .......................... 19 I Noisy Legacies of Information Theory 23 1 Excursus: On Other Information Theories 25 Shannon’s Pre-Histories . 27 Contemporaries of Shannon’s eory . 36 CONTENTS