Lucia FARINATI Audio Arts Archive: From Inventory Space to Imagined Space Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Kingston University London Department of Critical and Historical Studies Kingston School of Art February 2020 1 Abstract Audio Arts (1973-2007) was established by artist William Furlong and curator Barry Barker in 1973 as a magazine of contemporary art on cassette tape. Focused on artists’ voices and sound works Audio Arts expanded the traditional scope of a printed magazine from the representation of visual art into an alternative art space in itself. This thesis addresses the complexities of Audio Arts through two strands of research. The first, The Inventory Space, traces the multifaceted history of the sound magazine by highlighting the relationship between the editorial, curatorial and artistic activity developed by Furlong and his collaborators. It also examines the relationship between the re- organisation of the Audio Arts Archive (since its acquisition in 2004 by Tate) and the way it was previously used creatively by Furlong in the production of new sound works. The Imagined Space elaborates a performative methodology through the curatorial project Activating the Audio Arts Archive. In collaboration with the Tate Archive I explored how listening to (and within) the archive contributes to a dialogic methodology which puts the voices of former collaborators of Audio Arts centre stage. By imagining the life of the Audio Arts Archive beyond its inventory, I establish a creative space for a co-constructed historical narrative through the contribution of written texts, new conversations, recordings and performative acts. Structured in two parts, the thesis investigates the tension between inventory space and imagined space, the indexical and paradigmatic organisation of archival documents and its affective and performative activation. It comprises four written chapters, two audio chapters and the conclusion. The audio chapters include a body of new interviews I conducted with former collaborators of Audio Arts and four audio essays produced from the four public curatorial events. The research contributes to the field of art history, curatorial practice and sonic studies by providing a unified historical and performative methodology for understanding the complex legacy of Audio Arts. This legacy I conclude lies at the intersection of sound art and sculpture, critical and curatorial practice, and oral and aural art history. Key Words Art magazine, art publishing, artist voice, artist interview, aural history, curating, dialogue, expanded sound practice, listening, oral history, performative archive, performativity, sound, sound archive, sculpture, transduction, time-based media, vocality. 2 Acknowledgements My principle thanks go to my supervisors at Kingston University; to Fran Lloyd for her early enthusiasm for this project, for her constant guidance, patience, attention and continuous encouragement throughout; to Chris Horrocks for his enriching conversation and support; and to Robert Knifton for acting as a lucid ‘sounding board’ at the beginning of the research. I also owe a very special thanks to Adrian Glew for making the collaboration with the Tate Archive possible and fruitful, and to Clare Sexton for assisting me in every aspect of the research at the Tate Archive and the organisation of the Show and Tell events. A heartfelt thanks goes to William Furlong for his inspiring and ongoing conversation about Audio Arts and to Violet Furlong for her invaluable insight and hospitality. A very special thanks must also go to Michael Archer, Mel Gooding, Bruce McLean and Jean Wainwright for sharing their knowledge, experience, humour and the many stories about their collaboration with Audio Arts. I am grateful for the convivial exchange and insight of a number of artists I have approached in the course of my research: Edward Dorrian, Ana Čavić, Esi Eshun and John Hughes for their contributions at the workshop at Five Years; to Adam Bohman, Anthony Howell, Maria Kheirkhah and Richard Quarrell for their extemporary contributions on the occasion of the Show and Tell at Tate. A very special thanks to Brandon LaBelle, Marsha Bradfield and Allen S. Weiss for their encouragement at the inception of the project and for making my initial proposal workable. Thanks to the staff and PhD students at Kingston University who provided one to one training, mentoring and technical support in the past three years in particular to Simon Josebury for the design of the posters; to Stella Bottai for hosting the sound seminar at the Stanley Picker Gallery; to Andrew Belsham for the audio recordings; to Mireille Fauchon for sharing and discussing ideas about feminist methodologies in the archive. Thanks also to Janet Desaulles for training in professional writing; to Anne Pfautsch for the mentoring in the first year; to Chris Manning and Nicola Sallis for library training and resources; to Katie Giles for training on archives for research; to Helen Gordon, Equality Enterprise tutor and Will Moorey for computer and software training. Thanks also to the CARC and CSCI fellows for providing a stimulating ground for discussions. A number of people have also been kind in providing extra technical and practical support. I would like to thank Nicola Chemotti for providing supplementary design, David Cunningham for supplementary audio editing, Annalisa Sonzogni for the 3 photographic documentation of the Show and Tell events, Anna Teresa Scheer for German translations; Allison Foster for initial insight into the Tate Archive; Matthew Lloyd for co- ordinating the technical setting up during the events at Tate; to Cathy Courtney for her insight into the Artists’ Lives project at The British Library. And last, but not least to Gabriel Coxhead for making the encounter and exchange with Susan Hiller possible. During the research I had the exciting opportunity to present and discuss work in progress at a number of conferences and seminars. So I would very much like to thank: Chiara Barbieri and Rujana Rebernjak for the invitation to the Unpacking the Archive - Methodologies and Challenges in Design History conference (Royal College of Art); Robert Knifton and Alison Slater for the invitation to the Life on the Outskirts Symposium - Inspirations and Interventions in Small Creative Archives (Manchester Metropolitan University); John Wynne for the invitation to the London College of Communication Sound Arts Visiting Practitioners Series; Barbara Mahlknecht and Kristen Kreider for the invitation to the Activating the Archive- Artists, Politics Feminists Viewpoints conference (Goldsmiths College); and Laura Plana Gracia (Laura Netz) for the invitation to the Sonic Electronics Festival at Iklectik. I wish to thank the Paul Mellon Centre for the invitation to present at their research lunch seminar series and Donald Hyslop and Resonance FM for their invitation to the Art on Air live broadcast at Tate Modern. Another special thanks goes to Jennifer Thatcher for the fruitful exchange and for being a brilliant co-convenor of the session The Artist Interview an Interdisciplinary Approach to its History, Process and Dissemination that we presented together in Brighton in April 2019. I would like to acknowledge the Association for Art History for hosting this session at their annual conference and also thanks to Richard Woodfield, editor of the Journal of Art Historiography, for his interest in publishing the results from our session at the conference. During the second year of this research I faced two big losses in my family. While writing the thesis proved to be an excellent counterbalance to these unforeseen circumstances, the love and care of my dear friends Jude Bloomfield, Osvaldo Maffei, Daniela Pizzini, Anna Sherbany, Cherry Smyth, Jon Souleiman and Derek Stimpson allowed me to get through. A big thanks must also go to my friends of the PWB collective who always make me feel we are a solid, extended family. A heartfelt thanks goes finally to Sandy Plummer at CARIS for her kindness and her therapeutic listening. Lastly, my profound gratitude goes to my partner Richard Crow, for his love, endurance, infinite patience and support while I have been putting this thesis together. 4 This thesis is in memory of Bianca Losi, my mother, Dario Farinati, my brother, and the artist Susan Hiller. 5 Table of Contents Volume 1 Introduction 9 i. Aim and Objectives of the Thesis 9 ii. Literature on Audio Arts 11 iii. Introduction to the Inventory Space 14 iv. Introduction to the Oral History of Audio Arts 14 v. Introduction to the Imagined Space: Activating the Audio Arts Archive 17 vi. The Notion of Performativity 23 vii. Performative Affective Archives 28 viii. Performativity in Audio Arts 37 Editorial Note 40 PART I: THE INVENTORY SPACE Chapter 1. The Wider Historical Context 41 1.1 Inception of Audio Arts 41 1.2 Sound Poetry, Experimental Music and Sound by Artists 47 1.3 Sculpture towards Performance 54 1.4 The Magazine as Alternative Space 66 Chapter 2. Activities and Recordings of Audio Arts 73 2.1 Introduction to the Activities of Audio Arts 73 2.2 Publishing, Curating, Exhibiting, Academic/Educational Activity 76 2.3. The Material Production of Audio Arts Volumes and Supplements 88 2.4 Finance and Distribution of the Magazine 91 2.5 The Editorial Team 93 2.6 Recordings Typologies 98 2.7 Audio Arts as a Collaborative Project 113 Chapter 3. The Oral History of Audio Arts 119 (see enclosed audio files) 3.1 William Furlong: Conversations and Interviews by Lucia Farinati (38:09 mins) 6 3.2 The Voices of Audio Arts Collaborators: Michael Archer, Violet Barrett, Mel Gooding, Bruce McLean and Jean Wainwright Interviewed by Lucia Farinati (64:02 mins) PART II: THE IMAGINED SPACE Chapter 4. Activating Audio Arts Archive: From Inventory Space to Imagined Space Theoretical framework 120 4.1 Introduction 120 4.2 Inventory Space 121 4.3 Imagined Space 125 4.4 A Sympathetic Listener 130 4.5 Listening to the Archive: Playback, Transduction and Re-enactment 132 4.6 Listening within the Archive: Active Listening and Activated Spectatorship 137 Chapter 5.