Alan Licht

Update 13 Nov 2012: I attended a show that featured Bonnie Prince Billy and I wrote about it here:

http://hub.me/aerUX

One of the most interesting interviews I have ever read. I wish it hadn't ended. And I wish I could do this book more justice by writing a better review. But for now this must do. Too engaged with other things such as D. H. Lawrence who is wearing me out. (In a good way.)

Some news about BPB found here:
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/now-playing-the-world-premiere-of-...

And be sure to watch the new video of "I See a Darkness":
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/05/07/t-magazine/100000001532212/i-see-a-dar...… (plus d'informations)

I can't quite decide what to make of this book. It's a good thing to see a discursive, wide-ranging book on sound art that covers both its practitioners, history, and context. This is a welcome departure from most of the previous books on the subject (Interviews with Sound Artists, Sound by Artists, Site of Sound, Sonic Boom etc) which are essentially compendia of artists' texts or interviews.

Licht tackles his subject under three main headings: What is sound art?; Environment and soundscapes; and Sound and the art world. Much of the book talks around sound art without ever reaching a happy definition, illustrating by example rather than offering a chronology or clear logic. That makes it pleasant enough to read, but very difficult to refer to afterwards. There is a useful section offering potted biographies for 31 sound artists, which is helpful but raises as many questions as it answers: why are several people featured clearly musicians rather than artists, for example? In this respect, it reflects the lack of clarity of the rest of the book.

So while you will read about key sound artists like Christina Kubisch or Max Neuhaus, there's also plenty here about the experimental music fringe, No Wave bands or musique concrete composers. That's all very interesting but seems to detract from the key focus of the book. There are also several omissions (Peter Appleton, Gottfried Willem Raes, Philip Jeck, Disinformation etc) which betray a definite Americocentrism.

One of the best things about the book is the inclusion of numerous well-reproduced photos of installations and sound art events - these are excellent and almost enough on their own to justify the book's publication.

I did enjoy the book - I learnt much that was new and the unwillingness to limit itself to any one approach to sound art allows unpredictable connections to juxtapose and coalesce. But this is not the definitive book on the subject and there's plenty more to be said yet.… (plus d'informations)