Rumour and Radiation: Sound in Video Art

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This is a book about video art, and about sound art. The thesis is that sound first entered the gallery via the video art of the 1960s and in so doing, created an unexpected noise. The early part of the book looks at this formative period and the key figures within it - then jumps to the mid-1990s, when video art has become such a major part of contemporary art production, it no longer seems an autonomous form. Paul Hegarty considers the work of a range of artists (including Steve McQueen, Christian Marclay, Ryan Trecartin, and Jane and Louise Wilson), proposing different theories according to the particular strategy of the artist under discussion. Connecting them all are the twinned ideas of intermedia and synaesthesia. Hegarty offers close readings of video works, as influenced by their sound, while also considering the institutional and material contexts. Applying contemporary sound theory to the world of video art, Paul Hegarty offers an entirely fresh perspective on the interactions between sound, sound art, and the visual.

Reviews

In Rumour and Radiation, Paul Hegarty provides novel insight into and strong evidence of the audiovisual nature of video arts as it turns out to play a key role in contemporary crossmedia practices. His arguments are convincing: that sound and image in video are different yet connected to each other. His many examples are fascinating, particularly the importance of sounds in the creation of spatial effects in video works where the artists, like Bruce Nauman, Jane and Louise Wilson, Christian Marclay, or Ryoji Ikeda, explore materials and perceptions across usual borders. With this study, Hegarty challenges our understanding of hearing and seeing and gives us a comprehensive account of intermedial and synaesthetic exchanges in the artistic practices of sound and visual materials. From video installations in the nineties to large scale projections and datastreaming of encoded information in today's expanded media environments, the book's discoursive approach brilliantly bridges the gap between sound and visual studies. This work is an illuminating source that sets a new tone for readjustments and critical engagement with multi-sensorial processes in our still predominantly 'visually' conceived culture. * Yvonne Spielmann, Dean of Faculty of Fine Arts, Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore, author of Video. The Reflexive Medium (2008) and Hybrid Culture (2013) *

Author Bio

Paul Hegarty teaches Philosophy and Visual Culture at University College Cork, in Ireland. He is the author of Noise/Music (Continuum, 2007). He jointly runs the experimental record label dotdotdotmusic, and performs in the noise bands Safe and La Socit des Amis du Crime.