Research Catalogue

The exposition provides access and insight into a fascinating artistic project in which three sound artists accompanied by a project leader/collaborator/responder explore the German town of Mülheim an der Ruhr through sound recordings, installations, and interventions, and above all through the personal, experiential engagement with the urban soundscape as mediated by their artistic practices. The project management and methods are of particular interest, with the project specifically established as a research project, and the processes of exploration, investigation, and reflection becoming the ‘artistic work’ themselves, rather than just a means for producing a final artistic product. But perhaps of most significance is the mode of presentation of the exposition itself, and the manner in which the authors have addressed the difficult task of presenting and providing access to such ephemeral materials as site- and time-specific artistic process, action, and experience. This is achieved through the use of high-quality photographs, audio, video, and a diversity of writing styles ranging from diary notes to formal discourse, all of which powerfully communicate the artistic investigations, and more importantly the artistic experiences of the participants in their specific time and place. As readers/listeners/viewers our understanding and mediated experience of the place, time, and people of Mülheim an der Ruhr are transformed.

Sonozones  is a  very interesting triangulation of sound art at the intersection with music, a very timely and revealing approach to both working with sound and its documentation. It generously explores the specifics of place in its physical and social connotations from complementary artistic perspectives , through personal reflections of process. Each of these sections, embedded in a contextual framework, contributes a different flavour to the overall impression of the project. As a result the exposition may serve as an example of in-depth project documentation that incorporates portrayal and analysis without loosing touch with process. This, in my view, is very valuable as it strengthens the artistic voice within discourse.