Author Identifier

Sze Tsang

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1766-5036

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

School

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)

First Supervisor

Stuart James

Second Supervisor

Jonathan W. Marshall

Abstract

Incorporating aural and visual elements of a place in a composition serves as a powerful way of exploring the intersection of time, history and geography associated with a location. The combination of these elements acts as an invitation for deeper engagement by offering multiple perspectives of place. One way of exploring these intersections is through incorporating aspects of place—in the form of field recordings, field footage and cartographical information—into audio and audio-visual work, where spatial and physical information can be situated as a way of representing an individual’s surroundings and subjective realities of place. This practice-led exegesis aims to explore how sound and visual elements can combine and resonate with each other, and how such a practice can highlight the connections between artist and place. As part of this exploration, this exegesis discusses a portfolio of works (submitted as part of the examinable thesis) highlighting the connections between artist, history and place, and how these aspects can inform the creation of new work. Methods explored include framing personal and sono-environmental reflections in terms of looking inwards (as a reflection on the self) and looking outwards (as a reflection on the history, cultural significance and geospatial features of place), composition with original and modified field recordings, sonification of maps using graphical sequencing software, and the creation of audio-visual works that additionally combine field footage and music visualisation. These methods for composition provide a powerful way of highlighting personal associations, emotional catharsis and memories of place, by centring personal experience. Through these methods, this exegesis seeks to demonstrate a number of strategies to show how the ephemerality of sound reflects the ephemerality of being, and the fragility inherent in any relationship with place.

DOI

10.25958/y35t-2940

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