Sound and visual media
This assignment asks you to consider how the cultural disruptions of the COVID-19 global
pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns have influenced the way we HEAR visual cultural
activities. Many public cultural activities we used to take for granted, such as going to the
movies and the theater, watching sporting events in bars and pubs, and going to the events
themselves, were severely curtailed over the past two years. This has had a direct, if not
necessarily clear, impact on how we experience the sonic contexts of these activities.
This short paper will critically examine, analyze and assess the acoustic context of a
chosen cultural work. This could be a gallery exhibition of visual art, a popular (or not so
popular) TV show, a night out at the cinema, or a public art installation. Pay particular
attention to the spatial context of where your visual experience is taking place and
consider how the sound of this space is influencing or inflecting your overall media
experience. The idea is to have you pay attention to, and critically consider, the sonic
conditions that are often rendered as secondary to the visual aspects of cultural experience.
What are the dynamics of noise, silence and music at play in the visual cultural experience
you’ve chosen to examine? What sort of listening practices are encouraged? Since Western
culture, and Western cultural activity, is so heavily biased towards visual media and forms
of engagement, the idea behind this assignment is to have you pay attention to the aspects
of aural experience that are typically forgotten, ignored or go unconsidered.
This assignment asks you base your reflection on a recent personal media experience, so
you are expected to write about something you have actually done during this term. By
writing about an experience you intentionally go out and have this term you will go into
that experience actually listening for things. In other words, do NOT simply reflect back on
an experience you may have had previously. Use this assignment as an opportunity to get
out into the world and experience something. Of course, be safe, physically distance, and
follow all COVID-19 protocols!
This assignment takes the idea of “cultural work” in a rather narrow sense, and as such is
not intended to cover “everyday” types of cultural experiences such as sitting in coffee
shops, shopping malls, or public transit.
Some key questions to keep in mind:
NOTE: this is NOT a list of questions designed for you to answer individually and
completely. Some questions might not be applicable to your own event experience
What is the event you’re writing about? (clearly identify it)
Where and when did the event take place? Why might the space your experience is
taking place sound the way it does? is there something about the specific time your
event is happening that lends to its particular aurality?
Now that the lockdowns associated with COVID have generally been lifted here in
Toronto, how are you experiencing the sound of visual events? Did you do
anything similar during the COVID lockdowns? What was the aural context of that
event like under those conditions? (Earlier version: Describe and analyze the aural
context the event/work/etc. is embedded in.) This means that you are not to focus
on the sound that is actually part of the work (although this shouldn’t be
completely ignored) or event you are exploring (e.g. a movie or TV show
soundtrack, the music of the musical performance, etc.) but to pay more attention
to the sounds that surround the event (e.g. the sound of the audience, the sound
of the space itself, etc.).
What would the gallery/theater/cinema/public space sound like before, during or
after a visual art exhibition/play/movie/experience?)
Are there related cultural or artistic practices that your event/artwork/etc. that might
relate to or somehow inform the nature of its aurality?
Are there historical practices, or shifts in historical practices, which might inform
the aurality of this experience?
What are the social or cultural norms that help produce the ideas of silence, noise
or music that might be in play? How does the expected or intended experience of
your chosen subject implicitly draw upon these norms? Does it challenge them in
any way?
New question: Has the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the way you hear or experience of this event? Do you recall your pre-pandemic experiences of similar events?
Using Research
This assignment asks you to do a critical reflection of a media experience. Hence while
your own observations will form the core of your work, you must critically contextualize
and support them with appropriate scholarly work. This is essential if you are to turn your
own opinions of what you heard into a rigorous analysis of your experience. You should
draw upon AT LEAST THREE scholarly sources for your assignment. These sources should
be applied in a way that illustrates and adds depth to the observations you’re reporting on
in your paper.
DIGITAL PROJECT OPTION
Instead of a traditional written assignment, students may choose to submit a 3 to 5min
digital media work (e.g., audio podcast, video/VLOG, media slideshow, etc.) instead. This
project must engage the substantive content requirements of the assignment in the same
way as a written report. It must have a general thesis and a sound and logical
organizational structure, and must make use of scholarly research to critically
contextualize its observations. Digital media, though, offers you a wide range of creative
ways to make your point, and that’s what this option is all about.
If you choose this option, discuss your ideas and proposed format with me beforehand.