For this week of the course, we focused primarily on Acoustic Architectures, while reading through Kahn’s chapter Significant Noises and Collins’ chapter Listening. In Kahn’s portion of the text, we immediate read a quote that sets the tone for the reading: “Flaws and imperfections are part of this total desired look” (Kahn, 20). As he continues to note, noise can be chaotic and violent, they can be transgression and generative. Importantly, he notes that noise itself has been the most counterproductive and emphatic sounds throughout modernism.

To me, what I found to be the most interesting in Kahn’s text was the discussion of heightened listening during the modernist era. Specifically, he mentions war and the fact that we, as humans, have an inability to see what is going on in the battlefield around us. For soldiers, these moments are filled with adrenaline and sightless abilities; instead, they have to rely heavily on their hearing senses. In these situations, violent, turbulent, and loud noises become the essence of war — the defining characteristic of anger and animosity.

Kahn’s description of the progress of hearing throughout the modern era made me wonder — where do I fit into this heightened sense of hearing movement? To me, I believe that noises influence me in a number of ways. The noises of New York, for example, were very difficult for me to handle as I am from Dallas where the nights are quieter and more pleasant. For some in our class (as we discussed), the noises of New York are associated with pleasant living and relaxation. Before the modern era, the bustling noises of the city were not prevalent — this development has infiltrated itself into the ears and into the lives of humanity, as Kahn helps us understand.

Later, in the Collins reading, we learn about the process of creating circuits and using radios to “eavesdrop on hidden electromagnetic music.” The most interesting portion of this reading was the discussion of Alvin Lucier’s Sferics (1980), in which he records the electromagnetic movements in the Earth’s ionosphere, where there were “tweaks”, “bonks,” and “swishes.” I found this to be particularly interesting in that he brings the sounds of our atmosphere into a tangible noise in front of our ears. Through Collins’ piece, we better understand the process of transferring electromagnetic movements into sound, a development that is very interesting.

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In regards to acoustic architectures, I found Maryanne Amacher’s pieces to be very interesting. In particular, her piece City Links: Buffalo (1967) was a 28-hour piece that incorporated five microphones from around the city of Buffalo. These recordings were then broadcast through the cities local radio station. The piece is interesting as it connects the living environments of the city to the radio, which flows throughout the city — in offices, cars, houses, and so on. Further, she and a colleague John Cage produced a piece titled Lecture on the Weather in which they recorded twelve men reading Henry David Thoreau’s writing in Walden. Through these readings, they relate the words to inclement weather, to portray a political piece showing the direction they believed America to be heading on the nation’s 200th anniversary. Through these works that utilize acoustic architecture, it is clear that we can derive powerful meaning even from simple electromagnetic recordings.

I also found Bill Viola’s work to be quite interesting. As an artist that focuses heavily on sound environments and electronic music performances, I found his work to be particularly relevant to this section of the course. Specifically, I enjoyed his piece Electronic Renaissance, which places the listener into a beautiful mix of space, music and sound. This piece combines his love of his original home of Florence and the art that is present there. It combines the unique viewer experiences of these pieces with the powerful sounds that he associates with them, taking the listener/viewer into his own world — one in which many believe to be one of the his most profound pieces.

Overall, I found this section of the course to be great in fully understanding the importance of a sound environment and the acoustics that go into each piece. From the Kahn and Collins readings to the sound art pieces that we observed, there was an immense amount to learn and take with us going forward.