ART SEMINAR GROUP WEBINAR - ONLINE PROGRAM THROUGH ZOOM

From Sound in the Arts to "Sound Art"

Meredith Mowder, Ph.D., independent scholar

While the term “sound art” only came into being in the 1980s, sound in the visual arts has a far longer history, ranging from Modernist experiments with synesthesia to the avant-garde exploits of Dada and Futurism. Sound art also has a distinctly musical heritage, emerging from the compositional experiments of John Cage, Tony Conrad, La Monte Young, Maryanne Amacher, and Pauline Oliveros, among others. This lecture will trace a brief history of sound in the arts in the 20th century from the historical avant-garde to the present. We will listen to landmark recordings in this history and discuss why, even today, the term “sound art” remains elusive.

$15 door fee for guests and subscribers (no fee for members)