The human voice is significant to culture and communication and its agency differs across the heterogeneous discourses within which it is listened to and produced. This thesis assesses what the voice does in Fine Art practice where it is under-theorised but often used by artists. The research questions are: how does a voice register as a material and an object (physical material presence), rather than equating only to the subject who produces it? And how can an artist produce a direct address with their voice? The thesis examines the nature of direct vocal address in Fine Art practice with the installation Trialogue (2013) and with the discussion of case studies that privilege the voice. Trialogue uses three screens to emphasise the action of voices and vocal genres. Four single screen video works are played over three screens during which the audience hears a jazz singer, children and my voice. We are familiar with our voices presenting our selves, but in Fine Art practice the voice is reproduced, and behaves as a material and object. Artworks and theories divide around the reduction and parameters of voice as production of a human subject and as an object in the material world. Therefore the voice is described with a combination of phenomenological, psychoanalytical and cultural theories. The thesis critically examines theories of Dolar (2006), Ihde (2007), Sperber and Wilson (1995), and Bakhtin (1986) in relation to the phenomenon of the voice in Fine Art practice. The thesis describes how the genre, physical space, consequences of reproduction, and action of listening are emphasised by critical Fine Art practice. Bakhtin describes all utterance as having a genre, and phenomenological theories relate voice to perceptual hierarchy and its relationship with the visual realm. The voice is described as a partial object in psychoanalytical theory. The idea of palimpsest is used as a partial space to situate the object voice. The chapters theorise the voice in Fine Art practice as: object and reproduction; the relationship voices have with images in moving image art practice; and the voice and self.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:608315 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Couzins, Richard |
| Publisher | University of Brighton |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/43e6e0bf-6b83-4b78-a232-0dbbed6c3c41 |
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