Undergraduate Course: Voice in the Artwork: A Performing Object (ARTX08078)
Course Outline
School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
Summary | This course explores different uses of voice as a material in the context of artists' moving image, the 'voice object' and sculptural practice, performance and recital works, and research-based works engaged with archives and other discursive approaches, such as interviews and discussions. Addressed across theory and practice, students will examine concepts of voice, experiment with multiple forms of voice and making, and be introduced to the practicalities of working with voice relating to recording, editing and output. |
Course description |
Students will begin by responding to materials they bring an object or collection of objects, film or video clips, drawings or photographs - exploring relationships between these material forms and the immaterial qualities of voice. Thinking about the different forms of voice that these materials could deliver through their formal and material properties, we will also consider how their installation and delivery might 'speak' to the audience.
The students will also record their own voice / sound works in response to these considerations and enquiries, taking into account content, context, and qualities of voice. Experimentation with pre-recorded conversations, overheard exchanges, more formal interviews, and the use of personal archive materials, such as diaries or journal entries that document written and unuttered voices will form the discussion and content around course work.
There will be opportunities for experimentation with installation, bringing together test voice recordings with the objects / materials the students brought to begin the course, including use of pre-recorded conversations, overheard exchanges, or more formal interviews.
Over the course of the semester there will be lectures on the conceptual concerns of the voice in the context of artists' moving image, performance, and visual culture and research. These will raise questions of voice and power, examine whose voices are recorded and contribute to historical and future knowledge (the archive), and question which types of articulated knowledge are considered valuable and commonly the most heard. There will also be a visit and introduction to the School of Scottish Studies ethnographic sound archive.
The course will also deliver practical workshops on voice recording, data transfer, editing software and effects, and exporting media.
The students will develop a personal project responding to chosen elements of voice examined across the theory and practice to produce a work to be delivered / performed / installed / screened by completion of the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Additional Costs | Students are expected to pay for Art Materials and Equipment. Specific materials and equipment costs will vary depending on students individual choice of method of production. |
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites | None |
High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a broad understanding of concepts of voice in research, and interpretations of voice within artworks.
- Demonstrate practical skills in recording, transferring, editing, and exporting sound files.
- Articulate reflective and analytical development of their working methods in response to complex ideas centred on particular aspects of course content.
- Demonstrate understanding through personal research, materials and reflection on the discussion of aspects of the voice in current practice.
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Reading List
READING LIST: (these short introductory texts will be provided as PDFs)
'With Hidden Noise: Sculpture, Video, and Ventriloquism', catalogue essay by Jon Wood, from an exhibition with the same title at the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, 2004.
'An Interview with Anne Charlotte Robertson' by film critic and writer Scott MacDonald. Available in: Anne Charlotte Robertson, catalogue essay from the Anxiety Arts Festival London, 2014.
'Notes On Sound' by filmmaker Robert Bresson, 1985. Available in Film Sound: Theory and Practice (p149), Columbia University Press, edited by E. Weis & J. Belton.
VIEWING LIST - Works from:
John Akomfrah; Imogen Stidworthy; Benedict Drew; Mikhail Karikis; Charlotte Prodger; Laure Prouvost; Cally Spooner; Elmgreen & Dragset; Wendelien van Oldenborg; Anne Charlotte Robertson.
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Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Develop analytical and reflective skills.
Broaden research skills and increase confidence in accessing personal and institutional resources: equipment, archives, collection materials, and students' own personal and family histories and materials.
Develop planning, technical and organizational skills for self motivated projects.
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Keywords | Voice,Artists' Moving Image,Performance,Embodiment,Immateriality,Documentation,Interviews,Archives |
Contacts
Course organiser | Mr Kenneth Hunter
Tel:
Email: k.hunter@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Clara Fraser
Tel: (0131 6)51 4164
Email: clara.fraser@ed.ac.uk |
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