Thesis
Yoni Listening: Acoustic Explorations of the Vagina
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Master of Creative Arts, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00822
Abstract
The term yoni is a Sanskrit word to describe the female anatomy and can be translated to mean sacred space. ‘This is a term used to bring more honour and reverence to a woman’s womb and genitalia’ (Anna-Thea, 2020). There is a relative misrepresentation of the vagina in society that is largely governed by graphical representation and dominated by the visual gaze.
Yoni Listening is a unique way of experiencing the female landscape – the vagina. This creative practice-based research includes the creation of audio-visual recordings and durational soundscapes from within my vaginal canal, accompanied by a supporting exegesis, and smartphone application extending on my visual art practice. The intention of my research is to help all vaginas feel sacred again, by developing a portfolio of participatory contemporary artwork and promoting awareness, engagement, and discussion. Focusing the gaze inward in line with the reflective, receptive female archetype and shifting the ‘listening point from the ears to the tissues of the body’ (Ouzounian, 2006, p. 70). Yoni Listening is uniquely positioned in the fields of art, feminist studies, wellbeing and technology and presents new creative contributions to knowledge in these fields. My methodology involves listening to and recording my vagina over a menstrual cycle, using a hydrophone, which is a microphone traditionally used for recording sound underwater. Then, using this audio data with autoethnographic and practice-based processes to compose soundscapes, reflective writing, drawing, painting and poetry.
The creative artefacts from this embodied research are intended to shift perceptions in audiences, surpassing the limits of the visual gaze and language, using sound which has a distinct ability and a ‘unique kind of access to people’s consciousness’ (Wilson, 2002, p. 408). The project is designed to develop an alternative way of studying the vagina, not from a medical or observational perspective, but from a creative one. The goal of this research is to encourage education and respect for all phases of the vagina, assisting people to treat the yoni as a sacred space through listening.
Details
- Title
- Yoni Listening: Acoustic Explorations of the Vagina
- Authors
- Zoe Martin - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Business and Creative Industries
- Contributors
- Leah Barclay (Supervisor) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre - LegacyHannah Joyce Banks (Supervisor) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Business and Creative Industries
- Awarding institution
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Degree awarded
- Master of Creative Arts
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- DOI
- 10.25907/00822
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries; Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991001298702621
- Output Type
- Thesis
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