Performing the Sonic Crucible Is a ‘new materialist’ investigation of singing bowls that critiques new age narratives, while exploring the ‘spiritual’ potential of inter-cultural material-led collaborations.
Research Background Crystal singing bowls, along with their better known counterparts – Tibetan singing bowls – are a staple of New Age spiritualism, and popularly understood to be rooted in sacred sonic traditions dating back millennia. These assumed origins do not stand up to closer scrutiny, and as musical instruments these artefacts are in fact products of computer manufacturing industry and the tourism industry respectively. Performing the Sonic Crucible is a Post-Derridian investigation of singing bowls that critiques new age narratives, while exploring the ‘spiritual’ potential of inter-cultural material-led collaborations. This original creative work is simultaneously an interactive media kinetic sculpture and live audio-visual performance. Research Contribution This project questioned whether a new materialist approach could separate the false histories from inherent sonic contingencies of the materials themselves. New materialism “takes seriously the idea that all matter is agential” (Schneider, 2015:7). This work is the culmination of a year-long iterative process of interdisciplinary dialogue between techno-sculptural practices and live audio-visual performance. It extends other investigations into mechatronically activated singing bowls such as Garth Paine’s Oscillations, focussing on the overall resonant possibilities of the human-mechanical-material assemblage. By presenting new ways these bowls can be considered instruments beyond the strictures of new age beliefs, it has explored their sonic investigation as a path to immanent spiritual experience (Smith, 2003). Research Significance This work was selected by peer review for inclusion in ElectroMuse: the 2023 Australasian Computer Music Conference. This is the premiere national conference for research on new directions in experimental sound performance and interactive media. The piece was nominated for an award of best work.Musical performance
Sonic Crucible: a new materialist exploration of the quartz singing bowl
Australasian Computer Music Conference, 2023 (Sydney, Australia, 09-Oct-2023–11-Oct-2023)
2023
Appears in NTRO Research Collection
Abstract
Details
- Title
- Sonic Crucible: a new materialist exploration of the quartz singing bowl
- Authors
- Jordan Lacey (Designer) - RMIT UniversityToby Gifford (Designer) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Business and Creative Industries
- Conference details
- Australasian Computer Music Conference, 2023 (Sydney, Australia, 09-Oct-2023–11-Oct-2023)
- Date published
- 2023
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991009398502621
- Output Type
- Musical performance
- NTRO Classification
- NT2
Metrics
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