dis/cord : Thinking Sound through Agential Realism
ACPA alumnus Kevin Toksöz Fairbairn has just published a new book at Punctum Books - dis/cord: Thinking Sound through Agential Realism.
dis/cord is an experiment in reading sound. Embarking from Karen Barad’s early work on agential realism, it diffracts quantum physics through sound art, finding the sympathetic resonances that allow them to speak together. dis/cord believes in the materialism of sound, and strives not to understand it, but to become entangled with it. It asserts that impartial observation is impossible and understands immersion as a participatory and collaborative act. Sound art pieces provide the backdrop for a series of reflections on space, time, and matter. They trace the “marks on bodies” that sound leaves behind in its ephemeral vibration, finding new forms of sensation and interpretation through the pain and hearing loss that a life devoted to sound can cause.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Toksöz Fairbairn is a sound artist and musician working around the edges of installation, improvisation, composition, and craftsmanship. He publishes about sound studies, artistic research, and musicology, and has given masterclasses and lectures throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. He is an accomplished instrument builder and performs on a variety of instruments of his own design and construction. In 2020 Toksöz Fairbairn graduated cum laude on his doctorate thesis Poiesis and the Performance Practice of Physically Polyphonic Notations at ACPA.
More information can be found on the website of Punctum Books.