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Event 3 Blog Post: "The Science and Art of Sound"


Event 3: Art, Science, Technology and Sound

Hamdan's Sound Waves (Hammer Museum)

The event I attended was an exhibition at Hammer Museum that showed the works of the artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan. According to Hammer Museum, Hamdan began this project in 2016. His project was an “acoustic investigation” of a military prison in Syria. This prison was unlike any ordinary prison, as it was known to be inaccessible to monitors and observers due to its conditions of leaving most detainees in complete darkness. Thus, Hamdan initiated his “ear witness” interviews to try to rebuild the conditions of the prison simply through the acoustic (sound) memories of the notorious prison’s former detainees. Hamdan incorporated sound-wave mapping technology to measure the sounds, ultimately reconstructing the sounds and acoustic leakage into visual form. Hammer Museum described his work as a way in which “sound becomes sight and sight becomes sound” (Hammer Museum). 
Syrian Prison (Amnesty International)

Although this project is different from many projects / artworks we’ve looked at throughout the Desma 9 course, I felt that the project embodied a very important concept that is undervalued: Art can be approached in unexpected forms, yet still convey an important message to and incite emotions in people. Additionally, Hamdan’s work impressively demonstrates his ability to utilize technology to convert a scientific concept (sound waves) into a work of visual art. Not many times can a bunch of lines be aesthetically powerful and convey a message that gives ultimate meaning to the artist’s work. 
Sound Waves of Syrian Prison (Daniel Yi)

According to Biology and Neuroscience Professor, Dave Featherstone, art and science are innately the same thing. Both subjects attempt to recreate or understand the world around us to further human understanding of the world. He claimed that the difference in two subjects simply revolves around the fact that scientists seek to find new ways to view our world, whereas artists seek to communicate this new perspective. Likewise, Hamdan is an artist who had a mission to communicate a new way of “seeing” the world, with sounds.

The concept of sound being used as art is not a new one, as the term “Sound Art”, coined in 1983, was believed to show connections with various historical art-movements (Art History). However, this new form of art did take major turns after the introduction of digital technology (Tate). With the radical transformation that took place through digital technology, Artists were able to be express creativity through various mediums of sound, one example being the creation of visual images in response to sounds (Tate). 

One of many examples of sound being used as a form of art can be seen by Cymatics. Cymatics, the study of sound and vibrations being made visible, has existed for over a millennium as traces of its provenance can be seen in African tribes dated more than a thousand years ago (Cymascope). This scientific study has been further used by many notable artists, including Da Vinci and Galileo, as a way to understand how sound can be seen visually. It is important to note that this scientific study was able to be transformed as a way of artistic expression only because of the prevalence of technological instruments, such as the Chladni Plate or Cymascope, that were used to make visible the inherent geometries that existed within sounds (Cymascope).

Sound and Art (PDC711)
As shown, Hamdan’s acoustic project reveals how science, technology, and art are inseparable concepts. Without science, humans would not have the base knowledge needed to know of these perspectives. Without technology, these scientific concepts would not have been readily transferable to works of art. Lastly without art, these concepts would not be recognized and understood by people today. 







Proof of Attendance (Event Photos)
 

Works Cited
Art History. “Sound Art.” ArtHistory.net, Bitter Soup, www.arthistory.net/sound-art/.
Cymascope. “Home of the Cymatics.” CymaScope, Sonic Age America, www.cymascope.com/cyma_research/history.html.
Featherstone, Dave. “Why Art And Science Are More Closely Related Than You Think.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Mar. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/03/16/why-art-and-science-are-more-closely-related-than-you-think/.
“Hammer Projects: Lawrence Abu Hamdan - Hammer Museum.” The Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, 18 Dec. 2017, hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2018/hammer-projects-lawrence-abu-hamdan/#gallery_f9e08cf42a01ec51411954d37aec994ef06249be.

Photos / Videos Cited
Amnesty International. “Syrian Prison.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2017, www.newsweek.com/syria-torture-chamber-un-567438.
Hamdan, Lawrence Abu. “ Saydnaya (Ray Traces).” Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, 2017, hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2018/hammer-projects-lawrence-abu-hamdan/#gallery_6d3f213409f64c67b09676afff433de01497dc58.
PDC711. “Sound Waves.” Art of the MOOC, Wordpress, 11 Apr. 2018, artofthemooc.org/wiki/sound-art/.
Sound Waves of Syrian Prison. 16 May 2018.

Bibliography
Amnesty International. “Syrian Prison.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2017, www.newsweek.com/syria-torture-chamber-un-567438.
Art History. “Sound Art.” ArtHistory.net, Bitter Soup, www.arthistory.net/sound-art/.
Cymascope. “Home of the Cymatics.” CymaScope, Sonic Age America, www.cymascope.com/cyma_research/history.html.
Featherstone, Dave. “Why Art And Science Are More Closely Related Than You Think.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 16 Mar. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/03/16/why-art-and-science-are-more-closely-related-than-you-think/.
Hamdan, Lawrence Abu. “ Saydnaya (Ray Traces).” Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, 2017, hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2018/hammer-projects-lawrence-abu-hamdan/#gallery_6d3f213409f64c67b09676afff433de01497dc58.
“Hammer Projects: Lawrence Abu Hamdan - Hammer Museum.” The Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, 18 Dec. 2017, hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2018/hammer-projects-lawrence-abu-hamdan/#gallery_f9e08cf42a01ec51411954d37aec994ef06249be.
PDC711. “Sound Waves.” Art of the MOOC, Wordpress, 11 Apr. 2018, artofthemooc.org/wiki/sound-art/.
Sound Waves of Syrian Prison. 16 May 2018.

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