This interdisciplinary research project aims to investigate the possibilities of 'aural cinema'. John Zorn introduced this term in his 'liner notes' with the release of Godard / Spillane. In order to evoke visual associations, he went in search of musical techniques that were indebted to the format, structure and techniques of film. The term aural cinema was a reference to the better known concept of visual music. Art critic Roger Fry launched this term to describe the work of Kandinsky and to put the translation of music into painting into words. The futurists used the same term for their 'musical' film experiments. Many abstract filmmakers have explored this concept under the name visual music.
Despite the abundance of information and scientific publications on the subject of visual music, little or no attempt was made to investigate the working mechanisms of aural cinema. The latter is rather an amalgam of divergent artistic efforts without a solid practical and theoretical basis. This research project aims to dig deeper into the hardly explored domain of aural cinema by investigating the relationship between sound and image in experimental film and music.
Promoter: Els Smedts
