Sonic Sculpture and the Performative Impulse
14 days return policy
Shipping & Delivery
Product details
- ISBN 9781032465753
- Dimensions: 174 x 246mm
- Publication Date: 20 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
This study considers the performativity of sound-producing sculptures made in the twenty-first century through a cultural history of certain works.
A subfield of the sound art medium, sonic sculpture presents new possibilities in sensory engagement with the viewer, creating a mediated experience for eye and ear. Contextualized within three linking nodes of sonic engagement – sonic sculpture as a socially engaged art, listening to history, and the use of the human body as the material of sonic sculpture itself – each chapter interrogates one or two works by a contemporary artist. These in-depth analyses of the works serve as lenses to the artists’ larger practices and engagements with things that sound. Artists covered include Nick Cave, Kara Walker, Janet Cardiff, George Bures Miller, and Ragnar Kjartansson.
The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, sound studies, musicology, and cultural studies.
Melissa Warak is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Texas at El Paso, USA.
