Why there is no sound on this website?
What interests me as a sound artist are the many paradoxes of sound.
When we hear sounds in everyday life we tend to hear sounds as events not as sounds per se. Then again when we listen to music we concentrate on sound structures and on the sensory qualities of the sounds themselves.
In my own work I try to walk the thin line between sounds and events. I try to to create situations, edit and mix sounds and construct installations so that neither indexical event qualities nor sensual sound qualities of the work get lost.
In my work I have found out that listeners link recording media like cd´s very strongly to music. Connection is so strong that it is almost impossible not to listen sound on cd´s as composed music!
I have learned that when my work is listened as if it were music many of its qualities usually disappear or get misunderstood. This propably is due to the fact that while music traditionally values context-independance – sound arts are very context-absorbent.
All the same to safeguard my work from unnescessary misconceptions I have decided not to document my work on audio recording media.
Simo Alitalo 