Material Media Sonification: Sounding the visibly present artefact

Abstract

The fields of media archaeology and data sonification have not been without contestation regarding means and methods. However, in combination, these fields present an opportunity for a novel approach to the creation of media archaeologically informed sound-based art. This article discusses the artistic use of data sonification techniques and the need to balance the musification of data while maintaining a sense of the underlying data. The use of data sonification techniques within media archaeology to facilitate the organisation of sound is briefly discussed. A framework is presented for utilising data sonification to facilitate the organisation of sound within the lens of media archaeology inquiry. Such an approach provides a novel method in media archaeologically informed sound-based art that utilises the sound of the artefact as a method of expression between genealogically related forms of media. A sound installation developed by the authors is presented that critically examines the use of, and gives concrete form to, the framework and the ideas established in this article.