Listening for Noise, Sounding Out Silence: Latinidad as Aural Dissonance
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This creative thesis is devoted to exploring the sonic qualities of Latinx identity through an interdisciplinary approach that lies at the intersection of sound art, sound studies, and art history. The creative component of this thesis—a sound art piece composed of vernacular sounds, silences, and noises recorded in the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Miami—serves as a rich, varied, and contradictory repertoire, what I call a dissonant soundtrack of Latinx identity. The sounds are united in their vernacularity; they are stories mentioned offhandedly, music played unconsciously, noises often rendered inaudible. These pages complement the soundtrack by providing a kind of guided listening, a meditation on the creation and affect of the work. I structure this critical artist statement as “tracks” that situate the project within the context of larger bodies of knowledge and creative practices. Each track explores key sonic metaphors that imbue the soundtrack with meaning. I argue that these metaphors provide a unique epistemological standpoint from which to investigate Latinx identity; specifically, that understanding Latinx identity through the critical lens of dissonance—as something unfinished, undone, unknown, and in constant motion—allows for the creative reimagination of its terrain. In giving up the prospect of finding sonority in Latinx identity, I clear the way to listen for noises and silences, spaces from which I seek to renegotiate notions of belonging, history, and place. Ultimately, this project urges audiences to fully listen, to understand and search for that which has created and sustained the inaudibility of marginal Latinx narratives.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | June 28, 2018 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Velez Rico, Bernardo |
|---|---|
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, CSRE |
| Primary advisor | Rosa, Jonathan |
| Advisor | Hernandez-Clarke, Gina |
Subjects
| Subject | Latinidad |
|---|---|
| Subject | sound |
| Subject | panethnicity |
| Subject | art |
| Subject | Stanford University Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Velez Rico, Bernardo. (2018). Listening for Noise, Sounding Out Silence: Latinidad as Aural Dissonance. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/fj805nx0767
Collection
Stanford University, Program in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Honors Theses
View other items in this collection in SearchWorksContact information
- Contact
- bvelez7@gmail.com
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...