Sculpted Ear: Aurality and Statuary in the West

The Sculpted Ear explores the complex relationship between sound and statuary in Western aesthetic thought, arguing that sounding statues are best thought of as events heard by people and conceptualized into being through acts of writing and performance. It traces the history of sounding statues from ancient times to the present, including examples such as Laocoön, Tipus Tiger, and the Commendatore in Mozarts Don Giovanni. The book demonstrates how sounding statues have served as important precursors and contributors to modern ideas about the ontology of sound, technologies of sound reproduction, and performance practices.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 26 May 2021
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

Since antiquity, the relationship between sound and sculpture has been intricate in Western aesthetic thought. The Sculpted Ear, a book that delves into this relationship, reexamines it in the context of emerging discourses on aurality within the field of sound studies. Ryan McCormack, the author, posits that the sounding statue, a type of anthropocentric sculpture that encourages viewers to imagine the sounds it might produce, should be understood not as an aesthetic object but as an event heard by people and subsequently conceptualized into being through acts of writing and performance.

McCormack constructs a historical narrative in which hearing plays a central role in ideas about anthropocentric statuary. He begins with the ancient sculpture of Laocoön, moves to discuss the early modern automaton known as Tipus Tiger, and then examines the statue of the Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Throughout these discussions, McCormack highlights the issues that have historically plagued the aesthetic viability of the sounding statue.

Convincingly, McCormack demonstrates how sounding statues have served as important precursors and continuing contributors to modern ideas about the ontology of sound, technologies of sound reproduction, and performance practices that blur traditional boundaries between music, sculpture, and other arts. The book offers a captivating narrative that illuminates the stories of individual sculptural objects and the audiences that hear them, making it appealing to anyone interested in the connections between aurality and statues in the Western world, particularly scholars and students of sound studies and sensory history.

Weight: 350g
Dimension: 228 x 150 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780271086934