Experiential Encounters with Architecture and Sound: The Use of Styli in Urban Field Recording and Lefebvre's Rhythmanalysis

This thesis explores the relationship between sound and space in architecture through field recording practices, live performance, sounding artifacts (vinyl), DJ performances, crowdsourcing, community-based projects, mindfulness, and visual art. It provides examples of research practices undertaken, touching on psychogeography, autoethnography, sociology, sound studies, urban theory, neuroscience, and the theory of rhythm. Building on the work of creative practitioners such as Christian Marclay, Italo Calvino, Yoko Ono, Michel de Certeau, and Henri Lefebvre, I pose the following questions: How can field recordings elucidate the relationship between sound and space in architecture? Is field recording a mindful practice? In what ways does it engage with existential, phenomenological, and therapeutic theories of ‘the moment’? Additionally, I investigate how movement affects the experience and materiality of field recordings within walking practice. How might the theories and approaches described in Lefebvre’s (1993) *Rhythmanalysis* be applied as a method to enhance the mindset and practice of field recording and sound art performances? Through practice-based research, I examine the concept of ‘connecting with’ city streets in a tactile and sensory manner using an improvised stylus—a term that suggests the reading and writing of material. The process of walking while dragging introduces innovative and creative approaches for field recording artists, creating a record-based performance of the city that emphasizes connections with rhythm, presence, and sound. In relation to venue architecture, this project documents the remote recording of twelve live music venues in the UK that remained silent during the lockdown period, via a crowdsourced field recording project involving Independent Venue Week. A gallery of empty venues highlighting the absence of sound was created for an online exhibition in 2021. Throughout the thesis, Lefebvre’s loosely defined 'Rhythmanalysis' serves as a methodology for research in listening, field recording, and the production of creative works.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• Colbert, Laurence

Contributors dc:contributor

• Whitty, Paul

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/m4yv-4403

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:0f0151de-da94-4961-b3c5-b505acd71bfe:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1