Abstract
This thesis examines the interplay of voice and sculpture to understand their manifold interrelationships and to establish the concept of voice sculptures. My research draws from a long-standing exploration of the voice and an increasingly hybrid practice at the intersection of sound and sculpture. Voice sculptures exist in the expanded territories of art, which have cross-fertilised since the early twentieth century. Through the hybridisation of the arts, sound and fine art practices have embraced one another: the former using the voice as a sculptable material and the latter voicing the sculptural entity.The thesis comprises three parts, each examining a relational mode: (1) Metamorphic addresses the voice becoming sculpture, first as a malleable material in music and vocal performance, and second as a three-dimensional materialisation through 3D printing; (2) Symbiotic draws a lineage with the ancient speaking statues’ phenomenon and explores in sound art how the partnership of sculpture and voice operates in speaker-powered voice sculptures; and (3) Dynamic examines their acoustic and energetic interplay in sculptural instruments for voice and site-specific voice sculptures.
Through practice-based research, I have explored each relational mode. In Metamorphic, I transformed my voice into sculpture using 3D printing. In Symbiotic, I explored the symbiotic relationship between voice and sculpture through a voice relief of wall-mounted miniature speakers. Finally, in Dynamic, I tested their acoustic relationship in a sculptural instrument for voice and a site-specific voice sculpture.
The aim is to demonstrate how voice and sculpture––ostensibly two contrasting entities ––are interlinked and interdependent through various cooperative and mutualistic relationships and even biologically interconnected. Additionally, I aim to establish how this partnership, facilitated by a technological conduit, can be traced back to the phenomenon of speaking statues in ancient times.
My investigation is grounded in a search for the reification and materialisation of the voice as a vocal matter that can be carved, moulded and touched: a concrete voice. The voice is transient, invisible and impalpable, whereas the boundaries of sculpture are visually defined. Through the medium of sculpture or a sculptural approach, the voice acquires visual and haptic qualities, while sculpture gains with the voice aural agency and temporal deployment.
This exploration aligns with hyperhybridity, a framework prevalent in contemporary artistic and societal paradigms. Voice sculptures call for multisensorial experiences and embodied presences in the lived space. They attest to a resurgence of materiality and spatial corporeality in art that counters vocal dematerialisation in the digital era.
| Date of Award | May 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Amy Cunningham (Supervisor), Stephen Mallinder (Supervisor) & Kersten Glandien (Supervisor) |