NOTES ON AN EXAMINATION OF JUSTICE THROUGH SOUND
AUGEN OHNE BLICK
AUG 2023
EXPLORING // DISSECTING
THE ANATOMY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE,
KARMA,
& AGENCY THROUGH A FILM SCORE
PART I
CRAFTING THE SOUND PALETTE
WHAT DOES JUSTICE SOUND LIKE
…& FOR WHO?
At any given moment, we can find ourselves scanning our environment for balance.
But is it for the belief of balance being good or is it for the positive cognitive sensation that comes from identifying a moral certainty?
Is justice truly objective, or is it instead a house built on apophenia & the basal code of survival?
Is preserving our moral integrity analogous to preserving our physical integrity?
Why, how, and what do we value in knowing whats fair about the situations and environments we inhabit? Is it for Survival™? Is it for Good™? Is it for God™? Is it for Truth™?
Who´s Survival™? Who´s Good™? Who´s God™? Who´s Truth™?
THE FILM SCORE
This film score offers a unique opportunity for us to address the tensions and the paradox of fairness through sound; exploring the themes through a language that transcends verbal hegemonic communication, yet still prompts a dialogue, this time taking place beyond its usual realm of reason.
By thinking of every day sounds like symbols & creating a palette that represents our intersubjectively (& cognitively) weaved notions of justice & morality, the score affects the audience by serving as a catalyst towards reflection and possible resolve of moral and philosophical tension through sound without necessary verbal articulation .
SONIC SEMIOTICS // SOUND PALETTE
To represent the phenomena of / surrounding justice through sonic symbols, the sound palette is crafted with elements that evoke the themes , emotions , and tensions associated with how justice is expressed and perceived in modernity.
“Mundane sounds” can be employed to create a tapestry that enhances the audience's engagement with the moral questions that emerge.
Sonic semiotics (a concept I got from Phillip Tagg), emphasizes the influence of social structures on musical and sonic motifs and structures signaling towards the reciprocal relationship between them.
This perspective expands our exploration beyond just theoretical constructs , inviting us to examine the dynamics between sound , culture, and justice in a sonic dimension (which taking Tagg’s concept a step further, I would propose as analogous to our cultural dimension // in more phenomenological terms, the schema of our collective consciousness).
By structuring the sounds into dynamics that musically represents the theoretical justice elements, we can more effectively evoke a state of consciousness akin to scanning for balance. The score then becomes a soundtrack not just for the film, or the embodiment of justice in modernity, but for the audiences process of consumption & deliberation.
Perhaps by understanding how the sonic representations of these cultural beliefs interact with each other, we can arrive at a more informed intersubjective cognitive understanding of what justice as a concept is signaling towards. What is it really? What is it for? Why is it for?
Many have tried to define it through words but maybe it is through sound that we collapse the distance between us and justice...
SO HOW DOES THE APPROACH ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE?
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?…
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE RAW SAMPLES USED TO MAKE UP WHAT YOU HEAR.
THESE ARE JUST POTENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR THE SOUND PALETTE OF JUSTICE, MORALITY & KARMA
***THIS COMPILATION & EXAMPLES ARE JUST IDEAS IN PROGRESS***
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