New Noises New Voices

Abstract

As an artist interested in Noise, and a CODA (child of deaf adults), I will tackle the issue of noise and counterculture from the entry point of deafness and un-cultured voices. In ableist societies the voice is a cultural product, and certain voices, perceived as “other”, flawed, “noisy”, can open up discourses related to shared sonic spaces, disruption, and inclusivity. Soundscape is here described as a social and political environment, and the bodies immersed in it are considered according to the entire spectrum of their capacities, beyond listening, in rhythmanalytical terms. Soundscape, understood within the thresholds of audibility, expels and rejects communities which carry the stigma of “handicap”, such as Deaf communities. This theoretical exercise is accompanied by examples from contemporary art and technological-historical references, pointing at “acts of silencing” and “acts of noising”, while underlining the value of “deviant” bodies as resistant bodies. The paper ends with the testimony of a Deaf dancer who used my writings to produce her last two shows. I will refer to the audiological deaf using the lowercase, and capitalize the linguistic minority: Deaf. Despite being considered disabled, or deviant, Deaf bodies are the last example of countercultural agents in all-speaking and all-hearing ableist societies.