Extended synchresis : sound, vision, and conceit
Creators: name: Mylecharane, Philip
Publisher: name: University of Tasmania
Year: 2024

description: This project is situated at the moment when sound and vision conjoin to form a single object. In a medium such as film, this phenomenon is commonly observed where the interplay between sound and vision generates a cohesive sensory experience with embedded causality. Both sound and vision must collaborate in film in order for the audience to make sense of what they are seeing <i>and</i> hearing simultaneously. Yet in this project, we attempt to take this interaction outside of film, to see <i>and</i> hear how this may manifest. <br>According to Michel Chion, <sup>1</sup><i>synchresis </i>refers to the inseparable combination of sound and visual elements presented simultaneously. While Chion used film as an example of successful synchresis, in other contexts the simultaneous combination of sound and visuals is often separated into distinct, reductive domains. This separation occurs at the expense of their interdependence and highlights the challenge of an audience in comprehending the causal relationship between sound and vision. In film, a reconciliation of both is common, as the causality between sound and vision is typically presented without external factors, allowing them to be presented as <i>is</i>. <br>This simple outline provides some understanding, although it does not provide any indication of how synchresis might apply to art objects outside of the cinematic realm. Although there are examples where the combination of sound and visuals is essential to a unified artwork, these most commonly appear under the term "sound art". If a film can be considered as a form of synchresis, this project is therefore concerned with how this could then apply to any object that consists of an inseparable conjoining of sound and vision. <br>It is within this speculative synchresis that this project is situated. It is an exploration of sonic and visual elements combined through a schema of studio practice that deliberately exploits the paradoxical gaps that arise in sound, vision and their combination. In using the inherent suggestibility of <i>auditive skeuomorphs</i>, the ontological power of intentional objects, the material tactility of <i>non-intentional form</i> and the epistemic withdrawal of <i>territory sounds</i>, I have constituted art objects that collide these elements into a cross-sensory creative <i>conceit</i>. This conceit utilises a deliberate <i>underdetermination</i> of sonic and visual forms conjoined without causality. This gives the audience a space to creatively rationalise these sensory elements into a synchretic object that defies reductive understandings and is extended beyond Chion's typical filmic context. <br>In this, I have used the recent writings of Seth Kim-Cohen and Christoph Cox as exemplars of reductive approach typically found in sound studies. Informing this, are David Toop's notions of <i>silent</i> visual mediums and Brian Kane's <i>unseen</i> sound<sup>2</sup>. These both form a complimentary foundation to Chion's noted exploration of cinema as an environment of cross-sensory interaction. There is particular emphasis on his constellation of ideas; added value, audio-visual contract, and synchresis. All of these underline the peculiar causality found when sound and vision are conjoined. Additionally, and more profoundly, these ideas find a similarity in fundamental philosophical arguments around object epistemology and ontology. In this, Graham Harman's writings are used in an attempt to form a deeper grounding and synthesis<sup>3</sup>. <br>The outcome of this project consists of a body of work that articulates a creative conceit of sound and vision; encapsulating a unified sensory entity that cannot be separated into its constituent parts. The implications of this are significant, especially within the realms of sonic and visual arts. It challenges the prevailing dogma of reductive and polarising approaches in sound art, where sound and vision are often detrimentally isolated. It also challenges the tendency to oversimplify the possibilities of cross-sensory approaches in all forms of art. Consequently, it also poses questions about wider philosophical understandings of objects and our epistemic relationship with them.<sup>1</sup> Michel Chion, <i>Audio-Vision</i>, pp. 63-65.<br><sup>2</sup> Kane, Sound In the <i>Blink of an Ear</i>, Brandon LaBelle, <i>Acoustic Territories</i>, Christoph Cox, <i>Sonic Flux</i>, Brian Lane, <i>Sound Unseen</i>, and David Toop, <i>Sinister Resonance</i>. <br><sup>3</sup> See: Graham Harman, <i>Art and Objects</i>.