Fragments of Rotting Sounds

Thomas Grill

About this exposition

"Rotting Sounds – Embracing the temporal deterioration of digital audio" (https://doi.org/10.55776/AR445) was a multi-year research project that dealt with various aspects pertaining to the deterioration of digital audio. Grill, Schilling and Bovermann understand this decay and the resulting products as a new and welcome aesthetic. This occupation with decay ultimately led to all residual materials being collected during the research period: From yogurt cups and spray cans to hard disks, USB sticks, cables, and clothing. This heap of waste was finally shredded and transformed into paper. Formally and in terms of content, the book explores decay and dissolution, thereby challenging the traditional aesthetic of collecting and preserving. The quantity of paper produced also determined the edition size, which is only 20 copies. Each copy bears the traces of its origin by embedding the cycle of transformation in its fibers. Parallel to the physical book edition, a digitally eroding open access version is available for download via this Research Catalogue exposition. The text by Thomas Grill refers to some of the key points of the Rotting Sounds research project and celebrates the open-ended nature of the experimental research.

type	research exposition
date	02/10/2024
published	31/03/2025
last modified	31/03/2025
status	published
share status	public
affiliation	University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
copyright	Thomas Grill et al.
license	CC BY
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3047461/3047462
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/rc.3047461
published in	Research Catalogue
external link	https://doi.org/10.55776/AR445

Research Catalogue

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Fragments of Rotting Sounds (2025)