Noise and Silence: The Contemporary Sound Sculptures of Adam Basanta

Shauna Jean Doherty

This article examines the radical and destabilizing potential of noise and silence, expressed by Canadian artist Adam Basanta’s sound sculpture practice. The author’s analysis is undertaken through a comparison of Basanta’s works to those of foundational sound artists, John Cage and Steve Reich, as well as contemporary sound sculpture practitioners, Robert Pugliese, Konrad Smoleński, Michael Sailstorfer, and Nikita Gale. Dominant themes of noise, silence, and feedback recur in the referenced artists’ practices, demonstrating a shared interest in the dynamics of sonic power.

Contemporary works by Pugliese, Sailstorfer, Smoleński, Gale, and Basanta illustrate how various modes of sonic extremity in combination with formal experimentation with sound technologies have significant impacts on their listeners. Through their artworks, these artists compel their audiences to be wary of their sonic surroundings, attuning them to the ways that sound can be deployed strategically both inside and outside the exhibition space. By employing the at once liberating and oppressive dimensions of noise and the calming and repressive qualities of silence, these artists have harnessed the compositional potential of these polarities, emphasizing the act of listening critically and the criticality of listening.

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