Aesthetic Noise

The Philosophy of Intentional Listening

Mary G. Mazurek

• Publisher: Focal Press
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040314845
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Theory & Appreciation

Aesthetic Noise: The Philosophy of Intentional Listening considers the complex nature of noise within the framework of philosophical filtering, examining how, if noise is engaged with aesthetically, it can produce profound experiences and understandings.

Applying the philosophies of Edmund Burke, Martin Heidegger, Jacque Derrida, and Julia Kristeva to works by Luigi Russolo, John Cage, Steve Reich, Alison Knowles, Annea Lockwood, Alyce Santoro, and Sunn O))), this book explores noise as an art material, and ultimately how it can become a tool for activism and expanded creative possibilities. It demonstrates that, by engaging multiple philosophies in concert, the value of aesthetic noise is amplified, thus allowing the listener to better appreciate noise and its possibilities.

Providing greater insights into noise as an aesthetic material, Aesthetic Noise will be of interest to researchers and students of sound studies, philosophy, and sound art, as well as sound designers, artists, musicians, and composers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Aesthetic Noise: An Origin Story
• 2 Aesthetic Noise: A Continuation
• 3 Can Noise Be Beautiful?: An Exploration of Noise Through Burke’s Empiricism
• 4 Noise Through the Filters of Alētheia and the Four Causes as Elucidated by Heidegger
• 5 The Truth in Noise: Aesthetic Noise Through the Filter of Derrida’s Parergon
• 6 Transduction of the Abject: Noise, Kristeva, Abjection, and Purification
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• A Reflection on Teaching Aesthetic Noise
• Playlist
• Index