Sound Beyond the Hedge. Towards an Acoustic Construction of Images

The use of images for representing the world should be considered as the product of a generative act of the subject more than the result of an objective process. It could be said that the construction of images is produced by a consonance, or even a resonance – a common vibration between the real and the subject, amplified in his mental processing: a physical as well as emotional, symbolic, cultural connection. Replacing the metaphorical sense of “resonance” with its proper meaning, there are many artistic, architectural, literary experiences that have attempted a translation of sound into visual images and vice versa – sometimes aiming at a synesthetic stimulation of our perception, other times configuring “silent media” able to inspire our imagination. More peculiarly, the role of sound in the process of unveiling and building images assumes a great importance in the experience of blind people. Sound strongly contributes to develop a “gaze” capable of perceiving and judging the outer world. This extends the scope of the image beyond the mere visual, placing it in a multisensory dimension. Through the method of interviewing and analysis, the paper focuses on the acoustic dynamics that affect the symbolic horizon at the basis of the construction of the image, favoring an inclusive perspective, with possible repercussions in the field of communication, art, society and environment. 99 Accesses Part of the Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems book series (LNNS,volume 631) Abstract The use of images for representing the world should be considered as the product of a generative act of the subject more than the result of an objective process. It could be said that the construction of images is produced by a consonance, or even a resonance – a common vibration between the real and the subject, amplified in his mental processing: a physical as well as emotional, symbolic, cultural connection. Replacing the metaphorical sense of “resonance” with its proper meaning, there are many artistic, architectural, literary experiences that have attempted a translation of sound into visual images and vice versa – sometimes aiming at a synesthetic stimulation of our perception, other times configuring “silent media” able to inspire our imagination. More peculiarly, the role of sound in the process of unveiling and building images assumes a great importance in the experience of blind people. Sound strongly contributes to develop a “gaze” capable of perceiving and judging the outer world. This extends the scope of the image beyond the mere visual, placing it in a multisensory dimension. Through the method of interviewing and analysis, the paper focuses on the acoustic dynamics that affect the symbolic horizon at the basis of the construction of the image, favoring an inclusive perspective, with possible repercussions in the field of communication, art, society and environment.