Abstract

Common sense often dictates that noise is in the ear of the beholder: it is whatever the listener hears as such. Marie Thompson will question noise’s dependence on the listener by drawing attention to the noise that goes unnoticed and unheard. With this, she will raise the issue of ‘sonic anthropocentrism’. What is to be gained by decentring the listener of sound and noise; and what are the implications of this for sound art and acoustic ecology?