History/practices of sound art in Serbia

Abstract

Starting from the thesis that “history is a narrative rather than a discovery” (Munslow), in this paper I shall try to construct a narrative about Sound Art as an artistic category which could be incorporated under the label Media Art, with the aim of strengthening its often insufficiently considered position in the context of media art theorization/historization. Since it is my intension to elaborate this idea on the example of local Serbian artistic practices based on sound (electronically generated and distributed), I will also endeavor to create a narrative about history and status of Sound Art in Serbia. Although examples of working with sound as an artistic media of creation are not numerous in the Serbian artistic history and scene (apart from the music, or, more precisely, electroacoustic music), the case studies I shall discuss represent the important basis not only for the development of sound art in Serbia, but also for the problematization of this concept in a broader, international framework. Here, I stress the importance of three artistic figures - Marina Abramović, Vladan Radovanović and Arsenije Jovanović, and their artistic activities during the seventies. I shall discuss the anticipatory effects and historical importance of Abramović’s sound ambiences (related to her so-called “Belgrade period”, 1970–76); Radovanović’s “mental works” which explore the nature of the tape medium, and, at the same time, the emerging concept of sound installation (for example, Voice from the Loudspeaker, 1973); and Jovanović’s radiophonic/soundscape works (as Resava Cave, 1977).