Sound as a producer of social spaces in museum exhibitions

Abstract

In recent years, multimodal exhibition practices in which sound appears as a fundamental element have exponentially increased in museums. This phenomenon is based on the recognition that sound is a noteworthy mode to elicit significant museum experiences. Among the various genres, those of sound art and ambiance distinctively convey the idea of social space. In these genres, the spatialization of sound emerges as an outstanding articulator of an idea of space as being socially built according to an understanding that largely transcends Cartesian and Euclidean models. In this study, I discuss the potentialities of sound to construct a space for museum exhibitions based on the idea of space as being socially constructed, as postulated by Lefebvre and Martina Low. The discussion will be supported by the analysis of the exhibitions The Disharmony of Spheres and Stranger than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition.