Art and Sound in the Premodern Era

Art and Sound in the Premodern Era

CAA 98th Annual Conference
Chicago, Illinois, February 10­13, 2010

Diane J. Reilly, Indiana University, Hope School of Fine Art, 1201 East 7th
Street, Room 132, Bloomington, IN 47405-5501; and Sheri F. Shaneyfelt,
Vanderbilt University Department of History of Art, VU Station B #351801,
2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37235-1801

Although the aural is probably the most difficult component of an
artwork¹s context to reconstruct, it is also the most constant,
whether planned or unplanned, instrumental, vocal, or ambient.
Premodern art has most often been extracted from its audible
ambience, denying us the opportunity to experience fully the way
it would have been perceived. We seek papers that explore the
now-missing intersection between American, European, African,
or Asian art of premodern eras and sound. We particularly encourage speakers
who go beyond the simple use of lyrics to
explain a given iconography. Speakers should aim instead to
reconstruct aural components of an artwork¹s environment,
recover contingent vocal or musical expression, or shed light on
affiliations and resemblances between historical art and sound.