Thomas Bjørnsten Kristensen : “Silence/Noise of the Work – Dissonant Passages in 20 th century Arts and Aesthetics”
My research is primarily concerned with the reciprocal relations and interchanges of visual art, literature and music. Currently, I am engaged in this field through my PhD project. In concentrating on the concepts of silence and noise and their occurrence in dissimilar forms of art, the project aims above all to establish a transmedial discourse which enables comparative analysis, largely independent of traditional typological or nominal distinctions between ‘avant-garde’, ‘modernism’, and ‘post-modernism’. In order to do so, the project examines various works of art which can be said to imply and articulate an aesthetics of either silence or noise, with the two concepts often standing opposed to each other, as well as being mutually conditioned and interrelated. Thus, the project seeks to demonstrate how this significant reciprocity reflects a fundamental irresoluteness, or what could also be termed an ‘aesthetic dissonance’, present in a number of complex works produced during the 20 th century. Of special interest here is the manner in which this dissonance seems to obstruct the viewer, listener, or reader from approaching the works in an adequate, meaningful way.
As for the particular affiliation with the audiovisual research group, my dissertation project inherently applies a strategy of transposing the concepts of silence and noise from their customary interconnection with the realm of the auditory to that of the visual and textual. This involves a variety of intriguing reflections on the nature of sound and its changing meanings, including the alternating ’cultural’ perception of silence and noise. Thus, part of the project seeks to trace silence and noise as constitutive concepts which, in themselves, imply a specific historicity. Additionally, at a broader discursive level, the project might also question the idea of linguistic, pictorial, or auditory ‘turns’ in order to clarify the actual course of transmedial, artistic exchanges taking place continuously throughout the 20 th century – asking, for instance, whether sound in various forms is in fact more present and prevalent to art and culture today than it was a century ago.
Thomas Bjørnsten Kristensen is a PhD fellow at the Section for Aesthetics and Culture at the Department of Aesthetic Studies at Aarhus University. Currently his research concentrates on the dissertation project “Silence/Noise of the Work – Dissonant Passages in 20th century Arts and Aesthetics”. His educational background consists of studies within Art History (BA), Aesthetics and Culture, and Literary History. Specific areas of interest include history and theory of photography, minimal art, theories of visual and auditory culture, modern American fiction, history of electronic music and jazz culture, contemporary digital art and sound art. In addition to his academic research, he is a regular contributor to the music magazines Geiger and Jazz Special . His occupation with music and sound-related topics stems both from academic studies and personal activities related to the contemporary music scene, counting radio productions, PR and arranging concerts for the jazz music society Sun Ship , based in Aarhus. Besides, he has provided various text material and liner notes for a number of Danish artists.
