The Theatrical Superfield: On Soundscapes and Acoustic Dramaturgy

Chapter 6 is concerned with Michel Chion’s notion of ‘superfield’, a term used to describe the overly present and autonomous effect of sound in film (Chion, Audio-vision: Sound on Screen, Columbia University Press, New York: 1994, 150). With the development of high-fidelity sound systems, sound presence in film (‘projected’ in cinematic speaker arrays and even via headphones inserted into the ear canal) is superabundant; it is a resonant field that can be more sensorially compelling than visual effects. What is its correlation in performance? We consider a range of artworks that utilise distinctive acoustic registers as a primary means of surpassing representation. For example, our discussion of Romeo Castellucci’s work with the composer Scott Gibbons asks if it is a rejoinder to Antonin Artaud’s plea for an aesthetic field of sonic disturbance that activates human organic perceptibility. The extreme superfield effects made possible by digital technologies are also discussed in relation to Ikeda Ryoji’s superposition, a sound and media work featuring an array of integrated sonic effects. As we argue, the informational ‘noise’ of superposition is overwhelming. We also discuss how Forty Part Motet, by Janet Cardiff, makes the processes of vocalising and chorus a visibly embodied experience of listening. Extending from this example, we consider the actor-training exercises called Body Listening developed by the Australian artist and theatre-maker David Pledger. Body Listening seeks to integrate the bodily expressions of performers within a field of informational awareness in a way that connects somatic experience with cultural politics. This chapter presents sound as a pervasive NMD vector – a statement of at times extreme aesthetic experience that Artaud could only have dreamed of given the technologies of his time.