Stephen Roddy

Aesthetics of Nothingness

Project Overview

This ongoing project is investigating aesthetic expressions of the concept of ‘Nothingness’ as developed across disparate fields of research and cultural practice, specifically music and sound art. To begin tracking the roots of contemporary sound art aesthetics it has explored how the concept of Absolute Nothingness as described in the work of Kyoto School philosophers, Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani shaped the historical development and philosophical underpinnings of sound art, and continue to influence contemporary sound art practices today. Early musicaol work focused on the concept of nothingness as it relates to loss and death, this work is set for physical release in 2024. More recent musical work has focused on the aesthetics of nothingness in relation to the myriad of factors driving the myriad varieties of ecological and socio-political collapse with which we are now faced. The album ‘Leviathan’ released by Fiadh Productions (FP197) in October 2023, are explored with reference to the conceptual apparatus of the Leviathan, developed in Hobbes and others and expressed here in five distinct sonic tableaus.

Writings

The following articles outline how Kyoto School thinking has shaped sound art practice. The article in Resonance: The Journal of Sound And Culture explores intersections between the Kyoto School and relevant 20th-century art movements analyzing key sound art pieces in relation to important themes developed in Kyoto School thought . The conference paper presented at Invisible Places provides a higher level overview of the topic focusing mostly on historical perspectives.

Music: Leviathan

You can read about the concepts explored in Leviathan in the liner notes booklet below. It contains a detailed overview of the album along with in-depth notes on each track.

Listen Here:

Available here:

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