Techno-Scientific Spectacle: The Rhetoric of IMAX in the Contemporary Science Museum

Ploeger, Joanna S.

doi:10.13008/2151-2957.1038

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In instances such as these, the sense of immersion is created not only with rhetorical but also with spatial and technological strategies, especially techniques of surround sound. In this regard, sonification is similar to IMAX, which 'employs a host of technological and architectural devices, such as wide screens, large-format projection, digital surround sound, and stadium-style seating, to create a more absorbing and intense sensory experience for viewers' (Recuber, 2007: 316; also see Griffiths, 2008;Ploeger, 2004). As in the IMAX cinema, the sense of immersion of sonification rarely depends on a single sense, but rather on the interplay of the senses; vision and touch are involved alongside sound in many sonifications.…”

Section: Immersed In Soundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 Jon Turney (2004) argues that the sublime is a particularly powerful medium for the popularization of science, but his analysis is limited to textual evocations of the sublime in popular science writing. As I suggest here, the sublime can be particularly effective when it is realized in sensory experience, as is done in sonification as well as other domains, such as IMAX shows and interactive exhibits that have become a mainstay of many science centres and museums (Griffiths, 2008;Macdonald, 1998;Ploeger, 2004). The Wien Modern performance is an excellent example of such an evocation of the sublime through sonification; the self-professed goal of the evening was not to create beautiful music, but to translate scientific measurements describing dynamic events in the brain into a sensory experience -and a somewhat threatening and oppressive experience at that.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sublime frequencies: The construction of sublime listening experiences in the sonification of scientific data

Supper

2013

Soc Stud Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the past two decades, the sonification of scientific data -an auditory equivalent of data visualization in which data are turned into sounds -has become increasingly widespread, particularly as an artistic practice and as a means of popularizing science. Sonification is thus part of the recent trend, discussed in public understanding of science literature, towards increased emphasis on 'interactivity' and 'crossovers' between science and art as a response to the perceived crisis in the relationship between the sciences and their publics. However, sonification can also be understood as the latest iteration in a long tradition of theorizing the relations between nature, science and human experience. This article analyses the recent public fascination with sonification and argues that sonification grips public imaginations through the promise of sublime experiences. I show how the 'auditory sublime' is constructed through varying combinations of technological, musical and rhetorical strategies. Rather than maintain a singular conception of the auditory sublime, practitioners draw on many scientific and artistic repertoires. However, sound is often situated as an immersive and emotional medium in contrast to the supposedly more detached sense of vision. The public sonification discourse leaves intact this dichotomy, reinforcing the idea that sound has no place in specialist science.

show abstract

Section: Immersed In Soundmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sublime frequencies: The construction of sublime listening experiences in the sonification of scientific data

Supper

2013

Soc Stud Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…5 The challenge, as Joanna Ploeger (2004) has explained for science museums, is to engage a large popular audience and bring it back for more. The Lincoln Museum rises to the task with a handsome building clad in a bright brown marble.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

All’s Fair: Love, War, Politics, and Other Spectacles

Nelson

2005

Poroi

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spectacle is one thing money really can buy.-Terrence Rafferty (1995, p. 84) 1 Summer is the season for spectacle. In America, at least, it is a time for captivating the distracted attention of citizens through the outré, the outsized, and the outrageous. From hype for hurricanes to blockbusters from Hollywood, summer spectacles resist yet also reinforce the centrifugal spirals of privatizing pursuits. Vacations from work, school, government, even first-run television have traditionally taken people away from supposedly responsible preoccupations with public topics of business, education, politics, perhaps religion. Summer in America is for families, we say, but it entertains them with vistas and stories far larger than everyday life.

show abstract

Techno-Scientific Spectacle: The Rhetoric of IMAX in the Contemporary Science Museum

Cited by 2 publications

References 9 publications

Sublime frequencies: The construction of sublime listening experiences in the sonification of scientific data

Sublime frequencies: The construction of sublime listening experiences in the sonification of scientific data

All’s Fair: Love, War, Politics, and Other Spectacles

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About