(15) Le rôle de l’espace dans les quatre conduites d’écoute
(35) Les domaines imaginaires
(36) Pour tenter de comprendre la relation entre les domaines imaginaires et l’espace, on peut commencer par revenir sur la définition des deux termes. On sait que les domaines imaginaires sont une extension de la figurativisation. On sait aussi que, selon un point de vue humain, le corps existe dans l’espace tridimensionnel, et que l’esprit ‘hérite’ des empreintes spatiales tridimensionnelles grâce au continuum corps-esprit, à travers les sens, qui perçoivent dans l’espace. Compte tenu de ce cadre spatio-sensoriel, on peut explorer deux thèmes : (1) la relation entre l’espace et la capacité de l’esprit humain à créer des images ; et (2) la relation poïético-esthésique entre la formation d’images et les dimensions spatiales du flux sonore d’une œuvre acousmatique.
As a starting point for understanding the relationship between imaginary realms and space, we may return to the definitions of both terms. Imaginary realms is an enlargement of figurativization in that it allows for variations in figurativisation and, additionally, embraces other listening strategies, notably fiction, fantasy and surrealism, where the listener exercises imagination as an end in itself. We know that, as viewed from a human perspective, the body exists in three-dimensional space, and that the mind ‘inherits’ three-dimensional spatial imprints through the Body-Mind continuum as proposed by the senses, which perceive via space. Given this spatio-sensorial frame, we may probe two themes: (1) the relationship between space and the capacity for the human mind to create images; and (2) the poietico-esthesic relationship between the formation of images and the spatial dimensions within the sounding flow of an acousmatic work. (36)
Space and the image: A human perspective
(37) L’espace n’est pas seulement intrinsèque à l’esprit tel qu’il est donné par les sens, mais il est aussi nécessaire à la formation de l’image puisque toute image générée par l’esprit est vécue comme ayant sa propre identité spatiale. De ce fait, l’espace n’est pas uniquement perçu comme ‘contenant’ l’image, mais aussi comme soutenant son développement et la manière dont elle se développe. L’image semble située dans son propre espace ‘contenant’, qui peut s’étendre ou se contracter au fil du temps pour permettre les changements des dimensions de l’image.
Space is not only intrinsic in the mind as furnished by sensorial input, but is also necessary for the formation of the image since all images generated by the mind are experienced as having their own spatial identity. For this reason, space is perceived not only as ‘holding’ the image, but also as championing the development of the image and the manner in which it unfolds. Any image is experienced as residing within its unique ‘holding’ space, which may expand or contract over time to accommodate changes in the image’s dimensions. (37) For example, images that unfold in three-dimensional space are considered with reference to the three-dimensionality of the body, whether the images are felt to possess a human proportion, or are deemed disproportionately large or small. Images that are created by the mind to function as a fictional narrative seem, equally, replete with the spatial dimensions of the narrative, while figurativistic images created by the mind for the stage – where their actual three-dimensional dimensions often represent larger dimensions – are apprehended by an audience situated in a linked three-dimensional space.
(38) On considère souvent certaines constructions intangibles, telles que les émotions, comme se situant dans un espace psychologique. Bien que les relations entre l’espace et d’autres images apparemment intangibles – par exemple des images impliquant l’air, la température, la couleur et la lumière – puissent d’abord être difficiles à décrire, l’espace est vécu comme étant le vecteur de la création, de l’appréhension, et enfin de la définition, de ces images.
Certain intangible constructs, such as emotions, are considered to possess a psychological space.[1] Although the relationship between space and other seemingly intangible images – for example ones that involve air, temperature, colour and light – initially may be difficult to describe, space is experienced as the vector through which these images are created, apprehended and, ultimately, defined. (38) In this way, we can understand that because air only becomes tangible when it moves in space, images that unfold in air – whether they move or are motionless – are perceptible through our understanding of the movement of air in space. Since thermoception is felt through touch in space, images founded on thermal states or changes are apprehended through our experience with touch. Sight permits us to perceive light (in space), for example, in the form of shafts of sunlight between trees in a dense forest, or through small openings in an otherwise unbroken cloud cover. Further, because light illuminates all physical objects in its path – thereby creating conditions of sufficient luminosity where colour can be sensed – images that are colour-dependent rely on the vector of space to convey light, which when perceived creates the sensation of colour. Finally, images that seem to defy or succumb to gravity are perceptible through our understanding of weightlessness and weightiness as is commonly experienced within a body (space) of water. Thus, space is not only perceived as holding the image but is also perceived to serve as the vector through which the image can become tangible. It is the bearer and carrier for everything that is sensed and, thereby, can be imagined.
Space and the image in the acousmatic environment
(39) De manière à transmettre une image grâce au son, il revient au compositeur acousmatique de créer l’image et son espace propre dans l’espace musical (le spectre sonore qui occupe l’espace vertical et se déploie dans l’espace tridimensionnel) de manière à ce que ses dimensions spatiales soient conservées malgré leur transposition dans un environnement sonore tridimensionnel et temporel. Pour cela, le compositeur peut trouver utile de développer une dialectique entre les propriétés spatiales du flux sonore et les propriétés spatio-temporelles de l’image qu’il souhaite transmettre.
In order to convey an image through sound, it is incumbent upon the acousmatic composer to create the image and its attendant space in musical space – sound spectra which occupy vertical space and are deployed in three-dimensional space – so that the image and its spatial dimensions can be considered to be preserved, even though they are re-cast in a three-dimensional, temporal, sonic environment. To achieve this goal, it is helpful for the composer to develop a dialectic between the spatio-temporal properties of the sounding flow and the spatio-temporal properties of the image to be conveyed. (39)
Initially, the composer (the subject) needs to ‘hold’ the psychological space so that the image can coalesce before it unfurls in sound, since the creation and shaping of images through sound is governed by the composer’s capacity for imagination. Furthermore, sound can also be experienced as holding the space so that the image can be developed in the mind of the composer. This is because sound is regarded as possessing its own spatial landscape, which the composer can listen to and reflect upon, build on, or reincarnate. Similarly, Smalley proposes, “Sounds in general, and source-bonded sounds in particular […] carry their space with them […]” (Smalley, 2007: 38). Because space is experienced as holding an image, the spatial topology of the sounding flow can be seen as holding an image, or holding the three-dimensional space for the image to emerge, thus prompting the reflection that images can be perceived as coming from the sounds themselves.