Perceptual Geography

Perceptual Geography (30 min, 2019) is based on the pioneering research by and dedicated to the legendary American sound artist Maryanne Amacher (1938–2009). She is an iconic figure in the experimental music world. She studied with Stockhausen and collaborated with Cage. Her work crossed boundaries between science, music, and art; she was a researcher at MIT and her shows ranged from Woodstock to the Whitney Museum.

Amacher’s research on perception, psychoacoustic phenomena, sound spatialisation, aural architecture, and expanding the role of the listener, form the basis of Ankersmit’s Perceptual Geography, which ranges from tiny sounds dancing around the listener’s head like a firefly, to room-shaking vibrations that feel like a distant thunderstorm. The concept of ‘perceptual geography’ can be understood as the three-dimensional arrangement or choreography of sonic phenomena and their experience.