Sound Space

Language is more than just systems of thought-transference. Language is the medium of literature. Dr Victoria Kuttainen expressed in this week’s BA1002 lecture that the ‘newly sighted’ need language to organise space before they can make sense of it. Ideas of the world are all filtered by language – the language of images, words, symbols, and icons. Language has a strong metaphorical power that affects individual words, sentences and larger units to impart emotion and personality, which results in high visibility to objects and places (Tuan, 1991, p.685). The words we constantly use to describe our actions on the Internet reflect and shape our ways of imagining virtual space.

Imagine 1: Word (2015)

‘Cyberspace’ is a common word used to characterise the use of electronics and the Internet. It is the new medium of communication that is replacing the more traditional methods. Like physical space, cyberspace contains objects (files, graphics, etc.) and different modes of transportation and delivery. In effect, cyberspace can be thought of interconnection of human beings through telecommunication, without regard to physical geography. Cyberspace may have other definitions, as discussed in this Cisco Blog. There is a spur of cyberspace which is ‘virtual reality’ where humans can ‘enter’ and ‘move through’ a cyber environment while interacting with both the computer and other human beings. We can imagine cyberspace to be an imaginary, intangible, virtual-reality realm.

In the social sound world of SoundCloud, the most common word used is ‘upload’. The definition of ‘upload’ is the ‘transmission of a file from one computer system to another, usually larger computer system’ (Rouse, 2013). The main purpose of SoundCloud is to create sounds and share them with anyone else in the space. To ‘share’ your creation, it is crucial to ‘upload’ it onto your account first and share the link around.

Tuan states that naming is power – the creative power to call something into being, to render the invisible visible, to impart a certain character to things (1991, p.688). When I first created an account on SoundCloud, I had to choose a ‘username’ that other people would recognise me as. A ‘username’ was an identification used by a person with access to a computer, network, or online service. Playing with my own initials, I created the name ‘seedyCD’. The community of interesting usernames in SoundCloud was fascinating, with my favourite artist naming himself ‘XXXTENTACION’. Tuan argues that giving something a name significantly enhances its distinctiveness, making it stand out from others that are less imaginatively called (1991, p.688).

Through my recent explorations in the world of SoundCloud, I was able to identify the concepts of power, maps, and language. These concepts defined a sense of space and place in my new-found community. 

References

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 5: Power. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Rajnovic, D. (2012). Cyberspace – What is it?. Retrieved from https://blogs.cisco.com/security/cyberspace-what-is-it

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach. 81(4), 684-695. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2563430