This project was a big undertaking for me, I had never written an essay over 2000s words, and up to this point never even knew what a literature review was. So, there was a lot for me to take in. Personally, I work better in practical work instead of more written work, but I thought this project was a great learning experience for me, and gave me a better understanding of academic writing, long form essays, and Harvard referencing.
The creative sound project was so much fun, I’ve always enjoyed sampling records, whether it is to create something in the vein of plunderphonics, techno, or ambient music. I find the possibilities with sampling endless and very inspiring. When I decided to write about magnetic tape in my essay, and also write a chapter on hauntology. Doing a sound piece that relates to both was a no brainer. This also gave me an excuse to dig deeper into both The Caretaker, William Basinski’s, and (for the essay only) Daniel Johnston. All three of these artists have decade spanning careers with many interesting albums and concepts. Researching into concepts such as hauntology, and memory made me consider looking at writing about this for my dissertation. The idea of ‘Hauntology: The Representation of Memory in Sound Art?’
Overall, this project was great, the heavier workload and more literature-based work was a big learning curve for me but has prepared me for what year 3 will be more like.