The Sound of Silence
(1938-1970).
Spectres & Camouflage
The Sound of Silence (1938-1970)
This ERC project explores the technological search for the silent environment in the 20th century. The project explores the transfers and transformation in knowledge as it crossed disciplines in pursuit of this.
In the 20th century, the impact and exploitation of silence was manifested in the technological search for the soundless environment: a search which centred upon environmental control and design. It was shaped by disciplinary and international transfers of knowledge. Ultimately, the technology became known as ‘anechoic’ (free from echo).
SPECTRES & CAMOUFLAGE examines the catalysts and disjunctures inherent in that technological search, exploring its implications for design and experimentation, military strategy and cultural production. The timeframe of the project extends from the eve of World War Two to 1970. It integrates the histories of architecture, music, technology, and global conflict examining how developments in each propelled one another forward.
Project Objectives
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To bring to light an unestablished trajectory of development that was fuelled, to differing extents at differing times, by shifting military, social, scientific, and cultural priorities.
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To identify and situate the role of the technological search for silence and its attendant impacts within the broader lexicon of 20th-century cultural and scientific history.
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To develop a framework that will chart both knowledge-transfer (across domains) and the transformations of knowledge (within domains) that resulted.
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An intricate, interlinked history of how different disciplines propelled each other forward in the design and exploitation of the silent environment between 1938 and 1970.