Sonic Practices and the Materiality of Urban Space

Abstract

This paper considers the urban sonic environment in terms of the distinction between the private and the public spheres. Based on ideas put forth by MacLuhan, Shaeffer, Mowitt and others, we suggest rethinking urban auditory practices as media interfaces operating at the borderline between the private and the public. The materiality of such interfaces contributes to the complexity of their theoretical description and mapping. According to one of the hypotheses advanced in the paper, some such issues may be resolved more efficiently if approached from an aural rather than a visual perspective. The point is exemplified by two practices of urban listening.