It is happening again...
In
2003 I finished up my MA Thesis on sound in the films of David Lynch,
featuring a chapter on the recurrence of phonograph turntables within
his work. Here we are four years later and I'm gratified to discover that the key motif being used to promote INLAND EMPIRE is also his first visible turntable
in quite a while. Now that I've finally had the chance to hear the new film I'd love to update
my thesis, but I've since
moved on to new pastures and am currently hammering away at my doctoral
dissertation. I do have a Lynch chapter in the works, but I've latched
onto slightly different areas of his work and don't know if I'll be
discussing turntables anymore, so if any of you might be interested
in that particualr angle then feel free to give the MA thesis a look-see.
Of course there's a lot more there than just turntable talk... |
ABSTRACT
Starting
from Scratch:
Turntables, Auditory Representation, and the Structure of the Known Universe
in the Films of David Lynch
Randolph Jordan, MA.
Concordia University, Montreal, 2003.
The films of David Lynch are considered in terms of his use of sound and the presence of sound technology within his narratives. Drawing on recent work in media theory, sound theory, Lynch criticism, and the philosophy of music, I argue that approaching Lynch from the perspective of sound yields highly productive ways of understanding his work. It is demonstrated that Lynch’s films illustrate a keen awareness of the development of sound technologies in the 20th century and the effect these technologies have on human psychology. His obsession with phonograph turntables are a specific case in point. Lynch is also considered in terms of artistic traditions that have embraced the use of sound recording technology as instruments of music production, particularly late 20th century sample-based art. The theoretical implications of sampling are considered in detail, and these implications are applied to detailed analyses of Lynch’s works as a way of understanding his place in contemporary sampling culture. Finally, it is argued that Lynch’s films explore the state of anxiety that has arisen around the technological separation of the senses of hearing and sight, both from each other and from their grounding in the human body. As such, his films explore the very birth of cinema itself, and how people have responded to a medium which takes the separation of the senses as its basic operating paradigm.
Download PDF of the complete document here.
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