The art of sonic deception

Dillon, Teresa

Abstract

Sonic deception is the tactical use of sound to confuse, misguide and disrupt. Discourses of deception, trust and the semiotics of suspicion often neglect sound in favour of more linguistic, verbal readings. Drawing on Goodman’s (2009) analysis of the vibrational force of sound in conflict and its potential as a sensory tactic of fear, the work of sound artists including Joe Banks (aka Disinformation) and the work of Martin Howse, Eric Berger and Mario de Vega in making audible the electromagnetic spectrum, this short paper examines the relationship between sound, deception, obfuscation and trust. Within this links are made to United States military parlance, in particular Information Operations or Influence Operations and full-spectrum dominance, whereby modern warfare is centred on a battle for public opinion, which purposefully manipulates human cognitive and emotional fallibility. It is from this viewpoint that the role of sound within contemporary deception is examined. This paper concludes that sound calls for a closer examination of the multiplicitous ways in which mis- and disinformation occurs, while also challenging us to take a multi-sensorial approach to the politics of frequency.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (Published)
• Conference Name: 2nd Interface Politics Conference
• Start Date: Nov 28, 2018
• End Date: Nov 30, 2018
• Acceptance Date: Nov 1, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Sep 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 29, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 29, 2021
• Pages: 319-330
• Book Title: After Post-Truth: Interface Politics Conference, 2nd International Conference
• ISBN: 9788409136674
• Keywords: deception; sound; art; influence operations; full-spectrum dominance; multi-sensorial politics of frequencies; response-ability
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7043579
• Publisher URL: http://www.gredits.org/publicaciones-gredits-bau/