In common use, noise is understood as ‘unwanted sound’. As big city beings, we are surrounded by it all the time, and also take it for granted. As a noise-artist, noise becomes a poetic resource; in the depth of noise, we can find the strongest sense of presence.
Noise-artist Puce Mary is a new star on the scene. As a part of the community connected to Mayhem in Copenhagen, the young artist is definitely one of the most interesting new sound artists right now.
Noise as a set of aesthetics and as a genre in its dawn, was developed by the Futurists and Dadaists. In ‘The Art of Noises’, Futurist Luigi Russolo states, that the industrial revolution granted people the ability to enjoy a more complex set of sounds. Later on noise was introduced into popular culture. Artists such as Lou Reed, Yoko Ono, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and The Beach Boys explored the possibilities of noise. John Lennon cut up old classical tracks, re-constructing them, trying to ‘create the sound of a revolution’. The liberating thing about noise, is that the listener is not presented with a narrative, which opens up another experience of time. The sound of rushing blood resembles the overwhelming frequencies one is exposed to as a listener, and can bring us into a meditative state of mind.