Sound is all around us in a 360-degree way. We rely on it to cue us as to what kind of physical environment we’re in. When you’re hearing something, you’re in it. You’re not in front of it, right? You’re inside the sonic environment. Whereas when you’re looking at something, it’s there in front of you, especially in a cinematic encounter. When you’re listening, you’re in the middle of sound, so you’re deeply connected to the here and now. Consequently, there are many belief structures that emerge out of information sound gives us that we take for granted. We don’t tend to pick it apart or analyze it as carefully as we might something visual because we lean on it subconsciously, and we’re easily fooled by it. That’s why sound is so subversive and so well suited as a mode of control.
- Deborah Stratman (via bombmagazine)