Forensic Acoustics
Forensic Acoustics is the collection, study and assessment of audio recordings, with particular focus on those that can be used in legal proceedings as a form of evidence. ‘Forensics,’ from latin forensis originally means “pertaining to the forum,” so the root of forensics relates to a site of mediation, a site of arbitration between humans, technology and material substances.[1] The specialized knowledge required for forensic acoustics to explain and clarify what a piece of evidence reveals, means that practitioners are often called to testify on behalf of evidence. Forensic acoustics challenges the authority of vision as the primary vehicle for truth seeking, showing us that “ears too, can witness”.[2]
[1] Eyal Weizman, ‘Introduction: Forensis,’ in Forensis: The Architecture of Public Truth, eds. A. Franke & E. Weizman, (Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2014), 9–32.
[2] Anthony Colclough, ‘Review of Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s Bird Watching,’ in Draff, 2017. Review available here
Author: Patricia Reed