Regional Western Australia and Sound Art: A survey of works by Alan Lamb and Ross Bolleter

Regional Western Australia (WA) boasts a unique and ancient landscape that can be thought to offer boundless potential for future generations of sound artists. Artists such as Alan Lamb and Ross Bolleter have embraced this potential and explored the possibilities of regional Western Australia in their works. Lamb has built large-scale wire installations in outback areas, from Mt. Magnet in the Midwest to the Karri forest of the Great Southern, whilst Bolleter has collected and recorded pianos ruined from the harsh weather conditions of rural Western Australia. This paper will reflect upon the regional Western Australian landscape as a site for sound art through interviews with these composers and an examination of their output, as well as discussion of the influential \u27Sounds Outback\u27 festival, run by new music organization Tura New Music. It will also examine the environmental and social impact of sound works in rural areas, and the potential for sound a.rt to flourish in such areas of Western Australia