Three Great Phonographers: Warhol, Nixon & Kaufman

INCITE Journal of Experimental Media, Issue 6, Fall 2015

8 Pages Posted: 24 Apr 2015 Last revised: 21 Mar 2016

See all articles by Brian L. Frye

Brian L. Frye

University of Kentucky - College of Law; Dogecoin DAO Legal Scholarship Page; Rug Radio DAO Grifting Division

Date Written: April 22, 2015

Abstract

Journalists record in order to produce an article and substantiate factual assertions, but phonographers record in order to produce an audio recording. In other words, for a journalist, phonography is a means to an end, but for a phonographer, it is an end in itself.

Warhol, Nixon, and Kaufman exemplify three modes of phonography: anthropological, historical, and psychological. Warhol documented the language and self-perception of a subculture that was ignored or pathologized by mass culture. Nixon created the most comprehensive record of a presidential administration that will ever exist. And Kaufman captured moments in which ordinary people responded to violations of social order.

The original phonographers had to choose what to preserve and laboriously record it in shorthand. Unsurprisingly, few recordings of everyday life were preserved. By contrast, modern phonographers can use audio recording equipment to easily record whatever they choose. But few choose to record their conversations, and fewer still choose to preserve them. Warhol, Nixon, and Kaufman are great phonographers because they chose to create and preserve the mundane conversations of their everyday lives. In so doing, they enabled us to better understand the societies in which they lived, even while remaining enigmas themselves.

Keywords: phonography, phonographer, warhol, nixon, kaufman, audio recording, recording, documentation

Suggested Citation

Frye, Brian L., Three Great Phonographers: Warhol, Nixon & Kaufman (April 22, 2015). INCITE Journal of Experimental Media, Issue 6, Fall 2015, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2597768 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2597768

Brian L. Frye (Contact Author)

University of Kentucky - College of Law ( email )

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Lexington, KY 40506-0048
United States

HOME PAGE: http://law.uky.edu/directory/brian-l-frye

Dogecoin DAO Legal Scholarship Page

Rug Radio DAO Grifting Division ( email )

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