Help me choose a person to write a paper on for my Sound Art class!

Well, what are you supposed to be writing about? Just a straight-up who-are-they-and-what-is-their-music-like kinda deal? In that case, I'd go with Genesis P-orridge.

Well I mean I pick someone, and then explore something about them (i.e. Byrne's use of polyrhythms, Eno's exploration of ambient sounds, P-orridge and the occult, etc.).

Well, let's see - Schneemann is a visual artist, Cunningham is a dancer/choreographer, so knock them off the list. Knock Byrne, Anderson and Eno off the list because they're all unspeakably fucking tiresome and done to death. My recommendation would be Maryanne Amacher, with Pauline Oliveros as a second choice.

Or you could go for somebody modern/current who you could actually interview - if you do that I recommend Stephen Vitiello, Steve Roden or Bernhard Günter.

i would rec. Amacher as well (rip)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Neuhaus
http://www.ubu.com/sound/neuhaus_radio.html
Percussionist Max Neuhaus who revolutionized sound art dies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Murray_Schafer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_Westerkamp
http://www.sfu.ca/~westerka/bio.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annea_Lockwood
http://www.lovely.com/bios/lockwood.html
especially 'world rhythms', 'the glass world' & 'sound map of the hudson river'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Cardiff
http://www.amazon.com/Janet-Cardiff-Walk-Mirjam-Schaub/dp/3883758248

http://www.davidddunn.com/~david/
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Language-Environment-David-Dunn/dp/B000QQTPBI (five star album imo)

http://www.mimaroglumusicsales.com/artists/akio+suzuki.html
http://www.arika.org.uk/resonant-spaces/akio-suzuki/

http://www.scaruffi.com/avant/tsunoda.html
http://www.sleepbot.com/ambience/page/tsunoda.html

http://continuo.wordpress.com/category/sound-art/

Amacher. No question! So sad to see her go, last year.

Genesis P-Orridge would get my #2 vote, though.

For a sound art class (where do you go to school? I'd love to take a sound art class!) you can't do much better than Alvin Lucier! All of his projects are so interesting, you could do a huge paper on just one tiny aspect of I Am Sitting in a Room.

imo lucier is the most awesome on that list

TBH I have only ever heard of Anderson, Byrne, Eno, Schneeman, Oliveros, and P-orridge!

AL
PO
GP-O

Or you could go for somebody modern/current who you could actually interview -

http://www.andreapolli.com/centralpark/main.html
http://earroom.wordpress.com/

most of the people I'm recommending overtly connect themselves with some form of environmental consciousness, not that most sound art inevitably goes in that direction -- but, stands to reason, as the first thing you encounter when you try to listen to sound outside the envelope of 'music' is the 'environment', and in general I find the artists that go all the rest of the way with that idea the most interesting

I tend to agree with the previous poster's opinions - especially Milton's. I'd add Christina Kubisch to the mix. Have a look at her website:

http://www.christinakubisch.de/index_en.htm

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.