Brandon LaBelle is an artist and writer working with sound culture, voice, and situated identity. His previous books, Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art (2006) and Acoustic Territories: Sound Culture and Everyday Life (2010) are also published by Bloomsbury. He is the editor of Errant Bodies Press and Professor at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway.

LaBelle shows how the mouth envelops and develops bodies, languages and subjectivities. He constructs what he calls the ‘oral imaginary’, the forms of figuration and function that define the role of the mouth as a cultural artefact … the many choreographies of the mouth that he presents and the many ways in which those choreographies envelop and inflect voice, culture and politics leaves us in a dizzying, vertiginous space of possibility and potentiality.

• Preface: AssociativeIntroduction: Movement1. Bite, Chew, Eat2. Burp, Choke, Cough, Gag, Spit, Vomit3. Cry, Scream, Shout, Sing4. Gasp, Growl, Grunt, Sigh, Yawn 5. Gibberish, Gobbledygook6. Inner voice, Self-talk7. Kiss, Lick, Suck8. Laugh9. Murmur, Whisper10. Lisp, Mute, Stutter11. Recite, Repeat, Vow12. WhistleConclusion: DirtyEtc.NotesBibliographyIndex

Brandon LaBelle is an artist and writer working with sound culture, voice, and situated identity. His previous books, Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art (2006) and Acoustic Territories: Sound Culture and Everyday Life (2010) are also published by Bloomsbury. He is the editor of Errant Bodies Press and Professor at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway.

LaBelle shows how the mouth envelops and develops bodies, languages and subjectivities. He constructs what he calls the ‘oral imaginary’, the forms of figuration and function that define the role of the mouth as a cultural artefact … the many choreographies of the mouth that he presents and the many ways in which those choreographies envelop and inflect voice, culture and politics leaves us in a dizzying, vertiginous space of possibility and potentiality.

• Preface: AssociativeIntroduction: Movement1. Bite, Chew, Eat2. Burp, Choke, Cough, Gag, Spit, Vomit3. Cry, Scream, Shout, Sing4. Gasp, Growl, Grunt, Sigh, Yawn 5. Gibberish, Gobbledygook6. Inner voice, Self-talk7. Kiss, Lick, Suck8. Laugh9. Murmur, Whisper10. Lisp, Mute, Stutter11. Recite, Repeat, Vow12. WhistleConclusion: DirtyEtc.NotesBibliographyIndex