2017
In her 2017 doctoral thesis, "Sound Art: Discourses of Definition in the Contemporary Artworld", submitted to Newcastle University, Aruna Devi Bhaugeerutty investigates the institutional and historical struggles to define "sound art" as a distinct field.
Bhaugeerutty identifies Max Neuhaus as a "threshold figure" crucial to the emergence of the genre's nomenclature.
The Term "Sound Installation": She analyzes how Neuhaus intentionally distanced himself from the term "music" to avoid the baggage of performance and time-based structures, opting instead for "sound installation" to emphasize spatial permanence.