Pamięć nośnika: obraz, ruch, dźwięk

This article analyses the technical possibilities and cultural significance of the most important sound recording devices and audio carriers. The experience with the reception of the sound material mediated by the successive inventions of audio technology allows us to indicate the formative features that turned phonography into one of the most significant cultural phenomena of modern times. The discussion combines a historical approach with a philosophical reflection and an attempt at a futurological diagnosis about the contemporary phonography-determined culture of listening. Acknowledged as important components in the development of phonography, crucial concepts such as ‘image’, ‘motion’ and ‘sound’ are analysed in the context of the ‘memory’ of audio carriers. Phonography is defined as a series of activities whose purpose is to mediate, recreate and replay sounds, as well as the results of these activities (objects, devices and carriers) and ways to experience them. The latter, including ways of listening and perception, are recognised as the most important part of the entire process, which allows us to consider phonography as a phenomenon that significantly changes not only specific habits but also ways of thinking about the world.