30 November - 6 December 2009
12:00 noon - 6:00 pm Monday - Sunday

Click on image for slide show.

Performance Evening: Thursday 3 December 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Symposium: Saturday 5 December 3:00 - 6:00 pm

An exhibition of new works by eight sound artists, Noise Control addressed the manner in which we deal with the subtle balance between different concepts of noise and how it undergoes transformation in the arts.

There exist vastly differing interpretations of what constitutes ‘noise’, and the exhibition demonstrated how the artistic control of noise lies at the very heart of artistic practices, whether they be music, installation, film, or performance. Noise Control presented work by Antoine Bertin, Haris Custovic, Karl Gibson, Victoria Karlsson, Matthias Kassmannhuber, Zuzana Novak, Alex Paschali and Marco Schilling.

Some of the artists in the exhibition use noise as the medium to reveal sonic properties: Custovic’s video work examining the facial expressions in reaction to unfamiliar sounds, or Schilling’s shaping of background noise to explore the boundaries where noise and music overlap. Karlsson addresses the transformation of sounds to and from language, and how the inconsistent nature of verbal communication incorporates shifts of meaning and interpretation that oscillate between signification and noise.

Other works show how noise can be shaped by our environment. Kassmannhuber’s site-specific installation demonstrates how audio feedback can be controlled through the manipulation of its trajectory through space, whilst Paschali explores the near-mythologising of the notion of resonant frequencies and Bertin’s sonic “explorations” document sounds from spaces just outside of our reach.

Other artists deal with more socio-cultural definitions of noise. Novak explores the voices of London’s homeless population, her work revealing how these voices, overlooked or ignored by mainstream society, occupy and shape our concepts of social space. Gibson is concerned with the origins of the customs and traditions of Hip-Hop and whether they have been misappropriated as Hip-Hop culture is absorbed into the mainstream.

Noise Control was curated by Joel Cahen and Mark Jackson, IMT’s project co-ordinator. Cahen practices in sound, video and improvisation. He creates sound for films and dance productions and plays on a weekly radio show on Resonance FM called Soundsoup. Together with sound artist Wajid Yaseen of Uniform, Cahen created Scrap Club, a public destructivist activity. In 2008 Cahen created the touring underwater sound art gallery Wet Sounds.

Noise Control was an exhibition and symposium presenting the final work of eight MA Sound Arts graduates of London College of Communication. The groundbreaking work in the exhibition demonstrated the high level of critical debate in sonic disciplines fostered by the university’s Department of Sound Art and Design since 1998.

Posted under archive-listing, project-listing