Penny Lecture: Sound = Art = Sound

Join us for this interactive Penny Lecture where Jonathan Higgins and Howlround. Jonathan reveals the inner workings of sound art - and the inner thoughts of sound artists through recent history. If you are curious about sound art, this lecture will investigate different aspects of Sound Art creation - from digital to physical.

In the second half of the Penny Lecture, the audience can participate in a fun interactive workshop with sound artist Howlround, exploring tape-based soundscape creation.

Speaker Biographies:

Jonathan Higgins

Jonathan is a composer and performer based in London, England. His music focuses on exploring how noise can be used as a creative and generative tool. Jonathan works across a variety of different media, including fixed electroacoustic music, instrumental music, live electronics and sound installations. He performs regularly across the UK as an improvisor using a custom setup of hand modified CD players. Jonathan recently completed a PhD in Composition at City, University of London and is a tutor in sound art at Morley College London. His music has been performed and published both nationally and internationally.

Howlround

First coming to prominence with hugely-acclaimed 2012 LP The Ghosts Of Bush, Howlround is a quintet (four slightly battered machines, one slightly battered operator) that creates recordings and performances entirely from manipulating natural acoustic sounds on vintage reel-to-reel tape machines, with all electronic effects or artificial reverb strictly forbidden. In an age where one can create all manner of electronic music with a simple swipe of a mouse, Howlround prove not only how much fun it is making things complicated again, but conversely just how little effort is sometimes needed to create a genuinely uncanny and beguiling soundworld: the rough underbelly of our pristine, Pro-Tools universe!