Institutional Presentation Statement 

June 10, Remote Institutional Presentation. Session: Art and environment

Keywords: Spatial audio, sonic art, sonification, perception, high density loudspeaker array

The presentation is a progress report on the design and installation of SoundLab, a physical art/research space with a hemispherical loudspeaker array dedicated to high spatial resolution audio at the School of Creative Media [SCM] in City University of Hong Kong [CityU] began in November 2020. It also introduces a study on the local context of sonic art in Hong Kong and possible future directions for the genre in the region to which it aims to contribute through its research and art as well as teaching and outreach activities.

SoundLab, funded with an ACIM (Centre for Applied Computing and Interactive Media) Joint Fellowship and hosted at SCM (Creative Media Centre, CityU) since November 2020 is a physical laboratory space with a loudspeaker array dedicated to high spatial resolution audio. SoundLab enables and supports a range of research, artwork, and teaching activities. The Joint Principal Investigators Dr PerMagnus Lindborg and Dr Ryo Ikeshiro are setting out six objectives through which the SoundLab will be deployed in research, artwork, teaching, and outreach.

In order to better understand the local context of sonic art, (used loosely as an umbrella term to refer to electroacoustic music [EAM], experimental music, electronic music, sound art etc. for want of a better term) to which we aim to contribute, we have undertaken a study with colleague Dr Damien Charrieras on the topic in Hong Kong for a forthcoming publication. We have interviewed musicians and artists based in Hong Kong involved in sonic art. The socio-economic and political factors contributing to the current state of art and music both inside and outside academia in Hong Kong are considered along with the interdisciplinary nature of local artists and musicians and the place of sonic art and EAM in their practice.
https://soundlab.scm.cityu.edu.hk

For the video recording of the talk see: Amalia Creus — Art and environment

• Ryo Ikeshiro (HK) is an artist, musician and researcher. His work explores the possibilities of meaning and context presented through sound as well as its materiality in relation to digital audio and audio technologies. He was part of the Asia Culture Center’s inaugural exhibition in Gwangju, South Korea, and is a contributor to Sound Art: Sound as a medium of art (ZKM Karlsruhe/MIT). He studied at Kings College London, Cambridge University and Goldsmiths, University of London. https://ryoikeshiro.com
• PerMagnus Lindborg, PhD, is a sound artist and researcher. He is Associate Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, creating installations, films, and concert artworks through SOUNDISLANDS, regularly publishing in journals and conferences. He serves as Asia-Oceania Regional Director and Music Coordinator of ICMA, and as Review Editor for Frontiers in Psychology. PerMagnus chaired Soundislands Festivals (2013, -15, -17) and DACA Conference on Data Art for Climate Action (2022). https://www.permagnus.org