sound sculpture

Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein. Nietzsche, Beyond good and Evil 1886 In the words of the ancient Chinese proverb, May you live in interesting times! — and it would appear that we do — a time in which centuries of accumulative environmental degradation forms a […]

This essay by Nigel Helyer and John Potts listens to the sound of place: of Bundanon, a three thousand acre property in the Shoalhaven river valley in rural NSW, Australia. Bundanon is today an artists’ colony and education centre, following the gift to the Australian people in 1993 of the entire property—including homestead, artist studio […]

This paper examines a series of creative sound-works which combine human and biological agents to re-mix, create and re-invent musical scores. The central concept is to consider Genes, Memes and Musical notation as parallel mnemonic structures that function as instructions for the fleshing-out of life across temporal barriers. GeneMusiK and associated works Under the IceCap […]

Oratorio Photo Essay:s

Oratorio and Heavy Metal

From June 1999 until September 2001 Nigel Helyer worked as an Artist in Residence at Lake Technology in Sydney, http://www.lake.com developing the Sonic Landscapes Virtual Audio Reality system. The project was funded for the first twelve months by the New Media Board of the Australia Council for the Arts under its Art and Industry partnerships […]

Sculptural installation with multi-channel audio and video components. Exhibited. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 1995 as part of the “Sound in Space” National Sound Art Survey exhibition. Materials. Timber, audio-visual electronics, low frequency audio drivers. Dimension. x4 units @ 3m x 2m x 3m. Installation footprint 10m x 8m x 3m. Videotext. Single channel […]

Exhibited. Spectro Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K. 1982. Materials. Section 1. Circle: Pigmented sand; carbonised wood; pit fired earthenware vessels (x8) (35cm dia); carbonised grain; seabird skulls/bones; metal blades; Polaroid photograph.Section 2. Canoe: Steel and Weldmesh framework; clay; straw; steel wire; glass and mirror fragments (x8); Polaroids and associated negative waste; strip lights 40w. (x8). Section 3 […]

Exhibited. The Palmhouse, Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney 1999. Materials. Ceramic, Sourdough, Zinc, Timber, Audio electronics. Dimensions. Footprint 19m x 7m x 3m. Notes. A botanical garden puts down its roots towards Eden, a small part of paradise planted on ground with a fair claim to being Eden itself. The garden is in effect a confluence […]

Exhibited. “Drift” was commissioned by Hull Time Based Arts of Hull, UK for TooT (Totally out of Tune) festival 1999. Materials. Sidewinder Trawler, Multichannel audio and wood and Aluminium sculptural element. Dimensions. Installation footprint 15m x 10m x 4m. Notes. The work “Drift” is a dynamic 3 D spatialised soundwork installed in the fish hold […]