The SOUND/IMAGE group is delighted to announce its newest ‘Composers in Residence’ working with the IKO Loudspeaker based at the University of Greenwich, to share their works and expertise in a series of concerts across Greenwich.
The IKO is a unique system in spatial sound. Instead of the usual ‘outside-in’ approach to multi-channel sound, the IKO’s 20 speaker drivers reproduces an ‘inside-out’ experience using direct and reflected beams of sound which bring to life the material and architectural elements of a site.
The IKO residency programme allows artists to apply to work with the IKO on a rolling basis. We are incredibly excited to have three exceptional women in residence currently. Our wish to have the IKO reach a diverse range of artists and publics. Our current residents are Arts Council funded, and we can support artists to apply for funding through the Arts Council or other bodies. At present artists do need to self-fund, though there is an option to contribute to IKO activities and ‘bank’ some hours for the training, mentoring and studio time needed to work with the IKO. For more information visit [best URL here].
Emma Margetson
Emma Margetson is an acousmatic composer and sound artist with extensive experience in multichannel composition, sound diffusion and interpretation. She has received a variety of awards and special mentions for her work including, first prize in the prestigious L’Espace du Son International Spatialisation Competition by INFLUX (Musiques & Recherches), klingt gut! Young Artist Award in 2018 and Ars Electronica Forum Wallis 2019.
A research and development residency of training, mentoring, and studio experimentation with the 32-channel eigenmike and 20-faced IKO speaker over a period of six months. This opportunity will enable me to challenge my previous approaches to spatial composition and provide time for experimentation and development, enabling me to make transformative developments in my practice and to innovate new approaches using ambisonic technology.
As a practitioner it will provide me with time to take risks and explore various strategies for further development, in particular for future collaborations and new project opportunities, catalysing upon my compositional interests in space and audience engagement to date.
Brona Martin
Dr Brona Martin is an Irish Electroacoustic composer and sound artist based in Birmingham, UK. Brona is currently a Research Associate at the University of Kent, on the AHRC funded project, A Sonic Palimpsest: Revisiting Chatham Historic Dockyards. She is also a member of the IKO Spatial Audio – SOUND/IMAGE Research group at the University of Greenwich.
Brona has just received ‘Develop Your Creative Practice’ funding from Arts Council England for a proposal on “Immersive Interactive VR” which will explore soundscape composition, installation art, gaming technologies and spatial audio using the IKO speaker at the University of Greenwich. The proposed project expands upon her experience of working with spatial audio within the context of electroacoustic composition. The aim of the project is to develop skills, experiment and receive mentorship in relation to the usage of gaming and virtual environments to create immersive 3D installations, interactive spaces and VR experiences. During this time, she will also develop a practical and theoretical framework which will explore the documentation of place and the embodiment of soundscapes within the context of acoustic ecology and virtual reality. The project will also explore spatial audio workflows and audio spatialisation technologies within virtual reality projects.
Nikki Sheth
Nikki Sheth is an internationally recognised sound artist and composer. Her practice involves field recording, soundscape composition, multimedia installations and soundwalking. Her work uses multichannel and ambisonic spatial practices in sound to create immersive listening experiences, engage with audiences and bring a voice to the natural world.
The IKO residency at The University of Greenwich will further develop my knowledge and skills of spatial composition and investigate how spatial practices and workflows using the IKO and eigenmike can be applied when working with environmental sound. My work is concerned with encouraging a wider awareness of the environmental and environmental issues that we face. I engage with audiences through immersive technologies such as multichannel and ambisonics composition and working with the IKO speaker is naturally the next step in this research progression. This opportunity will provide me with bespoke training, expert mentorship and support and studio development time with the eigenmike and IKO speaker at the University of Greenwich. It provides the opportunity for dedicated research time to experiment, develop and transform my practice, keep up with and find new ways of working with spatial technologies and take risks to produce new and innovative work in the field.