Sonic Art Research Unit

SARU is a research group that provides a forum for dialogue and exploration between the fields of experimental composition and sound art. It is situated in the School of Arts at Oxford Brookes University between the fields of Music and Fine Art. Areas of interest include electroacoustic and language based composition, interdisciplinary practices, field recording and auditory knowledge.

SARU is bolstered by a community of practitioners and is home to audiograft, a festival of contemporary experimental music and sound art.

You can get involved in SARU through our Research Degree programme.

Banner image of Harriet Butler, Renzo Spiteri and Helen Frosi, taken during their residency, ‘Knowing Another is Endless’, at audiograft 2019.

Visiting Practitioner Seminar Series: Tom Tlalim

Monday 12th April 2021, 18:00-20:00 GMT

X-ray image of cochlear implant — Source: Medel – https://blog.medel.com/close-up-with-cochlear-implant-electrode-arrays/

Tom Tlalim‘s work explores the relation between sound, technology and political power. His practice includes installations, sound art, films and text. His artwork examines sonic artefacts, voice and spaces as ideological devices. In 2016-18 he was artist in residence at the Victoria and Albert museum, leading to the exhibitions ‘Tonotopia’ and ‘The Future Starts Here’. Other recent exhibitions include the Venice Architecture Biennale (With Susan Schuppli / Forensic Architecture, 2016), TodaysArt (Kawasaki, 2016), ‘Art in the age of Asymmetrical Warfare’ (Witte de With, 2015), ‘Hlysnan’ (Casino Luxemburg, 2014), and See you in The Hague (Stroom, 2014). His work was nominated for the Tiger award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and his regular collaborations with the choreographer Arkadi Zaides are performed widely. He received his PhD in Media, Art and Cultural Studies from Goldsmiths University of London and he holds MAs in Composition and Sonology from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. He is senior lecturer and leads the Creative Research unit at Wimbledon college of Arts, UAL.

www.tonotopia.org

Publications

Physical works distributed through SARU by current members and affiliate artists.

VISIT THE SARU STORE

People

If you want to know more you can find a collection of work by SARU on the Oxford Brookes University research repository RADAR or take a look at the following links (many more can be found throughout our website):

audiograft
Sound Diaries

Please contact sonicartresearchunit at gmail dot com for more information or if you have questions.

SARU supports the record label Consumer Waste and often works in partnership with Compost and Height and Oxford Contemporary Music.