ALEXANDRA SPENCE | SONIC PERFORMANCE

When a satellite is disposed of, it is sent either upwards, into the ‘graveyard orbit’ in Earth's upper atmosphere, or downward, burning up upon its descent or sinking into a spacecraft cemetery in the nether regions of the Pacific Ocean. Fascinated and appalled by these practices, Alexandra Spence will present a new quadrophonic sound work exploring Earth’s material relationship with space, and the historic connections between electroacoustic music and our perception of space.The performance will be inspired by sonified space data, and composed of Spence’s own recordings of the Ionosphere (using a VLF receiver*), analogue synthesisers, amplified objects and magnetic tape manipulations.

*VLF receivers pick up the electromagnetic impulses generated by lightning storms in Earth’s atmosphere and the Sun's solar wind interacting with the Magnetosphere.

Alexandra Spence is a sound artist and musician living on unceded Wangal land in Sydney, Australia. Through her practice Alex attempts to reimagine the intricate relationships between the listener, the object, and the surrounding environment as a kind of communion or conversation. Her aesthetic favours field recordings, analog technologies and object interventions. Alex has presented her art and music in Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America including Vancouver Art Gallery; BBC Radio 3 & 4; Ausland, Berlin; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Sound Forms Festival, HK; MCA ARTBAR, Firstdraft Gallery, and Liveworks Festival, with Liquid Architecture, Sydney. She has released her work with labels Room40, Longform editions, More Mars (w. MP Hopkins) and Canti Magnetici.

Alexandra Spence Sonic Performance is a part of the 2022 Cement Fondu BETTER NATURE program.

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