Throughout the month of September, artists Lisa Simpson, Anju Singh and Roxanne Nesbitt have been collectively researching, designing, and building experimental sound making instruments together. In this work, tactile object creation and craft intersect with sound art practices. This process supports the development of custom built instruments/sound sculptures that each artist is working on using a co-learning and process-based methodology. 

Come hear what these artists have to say about process, experimentation and the intersections of their own research. 

Lisa Simpson has been playing the Singer, a sewing machine, since 2003. In the daytime she tackles unwanted clothing, pins them down and cuts them up, transforming them into new wearable shapes. By transforming wardrobes she is questioning contemporary consumption habits, bringing forth a discussion around the sustainability of the fashion industry. At nighttime the Singer joins her fellow musicians and Lisa sews to the beat of the music, improvising on clothing based on rhythm and sound. The prepared sewing machine is amplified to become a musical instrument and layers of sound are looped as layers of fabric are stitched together, creating a dreamlike soundscape, enhanced by self built wearable oscillators and feedback machines. For more information: https://agentecostura.art/

Roxanne Nesbitt is a designer,musician and sound artist of Indo-Caribbean and European ancestry. Her research explores radical instrument design, the hinge between composition and improvisation, and participatory sound installation. Roxanne believes in the power of new instruments to facilitate an exploration of sound free from colonial legacies of exclusion and perfectionism. With formal studies including architecture and classical double bass, Roxanne writes and performs with self-made instruments and a strong visual consideration. She celebrates process making work that is intimate, inquisitive, and exploratory. Roxanne is currently based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (Vancouver, CA). For more info see: roxannenesbitt.com

Anju Singh is a composer, musician, writer, sound designer and media artist based in Vancouver, BC who works with traditional instruments, electronics, found sounds, custom-built instruments, photography, video, serigraphy, and film to create works that explore tension and conflict. Anju’s practice is an exploration of texture through the use of extended or experimental techniques, use of electronics, experimenting with musical and non-musical materials, and electronic processing. One of the core processes in her practice is to use methods of deconstruction and reanimation to repurpose and contextualize materials in new compositional environments.

Anju’s work has been presented across Canada, in Europe, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States at festivals, galleries, and events in a variety of spaces including Send + Receive Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Polygon Gallery, and artist run/underground spaces. For more information, visit: https://www.anjusingh.com/selected-portfolio/