Lawrence English

Lawrence English (born 1976) is a composer, artist and curator living in Brisbane, Australia. His work is broadly concerned with the politics of perception, specifically he is interested in the nature of listening and sounds' capability to occupy the body.[1] He is the director of the imprint Room40, started in 2000.

Not to be confused with Larry English.

Lawrence English in 2012

Sound works

English's music is recognised as exploring "environmental and musical sources and is highly regarded for its intelligent invocation of perception, memory and space".[2] On his 2014 album Wilderness of Mirrors[3] he outlines his approach to composition "For me it's about a kind of struggle between almost nothing and almost everything. Sometimes one sound can be too much and other times 50 layers seems lacking in the depth you want to convey. I think at the heart of this question is dynamics, and I feel that's very much what this album is about. It's a slow reveal, I want it to be a seduction."[4]

He cites childhood experiences birdwatching for reed warbler with his father as the starting point for his interest in sound in space. He has stated, "If you just looked in the reeds you'd see nothing. If you listened you got an idea of space and a sense of where it might be, then you understood it. That's probably my first experience with these ideas of space and sound, which are basically the fundamental building blocks of what I've been interested in since then."[5] These experiences have led to a long engagement with field recordings, and more recently the development of theoretical approaches to the practice including his Relational Listening theory.[6]

Selected Solo Discography
  • 2001 – Map51F9 (IAG)
  • 2004 – Ghost Towns (room40)
  • 2004 – Transit (Cajid)
  • 2005 – Limnology (Autumn)
  • 2005 – Happiness Will Befall (Crónica)
  • 2006 – Suikinkutsu (Autumn)
  • 2007 – For Varying Degrees of Winter (Baskaru)
  • 2008 – Kiri No Oto (Touch)
  • 2008 – Studies For Stradbroke (Winds Measure)
  • 2008 – It's Up To Us To Live (Sirr)
  • 2009 – A colour For Autumn (12K)
  • 2011 – The Peregrine (Experimedia)
  • 2012 – For/Not For John Cage (Line)
  • 2013 – Lonely Women's Club (Important)
  • 2014 – Wilderness of Mirrors (Room40)
  • 2015 – The Peregrine (Room40, reissue)
  • 2017 – Cruel Optimism (Room40)

Artworks

Lawrence English has exhibited numerous auditory, kinetic, public and structural artworks that are primarily concerned with the politics of perception and consider field, perception and memory.

Selected Exhibitions

  • 2019 – Standing Wave, Fremantle Biennial; Australia
  • 2019 – Solicitudes, The Substation; Melbourne, Australia
  • 2019 – Rhythm Of Protest, Lismore Regional Gallery; Australia
  • 2018 – Seíra, Fulcrum Arts, Los Angeles, USA
  • 2018 – Time Robbers, MZU, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2017 – Utterance, as part of This Is A Voice, Museum Of Applied Arts And Sciences; Sydney , Australia
  • 2017 – A People’s Choir, Museum Of Applied Arts And Sciences; Sydney
  • 2016 – Approaching Nothing, as part of Time Robbers, Fine Art Museum; Split, Croatia
  • 2016 – The Visitors, Onassis Arts Centre; Athens, Greece (continues over)
  • 2016 – Exotic Birds Of Prey (And Their Environs), CTM; Berlin, Germany
  • 2015 – Ricochet, For All That Fall, National Portrait Gallery; Canberra, Australia
  • 2015 – Audition, Asia Pacific Triennial; Gallery Of Modern Art, Australia
  • 2015 – Everyday Whispers, Asia Pacific Triennial; Gallery Of Modern Art, Australia
  • 2014 – Light Of Extinction (w/ Keith Armstrong), National Art Museum of China; Beijing, China
  • 2014 – Dissolving Hydrophilia, Fermata@Artisphere; Washington, USA
  • 2013 – Heavy Nothing / I’ll Be Your Mirror, QUT Art Museum, Australia
  • 2013 – Night Rage (w/Keith Armstrong), ISEA; Sydney, Australia
  • 2012 – Sur Polar, Centro Hispano Americano de Cultura; Havana, Cuba
  • 2012 – Formant, M50; Shanghai, China
  • 2011 – I Stole Your Kiss, Boxcopy; Brisbane, Australia
  • 2011 – Slender Blue (w/ Werner Dafeldecker), University Of Hertfordshire Gallery, UK
  • 2010 – Black Wind, Inbetween Spaces, Brisbane
  • 2009 – A Remote Echo, Metro Arts, Brisbane
  • 2009 – 12 Tone Galaxy Of Bells, Condomine Weir, Australia
  • 2008 – Three Part Harmony For Architecture, Media Centre: Huddersfield, UK
  • 2007 – Re: Collections, State Library Of Queensland, Australia
  • 2006 – Silence Listening, Queen St Mall, Australia
  • 2005 – Ghost Towns, Artspace; Auckland, New Zealand
  • 2004 – SIGHT Site, Somida Hall; Tokyo, Japan
  • 2003 – Sounds Like, Performance Space; Sydney, Australia
  • 2002 – Variable Resistance, Museum Of Modern Art; San Francisco, USA
  • 2001 – Medi@Terra; Frankfurt, Germany

References
  1. Twells, John. "I want to do things that have meaning". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  2. Zuvela, Danni. "10 years of room40: privileging the ears". realtime. realtime. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. howe, brian. "wilderness of mirrors". Pitchfork.
  4. Wallen, Doug. "I want it to be a seduction". Mess And Noise. Mess and Noise.
  5. Clark, Alistair (8 October 2010). "Lawrence English". Crasier Frane. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  6. english, lawrence. "A Beginners Guide To Field Recording". Fact Magazine.
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