NOMINATION: Work of the Year - Electroacoustic / Sound Art
The Electroacoustic / Sound Art category is for works which utilise and manipulate digital and/or analogue sound as the primary medium. The work may be interdisciplinary (incorporating more than one media). It may include, but is not limited to; sonic art, electronics, interactive work, generative music, environmental sound, installations, soundscapes, electroacoustic music, and intermedia works.
A work is defined as a single complete musical composition, or expression. This includes music with movements or sub-works (i.e. song cycles), installations, and real-time compositions (improvised music).
If you believe your work to be nominated in the wrong category or the details of your nomination to be incorrect, please contact the AMC via email at awards@australianmusiccentre.com.au before proceeding with the nomination.
Art Music Award guidelines →
Nominee
Alexandra Spence
Title of the work
The Spiral (live)
Performer
Alexandra Spence
Venue
various - including Eastmint and New North Melbourne, The Lab San Francisco, The Old Hairdressers Glasgow and more
Nominator Statement
I nominate Alexandra Spences 2024 live set of 'The Spiral'. I had the pleasure to experience the premiere of this immersive and mesmerising audiovisual performance at Eastmint, Melbourne presented by record label and promoter/organiser Nice Music at the start of last year. I know she subsequently went on to tour this work in 2024 throughout Europe and the USA.
At the start of her performance Alexandra introduced the audience to the first sound she would present - a piece of ceramic smoking pipe from the 18th century that she found when 'mudlarking' on the banks of the River Thames in London. When placed in a glass of water, the air escaping from the pipe made a completely surprising and utterly magical sound - something I can only describe as a kind of techno beat played by insects. Alex continued to use an ingenious mix of organic and domestic objects and instruments such as shells, rocks, the hum of struck tuning forks, a tape player, field recordings (one of them sounded like a flock of sheep wearing bells), mixed with sine waves, a custom-made bowed instrument and audio processing to create a dynamic and shifting soundscape. I enjoyed watching Spence perform these objects as if presenting a kind of live foley soundtrack to an invisible film - or even asmr. Each object was explored with curiosity and precision to reveal surprising and compelling micro-sounds. The various sounds animated the room in a beautifully interconnected and organic manner, creating a hypnotic interplay between real and imaginary landscapes.
Nominee
Alexandra Spence
Title of the work
The Spiral (live)
Performer
Alexandra Spence
Venue
various - including Eastmint and New North Melbourne, The Lab San Francisco, The Old Hairdressers Glasgow and more
At the start of her performance Alexandra introduced the audience to the first sound she would present - a piece of ceramic smoking pipe from the 18th century that she found when 'mudlarking' on the banks of the River Thames in London. When placed in a glass of water, the air escaping from the pipe made a completely surprising and utterly magical sound - something I can only describe as a kind of techno beat played by insects. Alex continued to use an ingenious mix of organic and domestic objects and instruments such as shells, rocks, the hum of struck tuning forks, a tape player, field recordings (one of them sounded like a flock of sheep wearing bells), mixed with sine waves, a custom-made bowed instrument and audio processing to create a dynamic and shifting soundscape. I enjoyed watching Spence perform these objects as if presenting a kind of live foley soundtrack to an invisible film - or even asmr. Each object was explored with curiosity and precision to reveal surprising and compelling micro-sounds. The various sounds animated the room in a beautifully interconnected and organic manner, creating a hypnotic interplay between real and imaginary landscapes.