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Strijbos & Van Rijswijk

Country : The Netherlands

© Marion Ribon

People are always surrounded by sound, wherever they are. Each individual is the centre of a personal sphere, a personal world of sound. In a concert situation, however, it is taken for granted that music comes from one direction. This frontal approach reflects the division between musicians and audience, between performers and consumers.

As sound artists they propose an approach that corresponds to the way in which people usually experience their environment, in spatial sound and imagery. They look beyond simply and only composing music. They devise the context and the environment in which they have the music occur, they respond in the design of visuals and sound to an existing context or environment. They do this in compositions, installations and pieces in which composition and installation are interwoven.

Pivotal in their work is the experience of the audience, interacting as active participants with the sounding environment that we create. In their compositions, which vary from pure music to spatial installations, they may incorporate projection on screens, the acoustic properties of the space where a piece takes place. They challenge people to approach it with an open mind. They can walk around it, through it, seat themselves inside it. The sound may come from different directions. It can surround them, engulf them. The sound sources may be distributed over a space - moving around visitors experience the various sonic events.