Sound is comprised of nine subjects: Audio Technology, Sound Culture,
Immersive Environments, Studio Recording, Studio Production,
Technology Composition & Perception, Sound Design, the Modern Soundtrack
and Live Audiovision. (details below) Each provides a specific historical and
theoretical overview that helps define key aspects of the studio area, supported
by a focus on the creative application of music technology in contemporary art
practice. Discussions centered around formal and conceptual approaches to
composition and perception provide students with a diverse range of options in
developing works that successfully operate within the broader realm of sound
culture. In addition to computer and studio-based composition, students are given
ongoing opportunities within the course to compose for public and collaborative
outcomes. These have included compositions for the Federation Bells, the
Melbourne Town Hall organ, the Urban Soundscape project (utilizing Melbourne’s
various public speaker systems) and the Ceramic Gamelan (an ongoing project
with the Ceramics department).

The Sound area is responsible for a number of national and international initiatives
that actively promote the diverse range of activities and philosophies informing
sound art and exploratory music. These include the annual Liquid Architecture
International Festival of Sound Art; the biennial Immersion Festival devoted to the
theory and practice of surround sound, and Variable Resistance, an ongoing
series of international sound art events showcasing the work of Australian
practitioners. Staff and graduates within Sound, School of Art maintains a high
profile within the Melbourne art community whilst recording, releasing, performing
and exhibiting both nationally and internationally.

Sound Art Staff

Dr. Phil Samartzis Studio Coordinator / Lecturer
www.microphonics.org

Philip Samartzis is studio coordinator and lecturer in Sound holding a doctorate in
surround sound in installation art. Outcomes from his research have informed
numerous exhibitions including; Dodg’em (2006), Grosser Wasserspeicher, Berlin;
Unheard Spaces (2004), Candiani Cultural Centre, Mestre; Presence & Absence
(2002), Statenlogement, Hoorn; and Transparency (2001), Cartier Foundation for
Contemporary Art, Paris. As an independent curator he has organized four
Immersion festivals focusing on the theory and practice of sound spatialisation, as
well as Variable Resistance for the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. This
overview of Australian sound culture was installed at the San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art (2002) and the Podewil Arts Centre in Berlin (2003) as “Variable
Resistance: Ten hours of sound from Australia”. As a solo artist he has performed
widely in Australia, Japan, Europe, Russia and the United States including
presentations at the Andy Warhol Museum and Mori Arts Centre. His solo compact
discs include Residue (1998), Windmills Bordered By Nothingness (1999),
Mort aux Vaches (2003), Soft and Loud (2004) & Unheard Spaces (2006).

Darrin Verhagen Lecturer
www.darrinverhagen.com

Darrin Verhagen has toured his minimal explorations in sound internationally,
presenting shows in Europe, America and Asia, and has more recently started
performing with his theatrical Shinjuku Thief project overseas. He has released over
20 CD’s of material under his own name and various pseudonyms, traversing dark
industrial, lowercase, postclassical and noise. His ongoing commissioned works
include scores and sound designs for theatre (MTC, STC, Malthouse), dance
(Australian Dance Theatre, Lucy Guerin, Chunky Move), animation (Patricia
Picinnini, Gina Czarnecki, Chris Henschke) computer games (most recently the
Dragon Age ad campaign) and TV (SBS documentaries, Foxtel/Showcase station
idents). His opera “Antidote” was nominated for a Greenroom award in 2008, an
award he had won previously with his soundtrack to the Melbourne Theatre
Company’s “Memory of Water”. His previous activities included running the Dorobo
(dark ambient), DLE (sound art) and Iridium (experimental techno) record labels.

His Masters research focused on delicate instability, an interest which will be
augmented by his (forthcoming) PhD in noise.

Sessional Staff

Philip Brophy
Robin Fox
Byron Scullin
Bruce Mowson