Nigel Ayers
Encyclopedia
Nigel Ayers is a multimedia artist
born in Tideswell
, Derbyshire
, England
, in 1957.
His sound art
has included numerous audio releases and live performances through his genre-busting group Nocturnal Emissions
.
His sound art
collaborations includes work with Bourbonese Qualk
, C.C.C.C., Andrew Liles
, Lustmord
, Randy Grief, Robin Storey, Expose Your Eyes, Stewart Home
, Z'EV
, and Zoviet France
.
In 1980 he founded the record label Sterile Records
, releasing the first records by John Balance
, Maurizio Bianchi
and Lustmord
, among many others.
In 1987 he formed the equally influential Earthly Delights (record label), specialising in audio works that critically examined the technological landscape and the psychic effect of sound.
In the early 90s he performed live soundtracks for the Butoh
performances of Poppo & the Go Go Boys. His visual art has been exhibited in the Tate
, ICA
, and worn by the soccer legend Diego Maradona
.
He married Lesley Ayers in 2001 and is currently resident in Cornwall
.
work is rooted in assemblage
and collage
. Years before digital sampling
became commonplace, his recordings used many thousands of carefully edited “found” and specially recorded sound samples. His interest in the psychological effects of sound, and in particular the recombination of sound to affect perception of time and space is reflected in CD titles such as “Practical Time Travel” where sound functions as snapshots of memory forming new associations as it passes into a simulated dream world. His work reflects the fluid nature of post-modern experience dipping into elements of fringe science
, outer space and ethnic music traditions; forming radical mutations of the popular song form and pitting “outsider” viewpoints against more orthodox media constructions of reality.
He is also very interested in eroding the concept of individualised artistic personality using digital technologies to enable multiple authorship. This is exemplified in the infinitely remixable sound sample libraries he has released as a sound developer in the commercially released sample libraries for Sony’s ACID Pro
and Propellerhead’s Reason (software).
In his sound installations, such as Soul Zodiac (2006) and The Planetarium Must Be Built (2007) he has explored the possibilities of digital remixes in both time and space, creating immersive four-dimensional audioworks using simple everyday equipment such as multiple CD boomboxes.
Multimedia artist
Multimedia artists are contemporary artists who use a wide range of media to communicate their art. Multimedia art includes, by definition, more than one medium, therefore multimedia artists use visual art in combination with sound art, moving images and other media...
born in Tideswell
Tideswell
Tideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, in England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide dry valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire Dales...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1957.
His sound art
Sound art
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....
has included numerous audio releases and live performances through his genre-busting group Nocturnal Emissions
Nocturnal Emissions
Nocturnal Emissions is a sound art project that has released numerous records and CDs in music styles ranging from electro-acoustic, musique concrète, hybridised beats, sound collage, post-industrial music, ambient and noise music....
.
His sound art
Sound art
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....
collaborations includes work with Bourbonese Qualk
Bourbonese Qualk
Bourbonese Qualk are an Experimental Music group which existed from 1980 to 2003.Bourbonese Qualk's credentials as early and important contributors to the Industrial scene is born out by their presence on the seminal Elephant Table compilation from 1983. Up until 1987, they were essentially a...
, C.C.C.C., Andrew Liles
Andrew Liles
Andrew Liles is a UK based sound artist and multi-instrumentalist. He has a vast output of recordings that he has released since the mid-1980s, covering a variety of styles as experimental music, dark ambient music, progressive rock and even hints at hard rock....
, Lustmord
Lustmord
Brian Williams is a British electronic musician often credited for creating the dark ambient genre with albums recorded under the name Lustmord.- History :Williams started recording as Lustmord in 1980 before joining SPK in 1982...
, Randy Grief, Robin Storey, Expose Your Eyes, Stewart Home
Stewart Home
Stewart Home is an English artist, filmmaker, writer, pamphleteer, art historian, and activist. He is best known for his novels such as the non-narrative 69 Things To Do With A Dead Princess , his re-imagining of the 1960s in Tainted Love , and earlier parodistic pulp fictions Pure Mania, Red...
, Z'EV
Z'EV
Z'EV is an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of industrial materials for a variety of record labels...
, and Zoviet France
Zoviet France
Zoviet France is a prolific music group from Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England. While often dissonant and made of industrial textures, their music also falls into the ambient music category...
.
In 1980 he founded the record label Sterile Records
Sterile Records
The Sterile Records record label was formed in London in 1979 by Nigel Ayers and Caroline K of the post-industrial music group Nocturnal Emissions. With a background in the mail art networks, their intention was to create and promote a new form of music...
, releasing the first records by John Balance
John Balance
John Balance , born in Mansfield, England, was the founder of the experimental music group Coil, along with his partner Peter Christopherson...
, Maurizio Bianchi
Maurizio Bianchi
Maurizio Bianchi is an Italian pioneer of noise music, originating from Milan.-Biography:...
and Lustmord
Lustmord
Brian Williams is a British electronic musician often credited for creating the dark ambient genre with albums recorded under the name Lustmord.- History :Williams started recording as Lustmord in 1980 before joining SPK in 1982...
, among many others.
In 1987 he formed the equally influential Earthly Delights (record label), specialising in audio works that critically examined the technological landscape and the psychic effect of sound.
In the early 90s he performed live soundtracks for the Butoh
Butoh
is the collective name for a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement inspired by the movement. It typically involves playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and is traditionally performed in white body makeup...
performances of Poppo & the Go Go Boys. His visual art has been exhibited in the Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
, ICA
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
, and worn by the soccer legend Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...
.
He married Lesley Ayers in 2001 and is currently resident in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
Sound Art
Nigel Ayers' sound artSound art
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that considers wide notions of sound, listening and hearing as its predominant focus. There are often distinct relationships forged between the visual and aural domains of art and perception by sound artists....
work is rooted in assemblage
Assemblage
An assemblage is an archaeological term meaning a group of different artifacts found in association with one another, that is, in the same context...
and collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
. Years before digital sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
became commonplace, his recordings used many thousands of carefully edited “found” and specially recorded sound samples. His interest in the psychological effects of sound, and in particular the recombination of sound to affect perception of time and space is reflected in CD titles such as “Practical Time Travel” where sound functions as snapshots of memory forming new associations as it passes into a simulated dream world. His work reflects the fluid nature of post-modern experience dipping into elements of fringe science
Fringe science
Fringe science is scientific inquiry in an established field of study that departs significantly from mainstream or orthodox theories, and is classified in the "fringes" of a credible mainstream academic discipline....
, outer space and ethnic music traditions; forming radical mutations of the popular song form and pitting “outsider” viewpoints against more orthodox media constructions of reality.
He is also very interested in eroding the concept of individualised artistic personality using digital technologies to enable multiple authorship. This is exemplified in the infinitely remixable sound sample libraries he has released as a sound developer in the commercially released sample libraries for Sony’s ACID Pro
ACID Pro
Sony ACID Pro is a professional digital audio workstation software program. It was originally called "ACID pH1" and published by Sonic Foundry, but is now developed and sold by Sony Creative Software....
and Propellerhead’s Reason (software).
In his sound installations, such as Soul Zodiac (2006) and The Planetarium Must Be Built (2007) he has explored the possibilities of digital remixes in both time and space, creating immersive four-dimensional audioworks using simple everyday equipment such as multiple CD boomboxes.