Els Viaene (°1979, Belgium) started her work as a sound artist / field recordist in 2001. With a set-up of two small microphones she listens, zooms into and enlarges the aural landscapes surrounding us. The natural rhythms and textures of the sounds hidden in those landscapes form the basis of her work.
Working on these sound materials for performances, sound compositions or installations she makes the listeners travel in imaginary and organic environments. Through the specific use and set-up of sound within a space her installations create new spaces within existing ones, either emphasizing or making dissapear the physical borders of that space.
In doing so she often plays with the notions of seeing and hearing, the perception of what we see and hear and how both interfere.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 "Das Raunen Der Sammlung", Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum (D)
"The Sound Is Where", Kemnade Klingt, Bochum (D)
"Magie, Machines, Medias", Saint-Ex Reims, Reims (FR)
"Le Murmure des Dieux", Bon Accueil, Rennes (FR)
"Biennale Le Mans Sonore", Le Mans Sonore, Le Mans (FR)
2019 Parcours d'exhibition, Interstice Festival, Caen (FR)
2018 "Sound Art to Object", Biënnale Interieur & Wilde Westen, Kortrijk (B)
"Mois Multi", Recto Verso, Québec (CA)
"Storm op Komst", De Warande, Turnhout (B)
2017 "Bruits Blancs", Anis Gras, Paris (FR)
"Augsburger Kunstlabor", Lab30, Augsburg (D)
"Albanova", Musica, Alden-Biesen (B)
2016 "The State of Things", iMal, Brussels (B)
Parcours d'exhibition, KIKK Festival, Namur (B)
"Vorig jaar in Gdansk", Blanco Nucleo, Gent (B)
2015 "On The Shores", PLUNC Festival, Lisbon (PT)
"Meanwhile ... The City", Laznia, Gdansk (P)
2014 Exhibition, FILE Festival, Sao Paulo (BR)
2013 "Dropouts", M-Museum, Leuven (B)
"Private Investigations", Beursschouwburg, Brussels (B)
"Storm op Komst", De Warande, Turnhout (B)
2010 "Musik für Barbaren und Klassiker", Netwerk, Aalst (B)
SOLO EXHIBITION
2021 "Ways of Seeing Sound", Lydgalleriet, Bergen (NO)
2019 "Aural Landscape", Bon Accueil, Rennes (FR)
PUBLICATIONS
2018 - (in print) Lecture Sound as an Immersive Experience, Bonn University: “Musik ausstellen: Re/Präsentationen von Musik und Sound in musealen Kontexten”
2016 - Exhibition publication, Vorig jaar in Gdańsk, by Lore Rabaut, Frank Depoorter, Line Boogaerts, Oscar van den Boogaard, Els Viaene, by Nucleo
2015 - Catalogue, 18th Japan Media Arts Festival
2014 - Catalogue, In the Digital Tracking, FILE Festival, Sao Paulo
2013- Exhibition publication, Blijven Kijken / Ce qui nous regarde / Dropouts, Pieter Van Bogaert for M-Museum, p 41. ‘Soft Boundary’
2011 - Media Art and Digital Culture in Flanders Belgium, published by BAM
2007 - Audioframes, 6 years of audiovisual presentation, by Happy New Ears
2007 - Autumn Leaves, Sound and the Environment in Artistic Practice, by Crisap
2006 - Annual 2006, Netwerk, Center for Contemporary Art, published by Netwerk
2006 - X-MED-A, Experimental Media Arts, by Okno, FoAM, Nadine, iMAL
AWARDS
2015 - Honorary Mention Jury Selection, 18th Japan Media Arts Festival
2012 - Honorary Mention Prix Phonurgia Nova, Gaîté Lyrique
2009 - Qwartz Electronic Music Award
LECTURES / MASTERCLASSES / WORKSHOPS
2020 Masterclass Field Recording, La Semaine du Son, Flagey, Brussels (B)
2019 Masterclass On Listening, EPAS, Kask, Ghent (B)
2017 Masterclass Experiencing Sound through Space, UGhent Architecture (B)
Workshop Sound and Space, EPAS, Kask, Ghent (B)
Masterclass On Listening, EPAS, Kask, Ghent (B)
Masterclass Binaural Recording, HOWEST, Kortrijk (B)
Artist Talk, Prima Materia, Fiber Festival, Amsterdam (NL)
2016 Workshop Sound and Space, EPAS, Kask, Ghent (B)
Masterclass On Listening, EPAS, Kask, Ghent (B)
2014 Lecture Sound As An Immersive Experience (D), Conference Bonn
University “Musik ausstellen: Re / Präsentationen von Musik und Sound in
Museale Kontexten.”, Bonn (D)
Lecture Artist Talk, Instituto Europeo di Design, Sao Paulo (BR)
Masterclass The Two Directions of Listening, Hercules Lab, Kask, Ghent (B)
2012 Workshop Sound As Space, Soundlab Prague and Sounds of Europe,
Skolska 28, Prague (CZ)
2011 Workshop Sound As Space, Lilia Mestre and Nadine vzw, Brussels (B)
2009 Workshop Sound/Space/Relation, Lilia Mestre and a.pass, Antwerp (B)
PERFORMANCES
2019 A point in time, binaural, Oscillations Festival, Q-O2, Brussels (B)
2018 A point in time, binaural, Alte Schmiede & Kunstradio, Vienna (AT)
A point in time, binaural, Tilburg University, Tilburg (NL)
Potamoi, binaural, Tuned City "Listening Politics", Messene (GR)
2014 Drawing of a Landscape, Velak Gala, Atelier Claus, Brussels (B)
2013 Absence, live radio, Ars Acustica Musique 3, Flagey, Brussels (B)
2012 Le Temps Immobile, multichannel, Netwerk, Aalst (B)
Follow Me Inside Out, cello and live-processing, Festival Van Vlaanderen,
Kortrijk (B)
2011 Le Temps Immobile, multichannel, Field Fest, Q-O2, Brussels (B)
Airstream, outdoor quadrophonic, Tuned City Sonic Landmarks, Tallinn (EE)
Follow Me Inside Out, cello and live-processing, Spor festival, Aarhus (DK)
Mamori, collaboration Annie Mahtani, Soundkitchen, Birmingham (UK)
Courent d'Air, multichannel, collaboration François Martig, Q-O2, Brussels (B)
Vibrant Particles, live on podcast, Arteleku Audiolab, Bera (ES)
Live-In-Room, installation/performance, collaboration Lilia Meste, Ganz Novi
festival, Zagreb (HR)
2010 Secret Life, multichannel, Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels (B)
Live-In-Room, installation/performance, collaboration Lilia Mestre, Szene
Salzburg, Salzburg (AT)
2009 Live-In-Room, installation/performance, collaboration Lilia Mestre, Working
Title festival, Beursschouwburg, Brussels (B)
The Glasshouse, installation/performance, collaboration with François Martig,
Happy New Ears festival, Kortrijk (B)
2008 Forever Young, live radio, Art's Birthday Musique 3, Brussels (B)
Friction, stereo set-up, Velak Gala, Konzerthaus, Wien (AT)
2007 An Imaginary Place for Invisible Sounds, headphone, Art's Birthday,
Okno (B)
2006 Exploring The Room, quadrophonic in white cube with live generated
graphics, collaboration with Eavesdropper and Petersonic, Mediaruimte,
Brussels (B)
What's in a name, live processing and piano, collaboration with Johan
Hoogewijs, Netwerk, Aalst (B)
Black Box, heaphones and multiple speakers, V2, Rotterdam (NL)
2003 Shine, stereo set-up, Netwerk, Aalst (B)