Ben Gwilliam (b. 1980) is a sound artist active in the fields of sound installation, curation, improvising new music and performance.
He describes his practice as drawing attention to those sounds between things, be it objects, spaces or recordings. It is these sounds and their contexts that reveal visual and musical processes of listening and looking.
It is from this curiosity about sound-making/recording/finding and how abstract/descriptive that sounds can be, that he makes parallels and similarities unpicking the relationship between those uncovered sounds and moments of primary experience.
In 2004 he was awarded an AHRB Postgraduate Award. In 2007 he was nominated for the Jerwood Artist platform Prize. His work has been featured on Resonance FM, and has work in several CD and Publication Releases. His has performed with artists such as Claus van Bebber, Espen Jensen, Helmut Lemke, Lee Patterson, and Jez Riley French, Rhodri Davies, Phil Durrant, Matt Davis, Hainer Woermann, Chris Heenan, Michael Vorfeld, and Sascha Demand. Since 2004 he has curated several experimental music and sound exhibitions including ‘re:sound’ 2005, UK, ‘Sculpting with Air’ Liverpool Biennial 2006 (co-curated with Lee Patterson), ‘then the silence increased’, 2007 UK (co-curated with Helmut Lemke). In 2008 he was Artist in Residence at Artist Unlimited, Bielefeld, DE
CV
MA contemporary Fine Art, University of Salford, 2004-2006
BA Visual Arts, University of Salford, 1999-2002
Selected Exhibitions
…menu for murmur, Salford, 2010
Weihnart 2009, Artists Unlimted, 2009
A few left traces(curator), Chapman Gallery, 2009
TEXT Festival, Bury Art gallery, 2009
Urban/ecology, Liverpool Biennial, 2008
eine kleine musik, Gallery Artists Unlimited, Bielefeld, DE, 2008
Signal, Finetuned, Brighton, 2007
Art+radio (guest selector), Cornerhouse, Manchester 2007
Then the silence increased (curator), Chapman Gallery, Manchester, 2007
Klang-Labor 06, Artoll Kunst Labor, Kleve, DE, 2006
Rogue Wave, FACT, Liverpool, 2006
RE:sound (curator), Mid Pennine Arts, Burnley, 2006
Ben Gwilliam, Borland Gallery, Salford, 2006
‘Unsilently’, CAC, North Adams, USA, 2005.
‘Do something’, Floating IP, Manchester, 2004.
‘Twenty’, Chapman gallery, Salford, 2004.
‘281’, Northern Warehouse, Manchester, 2003.
AD: LIB, Hull Time-based Arts, 2003.
‘Eve of destruction’, international3, Manchester, 2003.
An exercise for speakers and sugar, Salford University, 2002.
Selected Performances
fourmil plus quarterinch, Castlefield Gallery 2009
MIB night festival, Bremen 2009
If not this, Bury Art Gallery, Manchester 2009
Ryllega Berlin (with Michael Vorfeld & Chris Heenan), Berlin 2008
Salford concert series (co-curator), Manchester/Salford, 2007- current
Common Objects, London, 2006
BETA 2.2 conference, FACT, Liverpool, 2006
Sculpting with air concert series (co-curator), Liverpool Biennial, 2006
Sonic Arts Network Expo 06, Cornerhouse & Victoria baths, Manchester, 2006
‘luminous texts of a broken consciousness’, The Walker Art Gallery, 2006
‘Radio 0’, Hull Art Lab, Hull, 2006
‘Stance’, market gallery, Glasgow, 2005
Alectro_ecoustic, Manchester, 2005
+/minus support, Umist, Manchester 2004
‘We’ve just met’, Salford University, 2003
‘Listening cups in the soundscape’ various locations in Europe, 2002
‘Fonicphist’, Hull Time Based Arts, 7th/8th December 2001;
Residencies
Brombron, Extrapool, Nlimegan, the Netherlands, 2009
Artists Unlimited, Bielefeld, Germany, 2008
Curator in Residence, University of Salford, 2008-2009
‘Artoll Labor 2006’, Germany, 2006.
‘Ineditos 2004’, Obra social, Barcelona, 2004
‘Ineditos 2004’, La casa encendida, Madrid, 2004
‘The Fear’, Hull Time Based Arts, Hull, 2003;
‘Hot House’ (IOU Theatre), Sefton Park Palm house, Liverpool, 2003;
‘Artoll Labor 2002’ Germany, 2002
‘Living room’ Gallery, Peschia, Italy, 2001