February 2005

Research seminar in honour of visiting artist/researcher Sten-Olof Hellström, Kunglige Tekniska Högskolan, Stockholm

Sten-Olof Hellstrom has worked in various branches of informatics, including the sonification project at the University of Limerick , and BT Labs in Ipswich , and is equally at home in electrical engineering and in contemporary composition. Founder member of the Swedish art-science interdisciplinary organisation ADRA, he has led sound-oriented research projects for several years at Stockholm ’s Kunglige Tekniska Hogskolan.

Presentations and demonstrations of his work by Sten-Olof were followed by feedback from the designated seminar respondents, discussion then being opened up to participants from a range of schools in the faculties of Humanities & Social Sciences, and Science, Agriculture & Engineering. Several attendees from the neighbouring Northumbria University were likewise welcomed to this first edition of Music and Machines. Key issues that arose during the debate consisted of definitions of expressive gesture, roles and readings of electronics and software artefacts in live performance, and issues of aesthetic versus functionalist criteria in the interpretation of organised sound.