recent work>>>
October 5-6, 2024 >> 19:30 - 07:30
"Caldeiras" Sound and Visual Installation
Nuit Blanche Festival
12 hour Installation
Theatre Centre, Toronto CA
Centering on the natural phenomena of the volcanic island São Miguel, the sound and video installation reconnects a rural history with Portuguese immigration to Toronto.
27.06.24
Sound performance
Vernisage with Donna Conlon (PAN) "De las cenizas"
Verwalterhaus, Berlin
Sonic story-telling using field recordings from the islands of Andros, Greece; São Miguel, Portugal; and the forests of Brandenburg, where the sounds of the natural biophony—such as frogs, bats, cranes, and cuckoos—are interpreted through instrumental replications.
03-05.04.24
AAN HET WATER Chapter 2.0
A/V Installation and Performance
Besiendershuis, Nijmegen NL
Presented in the exhibition space of the 500-year old Besiendershuis, writer and visual artist Ilona Verhoeven and composer and audiovisual artist Timothy Isherwood played with words, sounds and (visual) poetry. Again with the Waal river as a starting point, in Part 2 of the series they reflected in an 'ongoing process' on water in the world, its symbolism in the light of fantasy and poetry whilst thinking about what story telling can portray.
08-21.10.23
AAN HET WATER Chapter 1.0
A/V Installation and Performance
Besiendershuis, Nijmegen NL
A collaborative project by writer Ilona Verhoeven (NL) and Timothy Isherwood, exploring the environs of the river Waal through text, image and sound. The installation was presented in the underground cellar and tunnel-like spaces of the Besiendershuis (the historic shipping customs house) at the same level as the riverbed. // How does the river speak to and coexist with human activity? Does the river have universal human rights? And how has it shaped the land/sound-scape over the centuries?
06.11.22-05.12.22
CALDEIRAS
Sound Work: Sonic Matter Festival, Zurich 05.12.22
Live Performance: Morphine Raum, Berlin 06.11.22
The ongoing research project and performative work centres on the natural sonic phenomena of the volcanic island of São Miguel in the Açores. Begun in August 2022, the project embraces humanity’s symbiotic connection to the earth; a reflection on how humans and nature intrinsically affect change.
23.11.22
FRAMES OF KOSOVO
Feature Story: 20 Seconds Magazine Issue 5
Words and photos by Timothy Isherwood
"Between Prizren and Pristina, Timothy Isherwood speaks to the director of the Lumbardhi Foundation, Ares Shporta, as well as Veton Nurkollari, the founder and director of Dokufest, the international documentary and short film festival held annually in Prizren. Alongside curator Nita Deda, they tell the story of cities holding on to their right to assemble, to celebrate their culture and to do so with the rest of continental Europe, a land not so far away, but often difficult to get to."__20 Seconds
14.11.22
REALITY SCRATCH MAGAZINE
Issue 1
Short fiction and Sound work publication
Publication of short-fiction story "The Avant-Garde" author Timothy Isherwood, in tandem with sound work for C70 cassette compilation—"Caldeiras" by sir o sir
03.06.22
SIGNAL II KlANGEXPERIMENTE
Sounding Installation Performance on S.H.E. Structure
Grünfläche, Berlin
The electroacoustic work resonates as a visible and audible signal, representative of the bell tower or radio antenna, both of which were revolutionary and transformative in the history of human communication and development. A structure (icosahedron) made of aluminum rods is played as a sounding instrument with electronic devices manipulating the acoustic sounds.
25.06.22
SPIEGEL PRISMA
Sound Installation
Basel, Switzerland
Sound design for outdoor mirror installation by S.H.E. Sonically contextualizing an interview with sociologists Saskia Sassen and Richard Sennet
25.04.22
SASHA MARIANNA SALZMANN INTERVIEW
20 Seconds Magazine Issue 4
Words and interview by Timothy Isherwood
"In the words of Romanian writer Mircea Cărtărescu, “literature is teratology.” Despite your intention to say anything real about yourself, your hand turns against you to pen the degenerate or fantastical. From a young age we are defined by the cultures in which we are immersed—regardless of whether we adhere to them we are dancing a constant flux, conscientiously or not. Cultural experiences and lived political perspectives resonate throughout the work of playwright, essayist and novelist Sasha Marianna Salzmann."__ Timothy Isherwood
01-31.10.21
VIDEOPRISMA + RAUMFILTER
A/V Installation
Galerie Greifswalderstr35, Berlin
A collaborative work with visual artist Stefan Heinrich Ebner (S.H.E). The technological campfire forms the center of the event. The performer acts in the midst of a semitransparent moving image space. Free viewers perceive and complement by attention and presence the contemporary ritual of electronic sounds and transparent moving images.
08-09.21
SOUND WALK BERLIN "Dissonance and Desire II"
Initiative Neue Musik Berlin / field-notes
Soundwork and soundpost for Monat der zeitgenössischen Musik. The public soundwalk at the St. Nicolai und St. Marien Friedhof in Berlin is composed from elements found within the nature and historical purpose of the surroundings.
05.07.21
SASHA WALTZ INTERVIEW
20 Seconds Magazine Issue 3
Words and interview by Timothy Isherwood
"Politically-potent themes have directed many of the narratives featured in the work of German choreographer Sasha Waltz. Her latest dance work, In C, signals a vibrant change and fuels a need, Waltz feels, to express hopefulness in an imminent rebirth from solitude and isolation."__ Timothy Isherwood
05.07.21
KHYAM ALLAMI INTERVIEW
20 Seconds Magazine Issue 3
Words and interview by Timothy Isherwood
"According to musician and researcher Khyam Allami, our creative sensibilities have been suppressed by a deeply ingrained and globally standardized system of pitch and music notation. Allami is intent on clarifying some of the assumptions surrounding tunings and microtonality—where they come from and why they are sometimes misguided."__ Timothy Isherwood
01.05.21
"EVERY LINE BECOMES A CIRCLE" (Trailer)Director/Writer/Producer: Lynnette Luis
Co-Directors: Ottilie Maters & Christopher Leete
Music Composition: Timothy Isherwood
Documentary film about the extraordinary life of post-war German artist Inge Besgen, (b. 1931 in Ingelheim am Rhein). Together with Inge we reflect on her life using the art she made as a reference in time.
21.05.20
SOLAR PANELS ON THE MOON"
12" vinyl record release by sir o sir
Famous Grapes Recordings (FGR01)
Cover Design by Melissa Amarelo // Photo by Elsa Laurent
Solar Panels on the Moon is a collection of restrained, yet poignant ambient soundscapes. Meditative field recordings permeate throughout. Whether Athenian buskers, or Polish street bazaars, ambient sounds splice with the weight of visceral, droning chords. The album is a meditation on the inevitable dissolution of earth’s resources and its singular solution, which remains shrouded in simplicity.
24.05.20
DISSONANCE AND DESIRE // A/V work
Exhibition: Die Verborgene Serie
Verwalter Haus, Berlin DE
This piece explores the elements of decay and deterioration in the St. Nicolai und St. Marien Friedhof in Berlin—how the echoes of time co-exist with the ceaseless progression of the living. Combining field recordings from the environment with improvisations on the chapel pipe organ, the work explores the natural and causal polyphonies in this context of an environs in dissolution.
31.01.20
ORLANDO by sir o sir (49-minute sound work)
Recording release and publication
20 Seconds Magazine Issue 1
Commisioned sound work as part of the eponymous installation at Dock 11 - Eden Studios in Berlin under the direction of Julie Beauvais. Incorporating field recordings and soundscapes recorded on seven continents in the thematic of the novel by Virginia Woolf.
20.06.19
ORIGINS in three parts: Minerals-Breath-Iceland (excerpt)
ACUD MACHT NEU, BERLIN
In collaboration with photographer Elsa Laurent (FR), this A/V project began in Athens at the TempsZero workshop and was completed in Berlin the following year. The study connects the kinetic functions of the human body with the physicality of nature, proposing a synergy between these elements through a captured yet morphing image/soundscape using field recordings and found objects.
11.04.19
I CAME CLEAN IN A DIRTY DRESS // A/V performance
WHAT ISH FESTIVAL
Compagnie Theatre ,Amsterdam NL
A multimedia installation portraying various counter cultures with footage shot by Dutch videographer Ottilie Matters from their series on drag culture. This performance includes visual projections with live soundscape, prepared-piano, and sampled field recordings.
12.12.18
ORLANDO -- EDEN STUDIOS and DOCK11, BERLIN DE
composition by sir o sir
chorégraphie by Julie Beauvais (CH)
filming by Horace Lund (FR)
A performative installation combining conscious movement, video installation, architecture and live sound/music performance. Immersed in the structure of a seven-screen installation, the live soundtrack consisted of found sounds, multi-ethnic instruments, and field recordings from locations on all seven continents.
01.12.19
TEAL // Video Installation with prepared-piano
Composition by Timothy Isherwood
Concept and filming by Ottilie Maters (NL)
08.06.18
ALMOST TRUE
Photography and Sound Artist Book
Designed and Published by VOID
Limited edition publication (100 copies) with photographs & sounds from the Tempszero workshop in Athens. Sounds by Dr. Mike Blow, Giorgos Gargalas, Timothy Isherwood, Mohammed Rowe
(edited with Alyssa Moxley)
12.06.18
ALMOST TRUE (excerpts)
TEMPS ZERO // INSTITUT FRANÇAIS D'ATHENES
Sound composition by Timothy Isherwood
Visuals by Danai Simou (GR), Elsa Laurent (FR), Marc Sterkendries (BE)
Audio/Visual reflections from Athens—exhibition screenings with live sound accompanied by Dr. Mike Blow (UK), Giorgos Gargalas (GR), Mohammed Rowe (UK)
2010 - 2017
HEARING VOICES
Dance work in collaboration with the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto CA
Sound compositon by Timothy Isherwood
Choregraphy by Siona Jackson
Video Production by Sandbox Inc.
The dance work is based on research and interviews by DR. Katherine Boydel—examining the “pathways” that young people follow to receive mental health care after suffering from a first episode of psychosis. Working with the emotive qualities of sound and compositon, the choreographic work forms a human narrative as a tool to deeper understanding through artistic interpretation.
2013
NO EASY WAY DOWN
Short film Soundtrack
Director - Mark Venturi
Composer - Timothy Isherwood
Sound Design - Igor Vrabac
2009
THE JACKET
City Dance Corps @ Fleck Theatre Harbourfront Centre
Choreography by Siona Jackson
Composition by Timothy Isherwood
2009
SPACESHIP MOTHER EARTH
A/V Installation, Toronto CA
Artistic Director - Mark Venturi
Sound work - Timothy Isherwood + Edgardo Moreno
Installation work consisting of structures built from repurposed objects, video monitors and projections, and immersive soundscapes. A team of 10 creatives—including video, sound, and graffiti artists—transformed an active Ossington Ave. hair salon into a white space for the install over a 12-hour window: co-inciding, but not affiliated, with Nuit Blanche Festival 2009. (more project documentation upon request).
2009
LOVERS ARE STRANGERS
Short film Soundtrack
Director - Mark Venturi
Composer - Timothy Isherwood
2009
IN CASE OF FIRE
KAEJA dDANCE @ Harbourfront Centre -- Enwave Theatre, Toronto
Live sound design by Edgardo Moreno and Timothy Isherwood
In Case of Fire presents 75 dance artists in an inspired structure that directors Karen & Allen Kaeja of Kaeja dDance have honed on tour in Sweden (2000), across Canada and in the U.S.
2007
EARTH IN MOTION
Native Dance Festival, Toronto CA
Artistic Director - Alejandro Ronceria
Composer - Timothy Isherwood
A series of collaborative dance works between First Nations choreographers and invited sound composers culminating in performances presented at the 2007 Native Dance Festival.
2007
MY LIFE ELSEWHERE
short film
Director - Mark Venturi
Composer - Timothy Isherwood
copyright 2024 Timothy Isherwood
sir o sir is the moniker of Canadian composer, sound and visual artist Timothy Isherwood. An academically trained pipe-organist and pianist, Isherwood uses diverse sources, like resonators, experimental microphones, spatialized sound and synthesizers to navigate soundscapes at once summoned and subjective. Past performances include work with The National Arts Centre of Canada, Banff Centre for the Arts, Institut-Française d’Athenes, Compagnietheater Amsterdam, Sonic Matter Festival Zurich, Initiative Neue Musik and Dock11&Eden in Berlin. Timothy co-founded and curates the A/V series and music label—Famous Grapes Recordings—at ACUD Macht Neu and KM28 in Berlin, and is an editor for the experimental art and music publication, 20 Seconds Magazine.
copyright 2024 Timothy Isherwood
caldeiras project
A vibrant world of natural phenomena, volcanic sounds, and human activity, simulates the experience of being on the lush island of São Miguel in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Lying on the floor, sitting, or freely moving about the installation, the audience is immersed in moving video projections crossing from wall to ceiling—images of powerful seas and and vast landscapes merge with live video feeds broadcast from various locations on the island. Sound recordings of daily labour—such as the harvesting of Lupin beans and the traditional milk-runs by horse cart—merge with the sounds of the volcanic environs through a multi-speaker surround soundscape. Caldeiras aims to document and present sounds and images of the region that face inevitable change—due to emigration, agricultural advances and global warming. The island’s history of labour struggle and volcanic eruptions resulted in mass relocation in the 1950s and a large diaspora in Toronto. Caldeiras offers to bridge a geographical and generational link between forgotten rural beginnings and the North-American urban existence—a reaffirmation of roots, traditions and transitions found in many of Toronto’s multi-cultural communities.