Lee Patterson

Situated in a territory that straddles free improvisation, experimental composition, sonic and visual art, Lee Pattersons’ practice is characterised by a fascination with sound as an initially unforeseen consequence of quotidian activity within both the human and non-human realms.

Whether utilising cheap or freely acquired materials within solo or ensemble improvisation, or exposing sonic content within the fabric of a gallery or public location, he is consistently intrigued by the discovery of previously hidden sound.

Following on from the main notion behind Cages’ 4’33”, he takes as a starting point, the idea that perception itself is the initial framing device with which one creates cultural products. It is the expansion and then the consequent focusing of this frame upon relevant sonic material that drives his sound creation and/or acts of revelation. By this employment of a research methodology based upon the act of listening, whilst acknowledging the roles of recording and amplification media as inscriptive and investigative tools, certain properties of location and collected material can be explored and manipulated with the aim of soliciting interesting sounds.

Through the liberal employment of piezo ceramic contact microphones coupled with recording devices, he is able to make the surfaces of chosen materials acoustically transparent, and in so doing allow a previously hidden world to be opened up in front of ones’ ears.

Additionally, during live performance, a variety of collected objects can be arranged or prepared and thus transformed from mute to sounding bodies. In this way, found or commonly available materials are ‘instrumentalised’ within sublime articulations of the commonplace.Such alchemical transmutation of often overlooked materials into things of greater audiological interest manifests as immersive sound installation, gallery or concert based improvised performance and C.D. based audio works, where, by the use of intervention, rearrangement and exposition, new or previously hidden, sonic content is revealed within a variety of objects ranging from footbridges to fir cones.

Recent projects have included:-