Olivia Louvel

Olivia Louvel (FR/UK)

Olivia Louvel is a French-born British composer and artist whose work draws on voice, computer music and digital narrative. Her work is presented in the form of sound recordings, live performance, sound art installations and video art. She often operates at the intersection of creation and documentation with works such as: ‘The Sculptor Speaks’ (2020), a resounding of a Barbara Hepworth archival tape; ‘The Whole Inside’ (2019), a generative sound mural exploring the violent misogyny of the Incels; ‘Data Regina’ (2017), a multimedia suite based on Mary Queen of Scots’ writings; and ‘Afraid of Women’ (2016), an audio-visual piece raising awareness for Rojava, the autonomous zone in Northern Syria. 

Her practice is built upon a long-standing exploration of the voice, sung, or spoken, and its manipulation through digital technology as a compositional method. She is a PhD candidate (2021-) at the University of Brighton, investigating the interplay of voice and sculpture. ‘The Sculptor Speaks’ was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the Sound Art category at the Ivors Composer Awards 2020. She was interviewed by Stuart Maconie for his BBC Radio 6 programme about her “compelling sculpture-inspired work” on Barbara Hepworth. ‘The Whole Inside’ was selected for the Longlist at the Aesthetica Art Prize 2021 and is published in the ‘Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology: Future Now.’ Additionally, her article ’A Generative Sound Mural, The Whole Inside: Sounding the body’ (2020) is published by Leonardo Music Journal, MIT Press.

Louvel has presented her work at The Hepworth Wakefield (2021); Chapter Arts (Cardiff, 2020); King’s Place (London, 2019); De La Warr (Bexhill, 2019); Ikon Gallery (Birmingham, 2018); Anthony Burgess Foundation (Manchester, 2018); Spirit of Gravity (Brighton, 2017); NAWR, Festival, Kunstquartier Bethanien (Berlin, 2016); Earsthetic Festival, Brighton Dome (2013).

https://www.olivialouvel.com/