About

It's important to recognise that our body is also an ear; it just listens differently to acoustic stimulus.

Lawrence English is an Australian composer, artist and curator whose work explores notions of space and perception, as well as the ability of sounds to occupy the body. He is director of the imprint Room40, a platform dedicated to the presentation of experimental orchestral, electronic and ambient music. English's most recent album Cruel Optimism 2016 borrows its title from the seminal text by American critical theorist Lauren Berlant and is a probing and profound study of power. Sonic waves break over the listener, reflecting the shifting state of the world and the disorder that these changes have wrought. Lawrence's performance of this work uses intense volume and lighting to emphasise the overwhelming, affective capacity that sound can generate.