There will be three keynote lectures during NIME 2011, all of which will approach NIME from different perspectives. Tellef Kvifte’s lecture will look at NIME from a historical and organological perspective, and discuss the emergence of digital instruments in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. David Rokeby will talk about his exploration of using the body in interactive art, something which has become very popular in the NIME community in recent years. Sergi Jordà will talk about his instruments, and possibilities/challenges in working between science, art and industry.
Tellef Kvifte is full professor at Department of Musicology at the University of Oslo. His research interest spans from Norwegian hardanger fiddle music through theory of rhythm to theoretical organology and music technology, and has published internationally in all these areas. His most recent research concerns perspectives on the co-development of music, music tehcnology, notation and concepts of sounds. Kvifte occasionally also appears on the professional World music scene as a musician, and performs tin whistles, hardanger fiddles, saxophones, laptops and a variety of other instruments with confidence. He worked professionally as a television producer before taking up his academic career, and is still a noted record producer.
Title of keynote lecture: Analog/digital
David Rokeby’s early work Very Nervous System (1982-1991) was a pioneering work of interactive art, translating physical gestures into real-time interactive sound environments. It was presented at the Venice Biennale in 1986, and was awarded a Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction for Interactive Art in 1991. Several of his works have addressed issues of digital surveillance, including Taken (2002), and Sorting Daemon (2003). Other works engage in a critical examination of the differences between human and artificial intelligence. The Giver of Names (1991-) and n-cha(n)t (2001) are artificial subjective entities, provoked by objects or spoken words in their immediate environment to formulate sentences and speak them aloud. David Rokeby has exhibited and lectured extensively in the Americas, Europe and Asia. His awards include a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2002), a Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica for Interactive Art (2002), and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts “BAFTA” award in Interactive art (2000).
Title of keynote lecture: Adventures in Phy-gital Space
Sergi Jordà holds a B.S. in Fundamental Physics and a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Digital Communication. He is a researcher in the Music Technology Group of Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, and a lecturer in the same university, where he teaches computer music, HCI, and interactive media arts. He has written many articles, books, given workshops and lectured though Europe, Asia and America, always trying to bridge HCI, music performance and interactive media arts. He has received several international awards, including the prestigious Ars Electronica’s Golden Nica in 2008. He is currently best known as one of the inventors of the Reactable, a tabletop musical instrument that in 2007 accomplished mass popularity after being integrated in Icelandic artist Bjork’s Volta world Tour.