LOL: Ivor Novello Award Best Sound Art

Last night, I was awarded with LOL the Ivor Novello Award for Best Sound Art at The Ivors Classical Awards!

The jury remarked: “LOL is a provocative, disruptive and impactful work, deftly constructed with humour”.  

The award was presented by interdisciplinary composer and audio visual artist Esmeralda Conde Ruiz.

I am very grateful to the jury, to the Ivors Academy, to Kersten Glandien, artistic director of Sound Art Brighton, and to the Auxiliary who commissioned the work (directors Anna Byrne, Kyp Kyprianou, and Liam Slevin).

LOL is a site-specific sonic intervention delivered through the public address system of Middlesbrough’s CCTV surveillance network, reflecting the current state of political affairs in Britain. On dedicated sites in the centre of town, passers-by heard political slogans, and news headlines read by the AI voice ‘Kate’.

LOL was broadcast at specific times over four days 22-25 September 2022.

You can watch an excerpt of LOL on Vimeo

THANK YOU. MERCI.

Photography credit Hogan Media / Shutterstock

Ivor Novello Award nomination for Best Sound Art

I have been nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Best Sound Art with 'LOL'.

Press release 18 October 2023:

The fifth Middlesbrough Art Weekender (2022) titled power POWER endeavoured to question how official power is wielded and how unofficial power is expressed.

LOL is a site-specific sonic intervention delivered through the public address system of Middlesbrough’s CCTV surveillance network, reflecting the current state of political affairs in Britain. On dedicated sites in the centre of town, passers-by heard political slogans, and news headlines read by the AI voice ‘Kate’.

LOL was composed by Olivia Louvel, and produced in collaboration with Kersten Glandien, artistic director of Sound Art Brighton, an independent initiative that celebrates the presence of sound art in Brighton.

The three-part collage includes a field recording ‘Climate Justice’ by Swiss artist Stefano Christen.

Commissioned by The Auxiliary, 2022. Thank you to The Auxiliary directors Anna Byrne, Kyp Kyprianou, and Liam Slevin. Thank you to the Middlesbrough surveillance team for their participation.

The Ivors Classical Awards, judged and presented by The Ivors Academy, will take place on 14th November at the BFI/Southbank.

LOL, photographed by Rachel Deakin

'LOL' at Middlesbrough Art Weekender from Sound Art Brighton on Vimeo.