The Art of Sophia Collier: Sound Waves to Form

Detail of "Dark Water", Carved acrylic ©2013 Sophia Collier

Sophia Collier is a Sausalito-based artist who works with computers, sound and enormous machines to create minimalistic art forms. It is a very complex process designed to achieve such a simple form we can find in nature, but once you see the results, it is highly impressive and there is vast beauty in the light and space art she is creating. Collier's original desire was to create a piece of water at a precise moment of time, similar to the way a painter recreates a landscape painting. However, to do this, Collier uses sound waves that she has hand selected; she uses their form to model the waves in the sculpture works. This allows her to sample sounds from anything or any time, past or present.

Collier's latest project is a collaborative work in which she is asking those residing along the Grand River in Michigan to share sounds and samples with her online. Collier will then select from this pool of sounds to create her piece that will be displayed at GRAM (Grand Rapids Art Museum) September 2013 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It is always enjoyable for me to learn more about how we can collaborate as artists. When I attended CalArts, the Contemporary Music Composition students would frequently collaborate with the Experimental Animation students. It was a terrific way for them to learn how to film score and create dramatic and unique works they may not have normally aspired to create.

Want to participate or have a friend or family member in Michigan to share this with?  There are several ways to participate:

•  Visit Urban Remix and record/upload sounds online or via free phone app.  Urban Remix is a project conceived of and is directed by Jason Freeman, Michael Nitsche, and Carl Disalvo, who are professors at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, Georgia. It is made possible by the invaluable work of numerous students and designers, and supported in part by the Music Technology program, the Digital Media program, and the GVU center at Georgia Tech.

•  Upload a sound with Soundcloud online (or record sounds with soundcloud app via phone)please click the Soundcloud button here and join the group!


•  Download the Soundcloud apps for free here, and record sounds from your iPhone or iPad).

•  Share a Youtube video or other method of sharing captured sounds.  For this method, please email Sophia here.  Thanks for checking out this new project! -Colleen
Sophia Collier in the Studio from Sophia Collier on Vimeo