ABOUT
Zoë Irvine b. Aberdeen 1972
Zoë is an artist primarily working with sound, exploring voice, field recording and the relationship between sound and image. She is also a sound designer for moving image and a lecturer in sound for film and sound art.
Her artworks range from carefully crafted individual pieces for broadcast and installation, to participative events. As a field recordist, Irvine has a particular love of soundscapes and composition in which distance, context and power relations become perceptible.
Her large scale works include DIAL-A- DIVA, a global 24 hour live phonecast concert experienced by phone that took place in 2005 & 2007, and Magnetic Migration Music a suite of works over a 10 year period exploring found cassette tapes from all over the world.
From 2013 – 2015 Irvine was artist in residence at the Scottish Parliament, collaborating with composer Pippa Murphy.
Recent work includes:
Workers Union, collaboration with Rebecca Milling and Alice Nelson. 20min film multi-screen installation for Red Note performance at Lammermuir Festival, Museum of Flight. 2016
The Edible Pet, 45min radio feature, commissioned for Radiophrenia 2016
House Arrest: Domestic Actions (work in progress), an audio visual installation piece in collaboration with Pernille Spence as part of The Motherload at The Hannah Maclure Centre Dundee 2015
Your Voice is You, a telephonic self portrait, Kirkcaldy Museum and Dublin Science Gallery (available by telephone in UK and Ireland) 2015
Šuma a sound walk for voice and FM transmission with Kutchke, Balkan Choir, created for Sanctuary Festival 2015
Democratic Resonance, sound installation, collaboration with composer Pippa Murphy, Festival of Politics, Scottish Parliament 2015
As a sound designer Irvine has been involved with a wide variety of film, TV, radio and installation work. She enjoys creating sound design for a wide range of projects and has a special interest in early career filmmakers, grassroots filmmaking, artists film and documentary, and relishes work that extends the norms of filmmaking.
She enjoys an established working relationship with Media Co-op for whom she has created sound designs for a number of successful social media campaigns.
COLLABORATORS
Irvine has some great collaborative working relationships, here are links to some of the wonderful people she’s been working with
Mark Vernon – meagreresource.com
Pernille Spence – http://www.pernille-spence.co.uk/
Rebecca Milling – http://rebeccamilling.com/ & eggboxpost.com
Alice Nelson – http://alicenelson.org/
Kuchke – https://soundcloud.com/kuchke-edinburgh
Pippa Murphy – http://pippamurphy.com/
Helen Douglas – http://www.weproductions.com/
I am a member of Ethel Maude, a collective of artists, designers and filmmakers in Edinburgh. http://www.ethelmaude.org/
TEACHING & ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Irvine has a long involvement with teaching sound, most notably as a University lecturer, for many years at Duncan of Jordanston College of Art and Design where she was lecturer in sound (2006 – 2014), and now with Edinburgh Napier where she teaches sound for BA and MA film students and at ECA, where she annually teaches a project as part of the Sound Design Masters course.
Teaching is a shared voyage which she loves. Whether introducing people to an area they have not explored before or helping to extend existing skills, knowledge and appreciation for what sound can bring to work, it is a process she takes a good deal of delight in and is energised by.
Irvine designs and delivers practice and theory curriculum in sound design, sound art, radio and film. She develops projects, workshops and lectures in a wide range academic, industry and community settings for individuals, group work and lecture halls.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Irvine is currently researching under the banner ‘Dialogue, Voice, Privilege and Power’, this develops from my work as artist in residence in the Scottish Parliament (2013 – 2015). She has a radio documentary exploring the Doric dialect, identity, memory and archives currently in production.
Another area of interest is filmic work exploring image/sound relationships.
Irvine also continues to explore recorded conversation, field recording, modes of listening, navigating sound archives and audio data bases in a context of sound and radio art.