Wikipedia

Olivia Louvel

Olivia Louvel is an artist, composer and researcher whose practice encompasses sound recordings, sound art installations and video art. She won an Ivor Novello Award in Sound Art (2023) for LOL, a sonic intervention delivered via the public address system of Middlesbrough's CCTV surveillance network, which reflected the state of political affairs in Britain.[1]

Olivia Louvel
Artwork for SculptOr
CitizenshipFrench, British
EducationUniversity of Brighton
Notable workThe Sculptor Speaks (2020), LOL (2022)
AwardsIvor Novello Award Best Sound Art (2023), Qwartz Electronic Music Awards Best Album (2011)
Websitewww.olivialouvel.com
Olivia Louvel in Lulu in Suspension

The Sculptor Speaks, a resounding of a 1961 tape of Barbara Hepworth's voice, was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the Sound Art category at the Ivors Composer Awards 2020.[2] She was interviewed by Stuart Maconie on his BBC Radio 6 programme Freak Zone about her "compelling sculpture-inspired work" on Barbara Hepworth.[3]

She has presented her work at Towner Eastbourne, The Hepworth Wakefield, the Hepworth Research Network, Yorkshire Sound Women, Chapter Arts Centre, Middlesbrough Art Week, Resonance FM /Extra, De La Warr Pavilion, Ikon Gallery, IKLECTIK, Brighton Dome and Brighton Digital Festival.

She has published in journals, including Leonardo (The MIT Press)[4] and Organised Sound (Cambridge University Press).

Education

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Louvel studied at the National Superior Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris and had the opportunity to work with Klaus Michael Grüber and Michel Piccoli on a reworking of a Luigi Pirandello play.[5]
She holds a Master's degree in Digital Music & Sound Arts, University of Brighton.
In 2025, she was awarded a PhD by the University of Brighton for her thesis titled ‘A hybrid encounter, a concrete voice: on the interplay of voice and sculpture,’ following cross-disciplinary research in the Fine Art and Sound departments. She coined the term ‘voice sculpture’.[6]

Works

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2006: Luna Parc Hotel, an album released by the Vienna-based label Angelika Koehlermann.[7] With guest appearances by Michael J.Sheehy and Sébastien Libolt.

2008: Lulu in Suspension, an album and video art, inspired by silent-movie star Louise Brooks and her book Lulu in Hollywood. Released on Optical Sound Records and Fine Arts,[8] which is run by French artist Pierre Beloüin.

2011: Doll Divider, album and video art. Initially released digitally on Ototoi Music/Optical Sound in 2010. Following her Qwartz Album Award, she founded her label, Cat Werk Imprint, and reissued the album as an enhanced and remastered 12" vinyl.[9] Doll Divider was inspired by her Processed Dolls series, A4 paintings made using pages from fashion magazines, repainting over the models' photos.

2012: ō, music for haiku, album, video art and clay artwork based on haikus by the poet Bashō. The limited-edition CD features a hand-drawn Magic Fish Dog, a character invented by Louvel.

2014: Beauty Sleep, an album and video art. A suite of songs, complemented by a series of experimental short films shot in West Sussex, sees her reinvent herself as a bird-woman. In My Shed is a Recoil remake created from a loop of Stone taken from Alan Wilder’s second Recoil release on Mute, Hydrology (1988).[10] Bats was remixed by Simon Fisher Turner for the EP Bats by Night (2015).[11]

2016: Afraid of Women, a "compelling audio-visual" produced from sampled sounds and re-fragmented images sourced from the internet [12] for the female:pressure campaign, curated by Antye Greie-Ripatti to raise awareness of the autonomous zone in northern Syria, Rojava.[13]

2017: Data Regina, album, 3D animated videos and an online platform. Louvel "packaged experimental electronic music, new media art, and 16th century conflict into multimedia art", exploring the reign of Mary Queen of Scots.[14] "The refined melodies of Louvel's intimate vocals and Fiona Brice's lyrical violin stand in fragile opposition to a backdrop, based largely around processed tambour samples, of harsh percussive rolls and looming reverberations. It evokes not only the brutality of the battles that peppered the UK in the 16th century but the sense of surveillance and paranoia that both women must have experienced." Abi Bliss, The Wire.

2019: The Whole Inside, a generative sound mural of nine speaker drivers and data projection, exploring the violent misogyny of incel communities, Sound Diffusion Laboratory, DMSA, University of Brighton.[15][16] Selected for the Longlist at the Aesthetica Art Prize 2021, and featured in the Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology: Future Now.[17]

2019: Not A Creature of Paper, a Louise Labé-inspired composition commissioned by the avant-garde ensemble Juice Vocal, premiered at Kings Place, London.[18]

2020: The Sculptor Speaks, a stereo radio broadcast and video art piece based on a 1961 tape by Barbara Hepworth, premiered on Resonance Extra Resonance FM,[19] "a dreamy meditation on the nature of creativity", Deborah Nash, The Wire.

2020: I am The Figure in the Landscape, video art documenting the process of working on a visual maquette at home during lockdown in preparation for The Sculptor Speaks.

2020: SculptOr, album. A suite of nine pieces inspired by Barbara Hepworth's extensive writings. "Armed with an algorithmic chisel and mallet, Louvel repurposes writings by the late English sculptor Barbara Hepworth (...) SculptOr is a highly conceptual and meta-referential piece, a sort of meditation on artistic practices." Antonio Poscic, The Quietus.[20]

2021: The Sculptor Speaks, audio-visual installation for 'Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life' at The Hepworth Wakefield.[21]

2022: Doggerland Channels, a sound art installation on Doggerland and the rivers that once linked Britain to the continent, Phoenix Art Space, Brighton, Sound Art Brighton Festival.[22]

2022: Wave Dome, a white-noise and radio-waves installation for a Willow Dome experience, Ecomusicology Plot, Stanmer Organics, Brighton, Sound Plotting Festival.[23]

2022: LOL, a sonic intervention delivered via the public address system of Middlesbrough's CCTV surveillance network for Middlesbrough Art Week, produced with Kersten Glandien, artistic director of Sound Art Brighton.[24] The Ivors Academy jury remarked: “LOL is a provocative, disruptive and impactful work, deftly constructed with humour”.[25]

2023: The Sculptor Speaks, video art,Towner Eastbourne for 'Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life'.[26]

2023: Doggerland Channels, sound art installation, Middlesbrough Art Week.

2023: doggerLANDscape, an album based on Doggerland, the land that once stretched between today’s British coast and Europe. "a taut, charged and insightful collection that poses significant questions, at least in my mind, about political identity, ideological and material borders, and the ways in which our geological environments shape our lives and thinking." Johny Lamb, The Quietus.[27]

2024: doggerLANDscape, video art screened at Towner Eastbourne for 'Artist films: Human Outlooks on Precarious Coastal Lands' [28]

2025: VoiceScape, a 3D-printed voice sculpture, dimension 38x37x15cm, Sound Diffusion Laboratory, DMSA, University of Brighton.

2025: doggerLANDscape, video art, group show 'Joining Doggerland', APT Gallery, London.[29]

Live performances

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Initially trained in classical singing, she began to work as a singer for the flying trapeze circus Les Arts Sauts, performing at 12 metres in the air a Meredith Monk composition. She toured with them for three years, with notable performances at Festival de la Batie in Geneva, and Festival of Perth in 1995.[30]

In April 2007, she performed in the electronic kiosk conceived by Cocktail Designers/architect Olivier Vadrot [31] at Festival en boîte, Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu, Lyon, France (F).[32]

In November 2018, she toured the UK, presenting the headline audiovisual Data Regina at the event 'Synth Remix', curated by Benjamin Tassie as part of Sound and Music's Composer-Curator scheme, which also featured Jo Thomas. [33]

Louvel has opened for artists including Semiconductors and Eartheater at De La Warr Pavilion (2019),[34] Japanese avant-garde artist Phew at IKLECTIK,[35] Planningtorock at the Earsthetic Festival at Brighton Dome,[36] and Recoil at various concerts on the European Selected tour (2010).[37]

Collaborations

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Under the moniker of The Digital Intervention, she worked with Paul Kendall (a long-term Mute Records collaborator) on the album Capture, released in 2003.[38]
With Paul Kendall as The Digital Intervention, they produced the piece When the sea will rise II for Acoustic Cameras, a project which invites sound artists to annex the real-time flow of webcams located in various places around the world.[39]

Alongside Daria Baiocchi, Fiona Hallinan, La Cosa Preziosa, Vicky Langan, Úna Lee, Jenn Kirby, Claudia Molitor, Gráinne Mulvey and Rachel Ní Chuinn, Louvel contributed to the collaborative art project "Mean Time" with her composition 25 minutes and 21 seconds. The event was broadcast live on Nova, RTÉ Lyric FM, from Richmond Barracks, Dublin.[40]

Louvel performed 54 bones, a gestural performance art piece for an audience of one, using the Mi.Mu Gloves at Onca Gallery during Brighton Digital Festival 2018, in collaboration with Duncan Cabral, Jaimie Moore and Dominic Rae. [41]

Awards and grants

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2011: Qwartz Electronic Music Awards.[42] Qwartz Album Award for Doll Divider.
2011: Prix de la SACD. Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques.[43]
2013: Prix Ars Electronica. Nominated in Digital music & Sound Art for ō, music for haiku.
2014: Arts Council of England. Grant for the Arts for Beauty Sleep.
2016: Arts Council of England. Grant for the Arts for Data Regina.
2020: Ivor Novello Award. Nominated in Sound Art for The Sculptor Speaks. Ivors Composer Awards.
2021: Aesthetica Art Prize. Longlisted for The Whole Inside.
2021: Arts Council of England. Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP).
2022: Henry Moore Foundation, travel and research grant.
2023: Skaftfell Art Centre, artist-in-residence, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.[44]
2023: Ivor Novello Award. Best Sound Art for LOL at The Ivors Classical Awards [45][25]
2025: Arts Council of England. Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP)

Discography

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Albums

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2006: Luna Parc Hotel, digipak CD with booklet. Angelika Koehlermann.
2008: Lulu in Suspension, deluxe digipak CD & digital. Optical Sound.
2010: Doll Divider, digital. Ototoi + Optical Sound.
2011: Doll Divider, 12" vinyl & digital (enhanced & remastered version). Cat Werk Imprint.
2012: ō, music for haiku, CD with hand drawn artwork & digital. Cat Werk Imprint.
2014: Beauty Sleep, digipak CD (DVD size). Cat Werk Imprint.
2017: Data Regina, digipak CD (DVD size). Cat Werk Imprint.
2020: SculptOr, digipak CD (DVD size). Cat Werk Imprint.
2023: doggerLANDscape,10" vinyl, digital, art. Cat Werk Imprint.

EPs

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2015: Bats by Night, digital. Cat Werk Imprint.

Collaborations

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2003: Capture as The Digital Intervention (with Paul Kendall), CD. The Parallel Series + 0101 + Ici D'Ailleurs.

Compilations

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2013: Pussy Riot Freedom. female:pressure.Track featured Doll Divider.[46]
2016: Music, Awareness & Solidarity w/ Rojava Revolution. female:pressure. Track featured Afraid of Women.[47]
2017: Mind The Gap. Gonzo Circus. Track featured Good Queen Bess.[48]
2022: Sound Art Brighton. ReR Megacorp Recommended Records. Track featured Doggerland Channels.[49]

Remix & Mixtape

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2014: Mixtape. An exclusive mix for EB Radio Electronic Beats, featuring her remix of Antye Greie's Poemproducer.[50]
2016: Paris Multiplié for Fiona Brice 'Postcards Reframed'. Bella Union.[51]
2021: Pathetique N.8 for CHAINES 'Beethoven Simulator'. Classical Remix.[52]

References

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  1. ↑ "Winners of The Ivors Classical Awards 2023 announced". ivorsacademy.com. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Ivors Composer Awards 01 Dec 2020". ivorsacademy.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "Olivia Louvel Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone". bbc.co.uk. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "LOL, a Sonic Détournement of the CCTV Surveillance Network". direct.mit.edu. August 2025. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  5. ↑ "Klaus Michael Grüber est un mystique". Letemps.ch. 21 November 1998. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "A hybrid encounter, a concrete voice: on the interplay of voice and sculpture". research.brighton.ac.uk. June 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  7. ↑ "OLIVIA LOUVEL - "Luna Parc Hotel"". monkeymusic.at. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Olivia Louvel, Lulu in Suspension (OS.027) CD". optical-sound.com. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "LISTEN: Olivia Louvel-Doll Maker". Thequietus.com. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "INTERVIEW: Olivia Louvel". Thequietus.com. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "INTERVIEW: Olivia Louvel". Thequietus.com. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "Is The Islamic State 'Afraid Of Women'?". Telekom Electronic Beats. electronicbeats.net. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "Is The Islamic State 'Afraid of Women'?". Telekom Electronic Beats. electronicbeats.net. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  14. ↑ "Multiple Media: Olivia Louvel On Music, Art & 17th Century History". thequietus.com. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  15. ↑ Louvel, Olivia (2020). "A Generative Sound Mural, The Whole Inside: Sounding the Body". Leonardo Music Journal. 30. direct.mit.edu: 29–32. doi:10.1162/lmj_a_01080. S2CID 212726537.
  16. ↑ "Graduate Show 2019: Olivia Louvel: Digital Music and Sound Arts". Blogs.brighton.ac.uk. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "Future Now 2021 Aesthetica Art Prize". aestheticamagazine.com. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  18. ↑ "Juice Vocal Ensemble: Voices of Venus". kingsplace.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "The Sculptor Speaks". Resonance Extra. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "Olivia Louvel SculptOr [Hepworth Resounds]". thequietus.com. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "Olivia Louvel: The Sculptor Speaks". hepworthwakefield.org. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  22. ↑ "Sound Art Brighton: Doggerland Channels". phoenixbrighton.org. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  23. ↑ "Sound Plotting. A day of sound art, improv music, biosonics and dancing". lost-property.org.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  24. ↑ "Shoppers left spooked after 'Boris Johnson sounding' voice is randomly played in town centre". yahoo.com. 24 September 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  25. 1 2 Taylor, Mark (14 November 2023). "Winners of The Ivors Classical Awards 2023 announced". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "Olivia Louvel: The Sculptor Speaks". yahoo.com. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  27. ↑ "Olivia Louvel doggerLANDscape". thequietus.com. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  28. ↑ "Artist films: Human Outlooks on Precarious Coastal Lands". townereastbourne.org. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  29. ↑ "Joining Doggerland". aptstudios.org. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  30. ↑ "Olivia Louvel". Chain D.L.K. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  31. ↑ "Cocktail Designers' music furniture". lespressesdureel.com. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  32. ↑ "Festival En Boite". Bm-lyon.fr. 1 April 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  33. ↑ "Synth Remix: Celebrating the Pioneering Women of Electronic Music". 7 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  34. ↑ "Semiconductor and Eartheater". dlwp.com. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  35. ↑ "PHEW, debut live in London + Olivia Louvel". iklectikartlab.com. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  36. ↑ "earsthetic Planningtorock". brightondome.org. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  37. ↑ "Olivia Louvel predskokanom Alana Wildera". depechemode.sk. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  38. ↑ ""The Digital Intervention – Capture" release". forcedexposure.com. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  39. ↑ "Acoustic Cameras". acousticcameras. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  40. ↑ ""Sound Art celebrates the female revolutionary spirit"". thesampler.org. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  41. ↑ ""Digital Gestures, Human Contact"". onca.org. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  42. ↑ "Qwartz Award Winners Announced". The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music. Thewire.co.uk. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  43. ↑ "Qwartz – Paris Réseau international pour les musiques électroniques et nouvelles". Sacd.fr. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  44. ↑ "Welcoming new artist in residence Olivia Louvel". skaftfell.is. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  45. ↑ Taylor, Mark (18 October 2023). "Nominees announced for The Ivors Classical Awards 2023". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  46. ↑ "All-female EDM and digital art collective female:pressure have released a new compilation album in aid of Pussy Riot". the girls are. thegirlsare.com. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  47. ↑ "female:pressure release Rojava Revolution compilation for International Women's Day". factmag.com. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  48. ↑ "MIND THE GAP #124". gonzocircus.com. 23 December 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  49. ↑ "Sound Art Brighton Festival Catalogue". soundartbrighton.com. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  50. ↑ Telekom (10 December 2014). "EB radio presents Olivia Louvel". Telekom Electronic Beats. electronicbeats. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  51. ↑ ""FIONA BRICE shares Gonjasufi 'Glastonbury' remix" release". bellaunion.com. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  52. ↑ "IBeethoven Simulator". 9 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
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