Edwin van der Heide

Edwin van der Heide studied Sonology at the Royal Conservatory, The Hague, where he graduated in 1992. In 1995 he was invited to become a teacher at the interfaculty Image and Sound / ArtScience of the Royal Conservatory and the Royal Arts Academy in The Hague, The Netherlands. Since 2002, he has also taught at the Master of Media Technology program at Leiden University.

Van der Heide works as autonomous artist in the field of sound, space and interaction. His current work is hard to define in the traditional terms of music, sound art or media art because it is often working at the forefront of the medium used. In this sense the medium does not just mediate but is being explored and redefined. Although qualities of musical language are being used in the development of the work, it does not mean that the presented form is necessarily related to traditional musical understanding. The result can be an installation, a performance or an environment.

In 1989, Edwin van der Heide started giving performances with custom build sensor based instruments developing a strong physical approach to sound itself. The formation of the collective Sensorband in 1993/1994 was a continuation in this direction. While performing he developed more of an interest in space/spaces and realized that it would be possible to approach a space as an instrument and, even one step further, to approach the human senses and the perception of the audience as an instrument for which you could compose. Over the years the focus of his work has shifted to sound installations, interactive installations and environments. The performance aspect is still present in part of the work but the emphasis has shifted to the content of the environment and less focus on the performer.

Murray Horne Curator Wood Street Galleries

Edwin van der Heide
Laser Sound Performance
Kurator: Murray Horne