Janek Schaefer

Artist Janek Schaefer was born in England to Polish and Canadian parents in 1970. While studying Architecture at the Royal College of Art, he recorded the fragmented noises of a sound activated dictaphone travelling overnight through the Post Office. That work, titled ‘Recorded Delivery’ was made for the ‘Self Storage’ exhibition [Time Out critics choice] with Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson and Artangel.

Since then the multiple aspects of sound became his focus, resulting in many site-specific installations, sonic sculptures, exhibition & dance soundtracks, albums, and immersive performances, using his self built devices with manipulated foundsound collage, exploring new realms of sound, space, and place.

He has exhibited, lectured, and performed widely throughout Europe [Sonar, Tate Modern, ICA, Strasbourg Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art], USA/Canada, [Walker Art Center, Mutek, Princeton, XI], Japan, and Australia [Sydney Opera House]. His concerts and installations explore the spatial and architectural aspect that sound can evoke and the twisting of old and new technology. The context of each idea is central to its development and resolution, often exploring themes of appropriation, accident, & alteration.

In 2008 he won a Paul Hamlyn Award & the British Composer of the Year Award in Sonic Art. The Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool exhibited a Retrospective of his career to date in 2009. The Agency Gallery exhibited his “Collecting Connections” show in 2013. He is a Research Fellow and Visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes Sonic Art Research Unit.

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