Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP)

Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice, also known as CRiSAP aims to extend the development of the emerging disciplinary field of sound arts.

Founded in 2005, for over a decade CRiSAP has been a leading international organisation, fostering innovative sound arts practice. In addition to the various symposia and conferences CRiSAP has organised at Tate Modern and the British Library, the four books edited by the two CRiSAP directors – Autumn Leaves, Playing With Words, In the Field and On Listening – have been extensively reviewed in the popular and academic press as providing unique maps of their respective territories.

Core CRiSAP members have had their work transmitted on Radio Four, Radio Three and ResonanceFM (in the UK), on ORF (Austria) and CBC (Canada). Their work has won international prizes, and been exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery, Tate Modern, Beaconsfield Gallery, Space Gallery, National Gallery (in London), Surrey Art Gallery (Canada), ZKM (Germany) and the Kashi Art Gallery (India) amongst many others. CRiSAP was awarded the 2011 Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education.

Main aims

To encourage the broadening and deepening of the discursive context in which sound arts is practised

In addition to the various symposia and conferences CRiSAP has organised at Tate Modern and the British Library, the four books edited by the two CRiSAP directors – Autumn Leaves, Playing With Words, In the Field and On Listening – have been extensively reviewed in the popular and academic press as providing unique maps of their respective territories.

CRiSAP has partnered with organisations across Europe in the Sounds of Europe initiative, which resulted in performances, publications and symposia.

To investigate the potential of archival materials to animate contemporary sound art debate

CRiSAP has become the custodian of two strategically significant archive resources: the Her Noise archive and a large consignment of documents pertaining to the thirty year life of the London Musicians' Collective (LMC) and audio records of the UK's first arts-orientated radio station, ResonanceFM.

To develop innovative software that is user-tested, peer-reviewed and made available to a wider creative constituency

In the first three years of our existence we developed Speechcutter and Déjà Vu, two resources that have been presented at international conferences (the International Computer Music Conference and the Pure Data Conference) and published in a peer-reviewed journal (Organised Sound).

To embed sound as an artistic practice within University of the Arts London

Since CRiSAP's inception, we have contributed to the validation and delivery of an MA in Sound Arts at London College of Communication and have grown our roster of doctoral students to six. We are a partner (with the BBC, BFI and Sony) in Queen Mary's EPSRC-funded Media and Arts Technology doctoral programme.

We convene study days designed to encourage engagement with sound arts across the University, have organised workshops and masterclasses for doctoral students from all disciplinary backgrounds, and have participated in events organised by the University's other research centres, including Design Against Crime.