Dr Caleb Kelly

Research

Caleb Kelly’s research is based in the sound arts, specifically as it relates to art and music. His first book Cracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction (MIT Press, 2009), focuses on the use of cracked play-back devices (turntables and CD players) to produce new work and sounds for art and music practices in the last century. He has written for numerous art publications and is currently editing an anthology entitled Sound for the Documents in Contemporary Art series published by Whitechapel Gallery in London and MIT Press.

Kelly has produced numerous experimental music festivals and sound events with national festival What is Music? and his own impermanent.audio nights, the latter running for six years. In addition he has curated exhibitions at Artspace, Performance Space, Pelt (a gallery project he directed) and most recently ICAN.

Books

Cracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2009

Sound, Whitechapel, London & MIT Press, Cambridge, 2011


Book Chapters

‘The Performance of Australian Experimental Musics: From Shattered Glass to Feedback Instruments’, in Sounds of Then, Sounds of Now: Popular Music in Australia, eds. Shane Homan & Tony Mitchell, Hobart: ACYS, 2008


Publications

‘Darkness awaits: Brent Grayburn’s Flicker’, Column, no.2, 2008

‘Yasunao Tone: Technology/Noise’, in Making A Home: Japanese Contemporary Arts in New York, curated by Eric Shiner, New York, Japan Society and Yale University Press, 2007

‘Mistral: Acoustic Sound’, in Artspace Projects 2006, Artspace Visual Arts Centre, Sydney, 2007

‘Haco’, Improvised Music from Japan, 2005

‘What Now for Experimental Music?’, Realtime, April/May, 2005

‘The Object of Performance: Performativity in Contemporary Laptop Performance’, Contemporary Music Review, 22:4, pp.59-65, 2003

‘Damaged Sound: Glitching and Skipping Compact Discs in the Audio of Yasunao Tone, Nicolas Collins and Oval’, Leonardo Music Journal, 13, pp.47-52, 2003

‘Yasunao Tone's Wounded and Skipping Compact Discs: From Improvisation and Indeterminate Composition to Glitching CDs’, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, 10:9, 2002

‘Up to Scratch’, Realtime, Oct/Nov, 2001

‘What the…?, Review of Art>Music, MCA’, Realtime, June/July, 2001

Exhibition Curation

Headland, ICAN, Sydney, 2008

Mistral: acoustic sound, Artspace, Sydney, 2006

In 2005 and 2006 Kelly was a Director of PELT Gallery in Sydney, Australia. PELT is a not-for-profit, artist-run gallery for emerging and established artists that provides a space for practices that engage in the broad area of sound and sound & visual practices.

i.audio, Performance Space, Sydney, 2004/2003


Sound Performance Curation and Production

Caleb.k presents, Echo Music series, Blacktown Arts Centre, 2007

Mistral: acoustic sound, Artspace, Sydney, 2006

Producer/curator of impermanent.audio, 2006-2000
Key performances include: Tony Conrad (USA), Bernard Parmegiani (France), Akio Suzuki (Japan), kk null (Japan), Ami Yoshida (Japan), Atau Tanaka (Japan/France), Haco (Japan), Taku Sugimoto (Japan), Kaffe Mathews (UK), Kim Cascone (USA), Toshimaru Nakamura (Japan), Jojo Hiroshige (Japan), Phil Dadson (NZ), Tetuzi Akiyama (Japan), Rosy Parlane (NZ), Aki Onda (Japan), Francisco Lopez (Spain), Chris Abrahams, David Haines, Oren Ambarchi, Joyce Hinterding, Pimmon, Julian Knowles, Lucas Abela, Phil Samartzis (AUS).

Typhoon: Performing Sound, Artspace, Sydney, 2005

AV-OUT, sound performance, Blacktown Arts Centre, 2005

Co-director/Curator/Producer of What is Music? festival, 2004, 2002, 2001
Key performances include: Merzbow (Japan), Keiji Haino (Japan), Farmer’s Manuel (Austria), Otomo Yoshihide (Japan), Toshimaru Nakamura (Japan), Tetuzi Akiyama (Japan), Whitehouse (UK), Noriko Tujiko (Japan), Voice Crack (Switzerland).

i.audio, Performance Space, Sydney and Project Space, Melbourne, 2004

Res Artis, Body of International Artist Residency annual conference, performance event, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2004

i.audio, Footscray Community Centre, Melbourne, and Performance Space, Sydney, 2003

impermanent, Brisbane Powerhouse, 2003

Audio-Ideas, Artspace, Sydney, 2000

All material is copyright of the author, and written permission must be obtained for any reproduction in whole or in part.
For more information see the University of Sydney copyright disclaimer.