Ellery Royston is a composer and sound artist using natural data in multi-channel sound installation as a way of exploring ecological and social systems. Recently, she have created installations using live geomagnetic data, historical data about civilizations over time, weather data about tides, and transcriptions of Appalachian folk music. By collapsing these large systems into a single room, her work aims to create soundscapes that allow people to have an intimate experience while at the same time staying connected to the world around them. She also performs on harp and keyboard, and creates sound for theater and video.
While in residency at Titanik, she is continuing work on a new piece, Metamorphism, inspired by the experience of the Finnish landscape in wintertime. The snowy landscape is beautiful but highly fragile, withdrawing from an observer the more they try to respond to it. The piece uses motion tracking to create a 4-channel soundscape using kantele samples that responds destructively to movement in the room, encouraging listeners to stand still to experience the sound in its entirety.
Photo credit: Williamson Brasfield
