Miha Ciglar
area: Sound Art
Key Facts
nationality
Sloveniaarea
Sound Artresidence
Grazrecommending institution
TONSPURtime period
January 2006 - January 2006Miha Ciglar is a composer and sound artist currently studying at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria. Originally from Maribor, Slovenia, Ciglar now lives and works in Western Europe.
Since 2001 he has performed his own compositions for saxophone, guitar, vibraphone, double bass, electro-acoustical performances, interactive dance performances, computer music and audiovisual installations at many art festivals all around the world.
His work has strong conceptual fundaments and points away from expressive values of common aesthetic ideals. A subject of high concern and priority is the problem of absolute awareness of sonic perception which is directly connected with the question of existential legitimacy of sound art. Ciglars compositional approach and attitude towards technological solutions are very similar and rooted in a revaluation of existent “material”, resulting in its preliminary decomposition, in order to absorb its originally suggestive character for an employment in the further process of creation.
Born in 1980 in Maribor Slovenia
1997 - 2001 - Music school Maribor, ( saxophone )
1999 - 2002 - Faculty of education Maribor, study of musical pedagogics
2001 - 2003 - University of music and dramatic arts Graz ( KUG )
- Department for jazz (saxophone )
since 2003 - University of music and dramatic arts Graz ( KUG )
- Sound engineering
September 2004 - Artist in residence at STEIM - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2004 - 2008 - Scholarship ( Slovenian Ministry of Culture )
November 2005 - ACM multimedia, Singapore – student conference grant / award
(sponsored by IBM and Microsoft)
October 2005 - Guest lecturer:
§ Conservatorium of Music - University of Sydney, Australia
§ University of Technology Sydney, Australia
§ Faculty of Creative Arts - University of Wollongong, Australia
Artistic activity:
2005 »Tastes like…« - a composition for two monitors, mixing board and human body
- ACM Multimedia Conference 2005 - Singapore
2005 »Composition for film - test.A« - in cooperation with son:DA, Samo Pečar, Luka Princic, Marko B, Samo Salamon, Resonance data and Andrej Hrvatin
- Festival Pixxelpoint 2005 - Nova Gorica, Slovenia
2005 »I.B.R. Variation 3« - a composition for computer, electrified guitar, mixing board and human body
- Oscillations - 30 days of sound - Gallery of modern art Ljubljana, Slovenia
2005 »Vacuum 8G/16KS« - in cooperation with Dragan Živadinov (SLO) a.o.
- World Theatre Festival Zagreb, Croatia
2005 »2nd Illusion« - a composition for computer, cathode monitor, mixing board and human body
- Dis-orientation series - The Abercrombie Hotel - Sydney, Australia
- Club Zho - "Totally Huge", new music festival - Perth, Australia
2005 »Composition for Biennale« - in cooperation with son:DA, Samo Pečar and Anja Grauf
- BJCEM biennale 2005 - Naples, Italy
2005 »Resistance« - a composition for computer, electrified guitar and human body
- [R]-[R]-[F] 2005 - ->XP – SoundLab Channel - Edition III - networking project
- Break Festival 2.3 - Ljubljana, Slovenia
- 13th. Audio Art Festival - Krakow, Poland
- International festival of computer arts »MFRU« Maribor, Slovenia
- Festival Faki 008 - Zagreb, Croatia
- FILE Festival / Hipersonica - Sao Paulo, Brazil
2005 »Composition for film - test 004« - in cooperation with son:DA, Samo Pečar, Luka Primcic, Marko B and Andrej Hrvatin
- performed live on Radio MARŠ 95,9 MHz - Maribor, Slovenia
2005 »Connected 05« - in cooperation with Cym (NL) a.o.
- Art Center Sredisce, Slovenia
- Forum Stadtpark, - Graz, Austria
2005 »This is POP« - Interactive algorithmic composition for three dancers/choreographers:
- Urška Vohar, Jasmina Križaj, Tina Valentan
- KIBLA - Narodni dom, Maribor, Slovenia
2005 »I.B.R. Variation 2« - a composition for computer, electrified guitar, mixing board and human body
- HyperKult 14 - AudioKult and Hypersound - Lüneburg, Germany
2005 »I.B.R. Variation 1« - a composition for computer, electrified guitar, mixing board and human body
- Electrofringe, new media arts festival 05 - Newcastle, Australia
- Creativity & Cognition Studios – Univ. of Technology - Sydney, Australia
- "Totally Huge", new music festival conference - Perth, Australia
- PICA - Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts - Perth, Australia
- Fabrique.25 - Brisbane Powerhouse / Room 40 - Brisbane, Australia
- 1/4 INCH series - University of Wollongong, Australia
2005 »Kompozit MR_MM« - in cooperation with Dragan Živadinov, Dunja Zupančič, son:DA, Miha Turšič and Samo Pečar
- Festival EnterMultimediale 2 - Vitkov monument - Prague, Czech Republic
2005 »Sport(s) Rule(s)!« a contribution to the 60*60 project by Robert Voisey
- Weisman Museum - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Collective: Unconscious - New York, New York, USA
- University of Maine - Presque Isle, Maine, USA
- The Essl Collection - Klosterneuburg, Austria
2005 »Composition Nr. 27-3« - in cooperation with son:DA and Samo Pečar
- Festival EnterMultimediale 2 - Palace Akropolis - Prague, Czech Republic
2005 »Noordung« - in cooperation with Dragan Živadinov and Dunja Zupančič
- Festival EnterMultimediale 2 - Vitkov monument - Prague, Czech Republic
2005 »Illusions« - Interactive algorithmic composition
- Break Festival 2.3 - Ljubljana, Slovenia
- 13th. Audio Art Festival - Krakow, Poland
- FILE Festival / Hipersonica - Sao Paulo, Brazil
- International festival of computer arts »MFRU« - Maribor, Slovenia
2005 »Body Mix« - a composition for voice, mixing board and human body
- International festival of computer arts »MFRU« - Maribor, Slovenia
2004 »Composition Nr. 0025« In cooperation with son:DA and Samo Pecar:
- Steirisc[:her:]bst- Musikprotokoll - Graz, Austria
2004 »This is POP« (beta version) - Interactive algorithmic composition for three dancers/choreographers: Urska Vohar, Jasmina Krizaj, Tina Valentan
- PD (pure data) convention – Kunsthaus - Graz, Austria
2004 »Sport(s) Rule(s)!« a contribution to the 60*60 project by Robert Voisey
- UNDER St. Marks (electro-acoustic month) - New York City, USA
- Contemporary art museum - St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Hill Recital Hall, Birmingham-Southern College - Alabama, USA
- Chopin concert hall - National university of music Bucharest, Romania
2004 »Sport Rules!« a contribution to the festival »Sport & Kult«
- Minorite hall - Graz, Austria
2004 »A composition for monitor, projection, bass and computer« in cooperation with son:DA and Samo Pecar.:
- Cube IEM ( Institute of electronic music) - Graz, Austria
- Tonspur - MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, Austria
- International festival of computer arts »MFRU« Maribor, Slovenia
- NIL - Graz, Austria
- KIBLA - Narodni dom, Maribor, Slovenia
- Sound explicit - Gallery P74 - Ljubljana, Slovenia
2004 »A piece for two instruments and a saxophone player«
- 404 International festival of electronic arts - Rosario, Argentina
- Sound explicit - Gallery P74 - Ljubljana, Slovenia
- BEK international audio stream - a collaboration between BEK (Bergen Center for Electronic Arts) and [R][R][F]2004--->XP, the experimental networking project - presented at the Biennale for Electronic Arts Perth, Australia.
- Project 101 - Paris, France
- Festival Pixxelpoint 2004 - Nova Gorica, Slovenia
- The Tunnel - KSER 90.7 FM - Everett, Washington, USA
- New directions music festival - LASALLE-SIA College, Singapore
- Creative connections symposium - »BEAP« Perth, Australia
- NIL - Graz, Austria
- International festival of computer arts »MFRU 2004« Maribor, Slovenia
- Festival »Coded cultures 2004« - MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, Austria
- Art trail soundworks (Cork Middsummer festival 2004) - Cork, Ireland
- Festival »Zeppelin 2004« - Zaragoza, Spain
- Festival »Zeppelin 2004« - Barcelona, Spain
- Electroacoustic report - Radio Helsinki - Graz, Austria
- Cube IEM ( Institute of electronic music ) - Graz, Austria
2003 »A piece for two instruments and a saxophone player« (beta version)
- series »Solosolo« - Pekarna Maribor, Slovenia
2003 »Mr. Monster Lonely« cartoon in cooperation with Maria Slovakova (SK)
- Tonto comic festival - Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria
2003 »Connected« – audiovisual installation in cooperation with Cym, son:DA and Peter Košir
- Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria
2003 »Agent Orange« - computer music project in cooperation with Michael Pinter (NL)
- Gallery Media Nox - Maribor, Slovenia
2003 »Agent Solo« - electro acoustic performance
- »Lange Nacht der Kulturhauptstadt« - Gallery Escape - Graz, Austria
2003 »Band_project_3.2«, »FM_etude«, a contribution to the series »Elektroakustik Report«
- Cube IEM - Graz Austria
2003 »Create – destroy« - audiovisual open source - Linux based installation
- Gallery Escape - Graz Austria
2003 »Sound and poetry« - performance
- Pekarna - Maribor, Slovenia
2001 »Transformations« - a piece for guitar, vibraphone and double-bass
- Amphitheatre of »Faculty of education Maribor«, Slovenia
Documentation of my residence in MQ
I had the great luck to be able to spend 3 Months in an artist studio of the MuseumsQuartier. I started in January and continued in May and June so I got to know 2 faces (summer and winter) of this beautiful city. The apartment was very nice, so I took my time just for myself and felt as on a cultural vacation. I spent a lot of time with reading, because I did not have any concrete obligations, which is a very rare case.
I was also developing a concept for an artwork, I wanted to install for the organisation "Tonspur" which invited me to Vienna. Because I had so much time to stay in this particular environment, I could engage deeply in the exhibition space (the Tonspur passage) and its intrinsic features.
I developed 3 different concepts of an installative sound-artwork, and the last one really fitted perfectly to the purpose of this space. To get to this I think it was crucial for me to spend so much time at the venue, because, I developed the first concept already before I got there and then tried to fit it in the new environment, but eventually it turned to be very incompatible.
I think that you can develop an artwork with a different, (a higher) level of quality if you just have the chance to engage deeper with the actual performance or exhibition venue, so I think the AIR programme provides a fantastic platform for achieving the best results. In addition to that, I also did a live performance of an electroacoustic composition I was working on parallel...
Basically I had a great time, and met lots of interesting new people, but I also have to give a negative critique regarding the technical support of the artist facilities.
I had a broken heating system, in my studio, which I complained about already in January, but in June, when I left, it still was not fixed. Also, the door lock was kind of broken and sometimes I spent a lot of time to open it, which I also complained about, but it also was not fixed.
Miha Ciglar