Voldemārs Johansons works in various forms of sonic art ranging from composition to sculpture. His work explores perception and the nature of experience in visible and audible domains. In 2007 he attains a degree from Royal Conservatoire, Institute of Sonology in Den Haag where he studied composition of electronic music with Paul Berg, Joel Ryan and Kees Tazelaar among others. After graduation his research interests pursue organic combination of acoustic information and spatial forms in creation of sonic environments and sculptures, examining the joint morphology of acoustic, visual and spatial domains. In this line he develops critically acclaimed piece “Aero Torrents”, a waveform sculpture projected on the surface of water by sonic vibration. A combination of elements of air, water and sound simulate a chaotic ecosystem agitated by recorded wind intensity and direction patterns of recent storms in Europe are translated to waves of sound. In 2010 he develops a large scale sculpture and composition environment “Concord” for network of electric strings in which electronic current is used to induce light emission and purely acoustic resonance, without the use of loudspeakers. The piece combining a string instrument and electronic sound a novel method, the of which into sonic quality that has been described as baroque.
The same year he premiered a chamber performance “Astorius Minos” collaboration with the Latvian Radio Choir and Girts Biss, a composition for ensemble of voices, sound sculptures and electronic sound. Another direction of his research interests explores the emergence of form in natural world as a result of a physical process. Phenomena such as diffraction of light, flow of water and light waves, geothermal activity and other natural events are presented through a prism of artistic interpretation. The studies in music composition form the foundation of his constructivist approach to arrangement in time and space.
Johanson’s work has been presented at events and venues like Venice biennial of Architecture, ArtGENDA (Hamburg), Ruhrtriennale (de), WAVES (Dortmund), <>TAG gallery (The Hague), TodaysArt (The Hague) STEIM (Amsterdam), Sound Forest (Riga), Unsound (Krakow), CAC Vilnius. Since 2009 he is a researcher at the Art Research Laboratory and works as lecturer at Liepaja University department of New Media Studies.
The works of Voldemārs Johansons, that are known to a spectator as experimental installations and performances of water, light and sound, are based on a synergy of art and science. The artist uses data of phenomena of nature and atmosphere – power of wind, spectrum of electromagnetic waves etc. – they are being investigated, translated and displayed in a visual and sonic experience that opens new frontiers of aesthetic perception to the audience. The critics highlight the artist’s ability to convey the complicated knowledge of physics and technologies in visually fascinating and immersive to other senses manifestations.”
