Son[i]a #320: Ji Youn Kang

The Hague-based composer and performer Ji Youn Kang feels comfortable being labelled a noise artist. After all, she tells us, “pure sound does not belong to my world, noise does”. Space and site-specificity play a vital role in her work, which is based on a two-fold approach to sound: she takes into account both its musical qualities and how it relates to a particular space. Having composed many pieces for the 192-loudspeaker Wave Field Synthesis System (which she gives workshops on at the Institute of Sonology) and other spatial sound systems, such as the Pentacle 15.3, her multichannel pieces focus on the relationship between musical and physical space.

In this podcast, Ji talks about Korean ritual music, perfect 5ths and nature, resonating objects, noise, self-built instruments, uncertainty and tension, Wave Field Synthesis, and strategies to engage online audiences in meaningful communication.