Assembly 2020

London arts space Somerset House has premiered a series of spatial sound works via a newly-developed online listening platform. Assembly 2020 comprises the work of five experimental sound artists and encourages users to visualise and navigate sound in new and unfamiliar ways through the latest innovations in immersive listening.

Orientation begins in an online lobby, where individual audio works are accessible by entering virtual listening rooms. Inside, works such as Kelman Duran’s ‘A Last… Cinema’ and Zadie Xa’s ‘Moon Poetics 4 Courageous Earth Critters and Dangerous Day Dreamers’ can be experienced by moving the cursor around a 3D scene, with the audio defined by the positioning and perspective of the user.

Somerset House has hosted a range of innovative music projects over recent years. In 2015, British musician PJ Harvey recorded her ninth album ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’ in an enclosed on-site studio, surrounded by one-way glazing through which visitors could observe her as she worked. Their annual Summer Series, meanwhile, has hosted artists ranging from De La Soul to Mercury-nominated jazz group Sons of Kemet since the arts centre held its first live performance in 2001.

The five experimental audio works that comprise Assembly 2020 can be experienced online until September 2021 at assembly2020.co.