About the Artist
Mark Lyken (1973) is an artist, filmmaker and composer based in rural Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. He creates observational film, musical and sound works, performances and installations that have been presented nationally and internationally including Brazil, India, Italy, Poland, Romania, Sweden and widely across the UK.
His recent work explores relationships to place and the interplay between nature and culture and has led to collaborations with artists and scientists, most notably from the University of Aberdeen’s School of Biological Sciences.
In 2012/13, Lyken created The Terrestrial Sea, a site-specific sonic installation at the Cromarty Lighthouse, the result of a Bio Acoustic Residency in Cromarty, Scotland where he worked closely with the Lighthouse Field Station’s team of ecologists and IOTA. This was subsequently developed with regular collaborator, Emma Dove into an audio-visual performance, commissioned by Cryptic for Sonica and premiered at Multiplicidade 2014, Rio.
His recent film Mirror Lands, co-directed with Emma Dove, won the Award for Creativity at IFFEST Documentary Art Festival 2014, Bucharest and his latest audio-visual commission, Oscillon Response, which premiered at Sonica 2015, Glasgow is currently touring the UK as part of PRS for Music Foundation’s Beyond Borders.
Lyken became a Cryptic Associate in 2014 and releases music with Important Records, Time Released Sound and Gamma Proforma.
In July 2016, he will be undertaking a residency with CMMAS, Mexico to develop a surround sound version of The Terrestrial Sea. This will be presented in partnership with Filmhouse as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase at the Edinburgh Festival.
Cryptic commissions for Sonica include:
The Terrestrial Sea
Mark Lyken worked alongside ecologists at Aberdeen University’s Lighthouse Field Station in Cromarty between 2012 and 2014. The Terrestrial Sea is the culmination of that work, highlighting the diverse and ever-changing environments of the Cromarty Firth that the ecologists are studying through music and film.
Oscillon Response
Lyken interprets the forefather of Electronic Art, Ben F. Laposky’s pioneering Oscillon Electronic Abstractions. Working in collaboration with Sanford Museum, Iowa, this unique work for concert performance merges Lyken’s sonic responses and visualisations with Laposky’s original 1950’s Oscillon artworks.
