Jacob Kirkegaard (born 1975, Denmark - living in Berlin, Germany) is a sound artist with an interest in the scientific and aesthetic aspects of resonance, time and hearing. His performances, audio/visual installations and compositions deal with acoustic spaces and phenomena that usually remain inaccessible to sense perception.
With the help of unorthodox recording tools such as accelerometers, hydrophones or home-built electromagnetic receivers, Kirkegaard manages to capture and explore "secret sounds" - distortions, interferences, vibrations, ambiences - from within a variety of environments: volcanic earth, a nuclear power plant, an empty room, a TV tower, crystals, ice… and the human inner ear itself.
A graduate of the Academy for Media Arts in Cologne, Germany, Kirkegaard has given workshops and lectures in academic institutions such as the Royal Academy of Architecture in Copenhagen and the Art Institute of Chicago.
During the last ten years, he has been presenting exhibitions and touring festivals and conferences throughout the world. He has released five albums (mostly on the British label Touch). Among his numerous collaborators are JG Thirlwell, CM von Hausswolff, Ann Lislegaard and Philip Jeck.
His works include live performances, film music, installations and compositions - Soaked, a collaboration with Philip Jeck (Touch, 2002), 01.02 (Bottrop-boy) and Eldfjall (Touch, 2005). In his latest work for Touch, 4 Rooms (2006), Kirkegaard explores the sonic legacy of Chernobyl.
Jacob Kirkegaard has been presented at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Denmark, KIASMA art museum in Finland, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Gallery Rachel Haferkamp and at the Transmediale in Germany. He is also a member of freq_out.
