Lise Autogena (born 1964) is a Danish artist living in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. At the age of 17, she left home to live in Denmark's experimental community Christiania, an experience which she has said was very important in her development. Autogena is best known for the ''Sound Mirrors'' projec

Inspired by the derelict

acoustic mirror An acoustic mirror is a passive device used to reflect and focus (concentrate) sound waves. Parabolic reflector, Parabolic acoustic mirrors are widely used in parabolic microphones to pick up sound from great distances, employed in surveillance ...

s at the former

RAF Denge Royal Air Force Denge or more simply RAF Denge is a former Royal Air Force site near Dungeness, in Kent, England. It is best known for the early experimental acoustic mirrors which remain there. The RAF had begun research into acoustic mirrors ...

in England, it aims to create two new

sound mirrors ''Sound Mirrors'' is the fifth studio album by Coldcut. It was released in January 2006. Four singles were released from the album including the Top 75 hit "True Skool" with Roots Manuva. Track listing CD #" Man in a Garage" (featJohn Ma ...

on the coast of England and France which will enable people on either side of the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

to speak to each other. Her work tends to feature very lengthy and complex development, involving forming diverse communities of artists, business people, scientists, and children, who come together to work on each project. She says: :“''From the outset, I am often not sure whether it will be possible to realise my rather Utopian projects. I nevertheless commit years of research and development. Risk is an important part of my work, and the long term potential of my projects is important to me.''” In 2001, Black Shoals, in collaboration with

Joshua Portway Joshua Portway (born 1967) is an artist and game designer. He is a frequent collaborator with Lise Autogena, for example on their Black Shoals stock market. He is also the author of thNoodle series of interactive music pieces, which was original ...

, was shown at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

, London. In 2004 she was recipient to a prestigious three-year National Endowment of Science, Technology and the Arts (

NESTA Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a British foundation, registered as a charity, which supports innovation. Nesta was originally funded by a £250 million endowment from the UK National Lotter ...

) fellowship, aiding development of her work. In 2013, again in collaboration with

, Autogena created Foghorn Requiem, a performance involving a

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

foghorn, 55 ships at sea and brass bands on land. Scored by

Orlando Gough Orlando Gough ( ; born 1953 in Brighton, Sussex) is a British composer, educated at Oxford, and noted for projects written for ballet, contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborators have included Siobhan Davies, Alain Platel, Shobana Jeyasingh ...

, it was said to be the first musical score created for foghorns. Performed to an audience of 8000, the piece was recognized by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

for having the "most ship horns in a piece of music".

References

NESTA biography

External links

Artist's websiteBlack Shoals ProjectSound Mirrors ProjectFoghorn Requiem website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Autogena, Lise 1964 births Living people 20th-century Danish women artists 20th-century Danish artists 21st-century Danish women artists Danish conceptual artists Women conceptual artists