NAISA Sound Byte 8 - Composing with Sand

Listening to Zand and interviewing its creator Marieke Van de Ven

Making Waves is a radio show about sound art produced by New Adventures in Sound Art for WGXC Wave Farm. On the April 12th episode we are listening to the long form sound art composition Zand by Dutch sound artist Marieke Van de ven. Afterwards NAISA Artistic Director Darren Copeland will have a conversation with her to learn more about the piece.

Zand explores sand grains as material, concept and sound. Viewed from different perspectives, the sand grains become a place to explore and wander. A composition of subtle grains to colossal layers of sound and back again. A movement, a duration, a route.

As a composer and sound artist, Marieke Van de ven likes to zoom in on environmental sounds. The sound of sand is a sonic adventure where texture and associations with the material guides her process. Marieke Van de ven searches for the meaning of the ordinary in the mundane details of life - and she connects the listener to the origins of the materials she explores.

Marieke van de Ven creates sound walks, podcasts, audio stories, electroacoustic compositions and field recordings. Inspired by the sounds surrounding us, she investigates the musicality and narratives formed by nature and urban environments. Within the stratification of field recordings, abstract sounds, interviews and text, she explores the relationship between sound and storytelling. To download and purchase Zand, visit Marieke Van de ven's Bandcamp page.