Olivia Louvel


Olivia Louvel is a French-born British composer and artist whose work draws on voice, computer music and digital narrative. She operates at the intersection of creation and documentation, often taking for a point of departure, texts, poetry, archival and autobiographical documents. Her practice is built upon a long-standing exploration of the voice, sung or spoken, and its manipulation through digital technology, as a compositional method.
Her largest project to date, Hepworth Resounds, is a multipartite sound art project based on British sculptor Barbara Hepworth. Hepworth Resounds consists in two sound objects: The Sculptor Speaks, a resounding of a 1961 recording of Barbara Hepworth’s voice, premiered on Resonance Extra and SculptOr, an album release based on Hepworth’s extensive writings.
Previously, Louvel explored the reigns of Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I with the multimedia suite Data Regina, delivering her own singular transposition through an interactive digital platform http://www.dataregina.com and a cd publication. In November 2018, she toured throughout the UK presenting a headline audio-visual set of Data Regina for ‘’, an event curated by Benjamin Tassie under Sound and Music's Composer-Curator scheme, also featuring Jo Thomas.
Louvel has opened for artists such as Eartheater at De La Warr Pavilion,
Japanese avant-garde artist Phew
Planningtorock at the Earsthetic Festival Brighton Dome,
and Recoil for various concerts on the European 'Selected' tour.

Early career

Initially trained in classical singing, she began to work as a singer for the renowned flying trapeze circus 'Les Arts Sauts' performing at 12 metres in the air a Meredith Monk composition 'Madwoman’s vision'. She toured with them for three years. She attended the National Superior Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris and had the opportunity to work with Klaus Michael Grüber and Michel Piccoli in a reworking of a Luigi Pirandello play.

Solo works

In 2003, with her first computer, she began to produce her debut album Luna Parc Hotel, released on Angelika Koehlermann in 2006. With guest appearances by Michael J.Sheehy and Sébastien Libolt.
Inspired by silent-movie star Louise Brooks and her book Lulu in Hollywood. Released as a digipak CD on run by French artist Pierre BelouÏn.
Initially released as a digital version on Ototoi Music / Optical Sound. Doll Divider was originally inspired by A4 paintings which she made using pages from fashion magazines and repainting on top of the photos of the models. Collectively these paintings are called "Processed Dolls". Following her Qwartz Album Award in 2011, she created her label Cat Werk Imprint. 'Doll Divider' was re-released as a limited edition vinyl, enhanced and remastered version, catalogue number CW01.
A minimal soundtrack based on haiku by poet Bashō released on Cat Werk Imprint. The limited Edition CD is adorned with a hand-drawn 'Magic Fish Dog', a character invented by Olivia Louvel
2008 Screening, Festival Electron, Geneva
2007 Performance in the electronic kiosk conceived by Cocktail Designers/architect Olivier Vadrot at Festival en boîte, Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu, Lyon, France
11 songs complemented by a series of experimental short films shot in West Sussex, reinventing herself as a bird-woman. "Bats" was remixed by Simon Fisher Turner.
for 'Music, Awareness & Solidarity w/ Rojava Revolution', a female:pressure campaign curated by Antye Greie-Ripatti that aims to show solidarity and raise awareness for a special de facto autonomous zone in northern Syria. Released and screened at CTM Festival, Berlin. Produced using sampled sounds and re-fragmented images sourced from the internet, an attempt to highlight the formidable solidarity and courage of these women fighting on the front line against IS.
"A multimedia suite by composer Olivia Louvel digs deep into the psychic warfare between two 16th century British Queens" “For her latest record, Data Regina, Olivia Louvel packages experimental electronic music, new media art, and 16th century conflict into multimedia art "
Inspired by the reigns of Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I.
A generative sound mural of nine speaker drivers and data projection, confronting the violent misogyny of the Incels community. Installed at DMSA, University of Brighton.
A suite of nine pieces based on the writings of Barbara Hepworth, released as a digipak CD - .
Louvel was interviewed by Stuart Maconie for his BBC Radio 6 programme – Freak Zone - about her “new compelling sculpture-inspired work” on Barbara Hepworth.
A resounding of a 1961 recording of Hepworth’s voice. Premiered as a first iteration on Resonance Extra / Resonance FM
and now published as a 35 mn audiovisual piece.

Collaborative practice

Under the moniker of The Digital Intervention, she worked with Paul Kendall on the album Capture, which was released in 2003.
December 2014, she produced an exclusive mix for Electronic Beats, "odd and fantastic", which features her remix of Antye Greie aka AGF ’s 'Poemproducer'.
With Paul Kendall as The Digital Intervention, they produced the piece 'When the sea will rise II' for Acoustic Cameras, a project which invites sound artists to annex the real-time flow of webcams located in various places around the world.
Along with Daria Baiocchi, Fiona Hallinan, La Cosa Preziosa, Vicky Langan, Úna Lee, Jenn Kirby, Claudia Molitor, Gráinne Mulvey and Rachel Ní Chuinn, Louvel contributed to the collaborative art project 'Mean Time' with her composition ' 25 minutes and 21 seconds'. The event was broadcast live on Nova, RTÉ Lyric FM from Richmond Barracks, Dublin, clawing back time lost in 1916.
Louvel has been an active member of female:pressure, the international network of female, transgender and non-binary artists in the fields of electronic music and digital arts.

Discography

LPs

Awards