Margaret Noble: Resonating Objects 

I create interactive, multi-sensory sculptures and installations layered in sound and gesture. I design these works with recycled objects, raw materials, and circuitry. I use tactile controls to integrate light, electro-acoustic sounds, and field recordings into my projects. This practice enables users to animate objects and to be animated by my sculptures and installations. The materials I integrate have their own unique narratives but they accrue new meanings when combined. Through this hybrid medium, my work explores human and material relationships modulated by technology. I want each experience I create to become personal for the user. Instead of viewing the works, I would like audiences to inhabit the works.

A note on my content; I fear and love technology through a complex relationship I have with it in living, teaching, and making art. Furthermore, my experience of growing up on welfare often boils over in my work as I frequently explore social hierarchies and escapism. I engage with all of these ideas by looking at public and private histories. For example, in my sculpture “I Long to be Free from Longing”, I present a collection of intimate sounds embedded in an empty case with the invitation to covet things that aren’t there. In my music box sculptures: “What Was, What Is, What Is Not Yet ” and “A Score for Conversation” I use various sound patterns controlled by interactive paper loops to explore the impact of trauma and misguided communications. In my pieces: “What Lies Beneath” and “Head in the Sand” I offer audiences a chance to explore social anxiety through light, sound, and containment. For all works, I am interested in creating personal moments in public places. For me, this is theatrical work. The experiences of these works are constantly evolving due to the particularity of various venues and the nature of an audience’s participation.

Born in Texas and raised in California, Margaret Noble’s experimental artworks have been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her interdisciplinary work resides at the intersection of sound, sculpture, and performance. She holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of California, San Diego and an MFA in Sound Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Noble’s work is influenced by the beat-driven dance culture of southern California which flourished during the 1980’s and later led her to perform as an electronic music DJ in the underground club community of Chicago. In 2004, she branched out from the dance floor into experimental sound art for new audiences which intersected the electronic sound scene and the visual arts community. During this transition, Margaret created sound works for collaborative projects in video, dance and object theatre. Her artistic works have now evolved into sculpture and installation influenced by interests in memory, history, narrative, and identity. Noble’s work has been featured on KPBS, PRI, Art Ltd Magazine, Art Forum, San Francisco Weekly and the Washington Post. She was awarded the International Governor’s Grant, the Hayward Prize and the Creative Catalyst Fellowship. Her artistic residencies include the MAK Museum in Vienna and the Salzburg Academy of Fine Art. She has had several solo exhibitions including the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Ohrenhoch der Geräuschladen Sound Gallery in Berlin, and Mute Gallery in Portugal.