Herman van den Muijsenberg is a curator and organizer of exhibitions and events. In his projects he researches sound, it’s role in public space and the way it relates to all kinds of artistic practices. Coming from a background of self-publishing and -organizing, he has an interest for the ways in which art is organized. He has worked as a curator for Extrapool, Valkhof Museum, Museum Arnhem and a number of festivals. Apart from exhibitions he organizes concert series and performance-nights at the experimental art space ‘Extrapool’ (Nijmegen). Herman is director at Sinus and was an advisor on boards and committees (Fonds Podiumkunsten, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunsten). He draws pictures, makes music to do yoga to and has performed for various audiences such as a room full of cats. He explores the sonic quality of seaweed has a fondness of Japanese ambient music.
In his personal sound practice Herman is interested in the process of transformation through associative and formal characteristics of sound. His installations and compositions are made by mixing field recording, synthesized sound and electro acoustic machines. In his installations he explores the relation between sound and meaning. Can they become a bridge to the unknown? How can sound guide us in shaping a relationship with the other; be it solid, liquid, alive or in spirit?
When collecting and composing with sounds Herman is interested in the sound of material and the materiality of sound. How does wood sound, how does porcelain sound, what sonic vibrations do these materials afford? Herman likes to research the affordances of materials and their states of being. The accidental resonance of metal stairs; the crack of a piece of wood that is moved to the point that it breaks.