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Associate Professor Caleb Kelly

Associate Professor Caleb Kelly

Associate Professor

Bachelor of Arts, Art History & Philosophy, the University of Otago, NZ (1993).

Master of Arts (Hons), Art History, Ìýthe University of Auckland, NZ (1996).

Doctor of Philosophy, Creative Communications, the University of Canberra, Australia (2007).

Ìý

Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA)
School of Art & Design

Caleb Kelly is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture.ÌýHis research focuses on sound in the fields of media arts, gallery arts and music.ÌýHis research has led to a rethinking of how art is listened to, historically and in contemporary practice. Kelly coordinates the research group Sound, Energies and Environments (http://see.unsw.edu.au/).

In 2009 he published his first book, entitledÌýCracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction, through MIT Press. He has also editedÌýSoundÌý(MIT Press and Whitechapel Gallery, 2011), part of the Documents of Contemporary Art series. Kelly's third book, entitledÌýGallery Sound,Ìýwas published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2017. He is the co-editor of Imperfections:ÌýStudies in Mistakes, Flaws, and FailuresÌý(Bloomsbury, 2021). He has written articles for the Journal of Sonic Studies, Sound Studies, European Journal of Cultural Studies,ÌýLeonardo Music Journal, and Contemporary Music Review.

Kelly is a curator whose exhibitions deal with strategies for the display of contemporary art that is filled with sound. Most recently, he curated Material Sound for MAMA, Albury in 2018. The exhibition included six installations by Australian artists who work with sound. The exhibition, with the funding support of the Australian Council for the Arts, toured seven art museums in Australia between 2020-2023. In 2019, he curated Materials, Sounds + Black Mountain College in the USA. He also curated a large exhibition entitledÌýSound Full: Sound in Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art, at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the City Gallery in Wellington, NZ in 2013/2014.Ìý

In 2015 Kelly was theÌýEdgard Varèse Guest Professor at the Technische Universität Berlin.

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E-mail
caleb.kelly@unsw.edu.au
  • Books | 2020
    Kelly C, 2020, Tangible/Intangible: The Sound of Sculpture, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand,
    Books | 2017
    Kelly C, 2017, Gallery Sound, Bloomsbury Academic, New York,
    Books | 2011
    Kelly C, 2011, Sound, Kelly C, (ed.), MIT Press / Whitechapel Gallery, Cambridge, Mass / London
    Books | 2009
    Kelly C, 2009, Cracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
  • Book Chapters | 2023
    Kelly C, 2023, 'Art Music Video and the Gallery', in Traveling Music Videos, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 107 - 120,
    Book Chapters | 2023
    Kelly C, 2023, 'Art Music Video and the Gallery', in Traveling Music Videos, Bloomsbury Academic, New York, pp. 108 - 120
    Book Chapters | 2021
    Kelly C, 2021, 'Imperfection in Experimental Instruments and Their Performances', in Imperfections: Studies in Mistakes, Flaws, and Failures, Bloomsbury Academic, New York, pp. 149 - 164,
    Book Chapters | 2020
    Kelly C; Van Gelder P, 2020, 'Livening Things Up: Australian Hand Built Electronic Instruments', in Collins N (ed.), Handmade Electronic Instruments: The Art of Hardware Hacking, Routledge, London,
    Book Chapters | 2019
    Kelly C, 2019, 'A Brief Introduction to the Sound Arts in Australia', in Weibel P (ed.), Sound Art: Sound as a Medium of Art, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., pp. 668 - 675,
    Book Chapters | 2011
    Kelly C, 2011, 'Art sonore ou son dans l’art?', in Gonseth M-O (ed.), Bruits: Echos  du  patrimoine  culturel  immatériel, Musée d'ethnographie, ±·±ð³Ü³¦³óâ³Ù±ð±ô, pp. 120 - 125
    Book Chapters | 2011
    Kelly C, 2011, 'Sound in Art', in Kelly C (ed.), Sound, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
    Book Chapters | 2008
    Kelly C, 2008, 'The Performance of Australian Experimental Musics: From Shattered Glass to Feedback Instruments.', in Homan S; Mitchell T (ed.), Sounds of then, sounds of now: Popular Music in Australia, ACYS Publishing, Hobart
    Book Chapters | 2007
    Kelly C, 2007, 'Yasunao Tone: Technology/Noise', in Shiner E; Tomii R (ed.), Making A Home: Japanese Contemporary Arts in New York, Yale University Press, New York
  • Edited Books | 2021
    Kelly C; Rutten E; Kemper J, (eds.), 2021, Imperfections Studies in Mistakes, Flaws, and Failures, Bloomsbury Academic, New York
    Edited Books | 2011
    Kelly C, (ed.), 2011, Sound, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.,
  • Journal articles | 2024
    Kelly C, 2024, 'Sound in sight: audio and sound-focused art exhibitions in New York between 1978 and 1984', Sound Studies, 10, pp. 293 - 312,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Kelly C, 2023, 'Dirt(y) media: Dirt in ecological media art practices', European Journal of Cultural Studies, 26, pp. 136754942110369 - 136754942110369,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Kelly C, 2023, 'Forensic listening in the artwork of Lawrence Abu Hamdan', Sound Studies, 9, pp. 282 - 284,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Kelly C, 2023, 'Records Reformed and Reused. Nostalgic and Ecological Concerns in Contemporary Media Art', Revue musicale OICRM, 10, pp. 1 - 15,
    Journal articles | 2022
    Kelly C, 2022, 'Not Quite Sound: Silence in the Gallery', Australian Humanities Review,
    Journal articles | 2018
    Kelly C, 2018, 'Materials of Sound: Sound As (More Than) Sound', Journal of Sonic Studies,
    Journal articles | 2013
    Kelly C; Gibson R, 2013, 'Contemporary Art & The Noise of TENDING', Interference: A Journal of Audio Culture,
    Journal articles | 2013
    Kelly C; Poladian L; Barbour MB, 2013, 'Resource Use and the Study Habits in a First-Year Mathematics Service Unit', Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education,
    Journal articles | 2003
    Kelly C, 2003, 'Damaged Sound: Glitching and Skipping Compact Discs in the Audio of Yasunao Tone, Nicolas Collins and Oval.', Leonardo Music Journal, 13, pp. 47 - 52
    Journal articles | 2003
    Kelly C, 2003, 'The Object of Performance: Performativity in Contemporary Laptop Performance', Contemporary Music Review, 22, pp. 59 - 65
    Journal articles | 2002
    Kelly C, 2002, 'Yasunao Tone’s Wounded and Skipping Compact Discs: From Improvisation and Indeterminate Composition to Glitching CDs', Leonardo Electronic Almanac, 10
  • Creative Written Works | 2024
    Kelly C, 2024, Into the interconnectedness that spans the vastness of space and the infinitesimal scale of microcosms, Verge Gallery, University of Sydney Union,
    Creative Written Works | 2022
    Kelly C, 2022, Vicky Browne’s Eco-Sonic Media., Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
    Conference Papers | 2022
    Kelly C, 2022, 'Cracked and Broken: Eco-Sonic Vinyl Destruction', University of Montreal, presented at From Record to Art/The Record as Art, University of Montreal, 12 May 2022 - 13 May 2022
    Conference Presentations | 2022
    Kelly C, 2022, 'The Empty Sounding Gallery', presented at Sound as Sculpture, The Warehouse, Dallas, USA, 06 May 2022 - 06 May 2022
    Conference Papers | 2021
    Kelly C, 2021, 'Material Sound', RMIT University, presented at More-than-sound, RMIT University, 20 September 2021 - 20 September 2021,
    Creative Written Works | 2020
    Kelly C, 2020, Immateriality, Sound and the Art Gallery, AUDIOSPHERE: Social Experimental Audio, Reina Sofía National Museum of Contemporary Art, Spain,
    Creative Written Works | 2020
    Kelly C, 2020, Tangible/Intangible: The Sound of Sculpture, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery,
    Creative Written Works | 2019
    Kelly C, 2019, Assembling Music, Angelica Mesiti, Assembly, Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Catalogue, Australia Council for the Arts
    Curatorial Outputs | 2019
    Kelly C, 2019, Materials, Sounds + Black Mountain College, exhibited at: Asheville, North Carolina, 07 June 2019 - 30 August 2019,
    Creative Written Works | 2018
    Kelly C, 2018, Material Sound: Sound as more than Sound, Material Sound (catalogue), Murray Arts Museum Albury
    Creative Written Works | 2018
    Kelly C, 2018, Vicky Browne, Cosmic Noise, Penrith Regional Gallery
    Curatorial Outputs | 2018
    Kelly C, 2018, Material Sound, exhibited at: MAMA, Albury, 09 February 2018 - 29 April 2018,
    Creative Written Works | 2017
    Kelly C, 2017, Between Air and Electricity: Microphones and Loudspeakers as Musical Instruments., Journal of Sonic Studies,
    Creative Written Works | 2017
    Kelly C, 2017, Everyday Materials: Ross Manning’s Dissonant Materiality, Dissonant Rhythms, Institute of Modern Art
    Conference Papers | 2016
    Kelly C, 2016, 'Intervention and Isolation: Sound in Public Art Space', McGill University, Montreal, presented at Aisthesis and the Common: Reconfiguring the Public Sphere, McGill University, Montreal, 18 March 2016 - 19 March 2016
    Conference Papers | 2016
    Kelly C, 2016, 'The Empty Sounding Gallery: Embodied Audiences in the Art Space', Melbourne, presented at Autotune Everything: Art and the Sonic, Melbourne, 18 August 2016 - 20 August 2016
    Conference Papers | 2016
    Kelly C, 2016, 'The Sound of (Dirty) Materials', University of Amsterdam, presented at Dirt, Punk, Trash, University of Amsterdam, 01 December 2016 - 01 December 2016
    Conference Papers | 2016
    Kelly C, 2016, 'The Sound of Materials', Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain, presented at XXIII Festival Internacional de Arte Sonoro y Musica Electroacustica, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain, 17 November 2016 - 17 November 2016,
    Conference Papers | 2016
    Kelly C, 2016, 'Walking and listening in the contemporary art gallery', University of Queensland, presented at Translational Research in Creative Practice, University of Queensland, 02 November 2016 - 02 November 2016
    Recorded / Rendered Creative Works | 2015
    Kelly C; Normoyle K, 2015, Performance Lecture: Count and Strike and Spin, Published: 29 July 2015, Recorded / Rendered Creative Works
    Creative Written Works | 2015
    Kelly C, 2015, Field Day, Listening and its not, Patrick Farmer , (ed.), SARU & Compost and Height
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Kelly C, 2015, 'Dirt(y) Media in Australian Contemporary Art', UiT Tromsø, Norway., presented at ENCODE, Dept. of Culture and Literature and the Centre for Peace Studies, UiT Tromsø, Norway., 07 June 2015 - 07 June 2015
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Kelly C, 2015, 'Dirt[y] Media', Goldsmiths, University of London, presented at Sonorities, Goldsmiths, University of London, 17 April 2015 - 17 April 2015,
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Kelly C, 2015, 'Noise in the Gallery', Universitat der Kunste Berlin, presented at die Reihe, Beitrage zu auditiver Kunst und Kultur, Universitat der Kunste Berlin, 16 July 2015 - 16 July 2016
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Kelly C, 2015, 'Noise in the Gallery: Intervention and Isolation in the Gallery Arts', University of Amsterdam, presented at Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR), University of Amsterdam, 18 June 2015 - 18 June 2015
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Kelly C, 2015, 'The Empty Sounding Gallery: Embodied Audiences in the Art Space', University of Cambridge, presented at Sound Studies: Art, Experience, Politics, University of Cambridge, 08 July 2015 - 10 July 2015
    Creative Written Works | 2014
    Kelly C, 2014, Materials, Das Super Paper, no.33, Kelly C, (ed.),
    Creative Written Works | 2014
    Kelly C, 2014, Sound and Art, Oxford Art Online, Grove Dictionary of Art, Oxford University Press,
    Creative Written Works | 2014
    Kelly C, 2014, Thoughts on the Representation of Sound, Wolf Notes,
    Conference Papers | 2014
    Kelly C, 2014, 'Dirt[y] Media', Milan, Italy, presented at NECS 2014, Milan, Italy, 19 June 2014 - 21 June 2014
    Conference Papers | 2014
    Kelly C, 2014, 'Listening: the practice of close listening within sound culture', ̽»¨ÏµÁÐ, presented at Cultural Studies and the New Uses of Literacy Symposium, ̽»¨ÏµÁÐ, 04 April 2014 - 05 April 2014
    Curatorial Outputs | 2014
    Kelly C, 2014, Liquid Architecture (Sydney), exhibited at: Sydney, 04 October 2014 - 05 October 2014,
    Creative Written Works | 2013
    Kelly C, 2013, Sound Full: Sound in Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art, Sound Full: Sound in Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
    Conference Papers | 2013
    Kelly C, 2013, 'Dirty Media', Amsterdam, presented at Creative Imperfections, Amsterdam, 28 November 2013 - 28 November 2013
    Curatorial Outputs | 2013
    Kelly C, 2013, Sound Full: Sound in Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art, exhibited at: City Gallery Wellington, 19 October 2013 - 09 February 2014,
    Curatorial Outputs | 2012
    Kelly C; Kreisler A, 2012, Sound Full: Sound in Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art, exhibited at: Dunedin Public Art Gallery; Dunedin, New Zealand, 17 July 2012 - 11 November 2012
    Creative Written Works | 2012
    Kelly C, 2012, Sound [is] in the visual arts, Sonic Spheres: TarraWarra Biennial 2012, Lynn V, (ed.), TarraWarra Museum of Art
    Conference Papers | 2012
    Kelly C, 2012, 'Glitching the Document', University of Wollongong, presented at Expanded Documentary Symposium, University of Wollongong, 06 September 2012 - 07 September 2012
    Curatorial Outputs | 2011
    Kelly C; White A, 2011, High Reflections, exhibited at: Red Rattler, Sydney, 25 May 2011 - 26 May 2011
    Conference Papers | 2011
    Kelly C, 2011, 'Marginalia in the Sound Work of Joyce Hinterding and Christian Marclay [Keynote]', Whitechapel Gallery, London, presented at Marginalia: Towards an Invisible College, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 03 November 2011 - 03 November 2011
    Creative Written Works | 2010
    Kelly C, 2010, supercool, Broadsheet, 39.2
    Curatorial Outputs | 2010
    Kelly C, 2010, Caleb Kelly Presents, exhibited at: Issue Project Room, New York, 07 April 2010
    Curatorial Outputs | 2010
    Kelly C, 2010, SuperDeluxe @ Artspace curated by caleb.k in the Sydney Biennale, exhibited at: Artspace, Sydney, 19 June 2010
    Curatorial Outputs | 2009
    Kelly C; White A, 2009, High Reflections, exhibited at: Various Venues, Sydney
    Curatorial Outputs | 2006
    Kelly C, 2006, Mistral: acoustic sound, exhibited at: Artspace, Sydney, 12 May 2006 - 27 May 2006
    Curatorial Outputs | 2005
    Kelly C, 2005, Typhoon: Performing Sound, exhibited at: Artspace, Sydney, 21 May 2005 - 22 October 2005

My Research Supervision

Current HDR Students:
  • Anthea CaddyÌý(PhD,ÌýPractice-based):ÌýExpanding Cello Performance Space through Long-throw SpeakersÌý
  • Ìý
Completed Post-Graduate Students:
  • Ìý
  • Anabelle Lacroix Ìý(PhD, Practice-based): A Curatorial Ear: Rhythming the museum after hours with public programmingÌý(2025)
  • Jim DenleyÌý (PhD,ÌýPractice-based):ÌýAs Weather: Improvisational Feedback, Musicking/Audio-ingÌý(2024)
  • Sara Retallick (MFA): Listening Tank: Amplifying sound underwater to access a multisensory experience of listening (2024)
  • Kate Crawford (MFA): Instrument V: Using electro-acoustic feedback to think about interconnection (2022)
  • Steffan Ianigro (PhD):ÌýPlecto: investigating the musical affordances of continuous time recurrent neural networks (2022)
  • Jasmine GuffondÌý(PhD,ÌýPractice-based): Listening Back: sound, surveillance and the internet (2021)
  • Richard KeysÌý(PhD):ÌýExpanded Approaches to Ecological Sound Practice (2021)
  • Justin Harvey (PhD,ÌýPractice-based):ÌýAn Impossible Present: The indivisibleÌýtime of video feedback art (2021)
  • Thomas Smith (PhD, Practice-based):ÌýGeneric Artistic Strategies and Ambivalent Affect (2019)
  • Heather Contant (PhD): Electromagnetic Constellations: the collectivist tendencies in radio (2018)
  • Andrew Brooks (PhD): A Poetics of Interruption: Fugitive speech acts and the politics of noise (2018)
  • Nathan Thompson (PhD, Practice-based):ÌýOrganisation and Sound: Environmental systems in experimental music (2017)
  • Rodney Swan (PhD): The Resistance and Resurgence (2016)

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