Blake Johnston

Blake Johnston is a Wellington-based sound artist. His creative output encompasses, and often combines, ideas from instrumental composition, kinetic sculpture, and music technology for live performance and gallery settings. His work has been performed and demonstrated internationally in Australia, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the United States of America and Greece.

In March 2014, Blake exhibited a collaboration with Henry Dengate Thrush, a mechatronic instrument titled, Polus Ensemble. Other works have included deconstructed piano and live electronics in his Brackets series and a sonic installation in the Low Noise exhibition entitled Hummingbird. For Low Noise II, Blake exhibited Lilburn Loops, which explores ideas about time and degradation through a piece that draws upon Lilburn as source material.

His exhibition at Toi Pōneke, Listening to Yourself Listening showcased a series works that create metaperceptual experiences, inviting audiences to explore their own subjectivity. The audience is integral to these works, its presence and perspective working in tandem with the context in which Blake’s work sits.

Blake is currently Lecturer, Technology Major Coordinator at Te Rewa o Puanga School of Music and Creative Media Production. Documentation of Blake’s works can be found on his Vimeo page.