https://adamstearns.com Adam Stearns Sat, 11 Oct 2025 03:18:29 +0000 https://adamstearns.com en https://adamstearns.com/NAVIGATION Fri, 09 Oct 2020 18:32:33 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/NAVIGATION &nbsp;&nbsp;ADAM&nbsp;STEARNS ABOUT&nbsp; WORKSCOMMUNITY SESSIONAL CV https://adamstearns.com/Front-Page Fri, 09 Oct 2020 21:38:03 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/Front-Page &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; SELECTED WORKS&nbsp;︎︎︎ &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; https://adamstearns.com/Memories-of-Movement Sat, 11 Oct 2025 03:18:29 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/Memories-of-Movement <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b4a0cd86cdecedaac01876a49ea7246c4ee198fb392fb169be126e9b7beef819/20240620_161727.jpg" data-mid="239257332" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b4a0cd86cdecedaac01876a49ea7246c4ee198fb392fb169be126e9b7beef819/20240620_161727.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/237bb95e71ed5b1ef8bfecdb3fc5d3a2a80cfdf88ae5cec3124c4b30c64f1e15/20240620_162055.jpg" data-mid="239257336" border="0" data-scale="26" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/237bb95e71ed5b1ef8bfecdb3fc5d3a2a80cfdf88ae5cec3124c4b30c64f1e15/20240620_162055.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f68c1ee883cb9d28c8ccb483f8e33ff605af609ae32843fdca7961090fdb550e/20240620_175400.jpg" data-mid="239257341" border="0" data-scale="26" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f68c1ee883cb9d28c8ccb483f8e33ff605af609ae32843fdca7961090fdb550e/20240620_175400.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/00f0d3e4f6db3a9e8399d2fc1d468270464d397b2ad0d3e83898efa8841ef2ec/20240620_175358.jpg" data-mid="239257340" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/00f0d3e4f6db3a9e8399d2fc1d468270464d397b2ad0d3e83898efa8841ef2ec/20240620_175358.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/011d4aebedbd2ef91f08ada1e26aefb6d8893b906deed0dd123882a7d44638a6/20240624_114142.jpg" data-mid="239257357" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/011d4aebedbd2ef91f08ada1e26aefb6d8893b906deed0dd123882a7d44638a6/20240624_114142.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e2cb107e07cf9415b2682138be7acd0b5a6de6b2c3dcbc1ca2b463f208238b1b/20240624_114151.jpg" data-mid="239257356" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e2cb107e07cf9415b2682138be7acd0b5a6de6b2c3dcbc1ca2b463f208238b1b/20240624_114151.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2e2fe1605e0a0102db05151916a80ed673f6d5a9622d5ce7f9b77d3c16061eba/20240624_114201.jpg" data-mid="239257355" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2e2fe1605e0a0102db05151916a80ed673f6d5a9622d5ce7f9b77d3c16061eba/20240624_114201.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/011d4aebedbd2ef91f08ada1e26aefb6d8893b906deed0dd123882a7d44638a6/20240624_114142.jpg" data-mid="239257357" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/011d4aebedbd2ef91f08ada1e26aefb6d8893b906deed0dd123882a7d44638a6/20240624_114142.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd72c804aed1a738a3fdb81ae2959ede0d7616df77de3cb7df75e9479d2be50b/20240624_114215.jpg" data-mid="239257354" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fd72c804aed1a738a3fdb81ae2959ede0d7616df77de3cb7df75e9479d2be50b/20240624_114215.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a9e47c2300aebbf38895a0a3a1273ad39577960231427e7c45065b24ec32987f/20240624_114130.jpg" data-mid="239257352" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a9e47c2300aebbf38895a0a3a1273ad39577960231427e7c45065b24ec32987f/20240624_114130.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a6128132569abf6ed855978a9ba976567d6439b691e6a12076bbdefae06cdbe7/20240620_161702.jpg" data-mid="239257331" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a6128132569abf6ed855978a9ba976567d6439b691e6a12076bbdefae06cdbe7/20240620_161702.jpg" /> Memories of Movement is a participatory sound artwork exploring migration, belonging, and the sonic traces of community. Developed by sound artists Adam Stearns and Finn O’Hare in collaboration with the Primary 7 class of St Albert’s Primary School—winners of the 2023 Turner Prize for Schools—the project transforms personal histories of movement into a shared audio-visual environment. Suspended throughout the space, a constellation of sculptural objects—each created by a student—hangs as both artefact and loudspeaker. Using transducers, the objects themselves are turned into speakers, allowing their material surfaces to resonate with sound. These hybrid forms transmit field recordings, oral histories, and domestic sounds collected or composed by the students, mapping their individual and familial journeys across continents and generations. Through the use of transducer technology, the artwork literally gives voice to the objects—transforming static artefacts into speaking bodies that communicate stories of heritage and movement. Together, they form an immersive sonic landscape where the act of listening becomes a way of experiencing connection, empathy, and collective memory. Presented at the Common Ground Festival, 2024.&nbsp;Coinciding with World Refugee Day, Refugee Festival Scotland and Glasgow International, Common Ground Festival aimed to strengthen the connections and collaborations across the arts and refugee sectors. https://adamstearns.com/IT-WAS-THE-LOOM-THAT-BROKE-MY-HEART Sun, 30 Mar 2025 13:34:07 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/IT-WAS-THE-LOOM-THAT-BROKE-MY-HEART <img width="4961" height="4961" width_o="4961" height_o="4961" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5cdb6728258605823efc4075d722222fd5787716ac6927ce4a5a5a74feef6ba2/It-was-the-loom-that-broke-my-heart_digital-squares.png" data-mid="228982958" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5cdb6728258605823efc4075d722222fd5787716ac6927ce4a5a5a74feef6ba2/It-was-the-loom-that-broke-my-heart_digital-squares.png" /> https://adamstearns.com/Sounds-Like-a-Bargain Thu, 02 Nov 2023 14:35:29 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/Sounds-Like-a-Bargain Sounds Like A Bargain — ‘Sounds Like a Bargain’ is a sonic art installation inspired by the Barras Market and created in collaboration between Adam Stearns and music technology pupils from St Mungo’s Academy. The aim of this project was to introduce a new generation of young people to the Barras market through the medium of sound. During workshops facilitated by Adam Stearns, pupils were invited to take part in a soundwalk of the Barras and were welcomed inside the Barras Market to make field recordings. In addition, the pupils were given a heritage talk providing them with a history of the Barras Market and were also introduced to microcontroller based physical computing, which was used to create a kinetic sonic sculpture made from objects bought at the market. Every object that can be purchased from the Barras has a story to tell – and every visit to the Barras is a story in and of itself. Through capturing sonic signatures of the Barras Market – the street seller yelling ‘cigarettes tobacco’, the sound of the antiquated penny arcade machine drawers as they squeak, or the Glaswegian accents of the many merchants – this installation provides a snapshot into this unique cultural landmark. The artwork comprises five objects purchased from the Barras market – a Russian Jerry can, a WW1 artillery shell, a ceramic dish, a glass vase, and a metal bell. Each object has a solenoid attached to it, which is programmed by an Arduino microcontroller. When struck by the solenoids, these objects provide a rhythmical accompaniment to field recordings of the Barras Market, which play over loudspeakers. As the sculpture starts to come alive, the sounds these objects create begin to resemble the ‘beating heart’ of the Barras.&nbsp; The finished sculpture was exhibited at the pipe factory in Glasgow. <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9a8ef43c0ead2c36949a403ee64aa5a67ca12eabe0ba04df890f8d3f7e6de285/SLAB4.jpeg" data-mid="195668716" border="0" data-scale="37" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9a8ef43c0ead2c36949a403ee64aa5a67ca12eabe0ba04df890f8d3f7e6de285/SLAB4.jpeg" /> <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9f86ad7f12d2709a89a14322bd3ffbfa600a57c73b51aa91431794481d3c98f3/SLAB5.jpeg" data-mid="195668715" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9f86ad7f12d2709a89a14322bd3ffbfa600a57c73b51aa91431794481d3c98f3/SLAB5.jpeg" /> <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a312c9fe7bef74acc521b66752d79487be50ac7532fb60a5377d901c6527c1d8/SLAB1.jpeg" data-mid="195668720" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a312c9fe7bef74acc521b66752d79487be50ac7532fb60a5377d901c6527c1d8/SLAB1.jpeg" /> <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9112478b3bfed6938dcd120c8e13387d1f941543ab011fe2e0fd96f6ea152df/slab2.jpeg" data-mid="195668719" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e9112478b3bfed6938dcd120c8e13387d1f941543ab011fe2e0fd96f6ea152df/slab2.jpeg" /> <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d8d9f96fb197c221ad3202014d14e699e8c4e1ccc4fb45a25fce61d0744f94cd/SLAB3.jpeg" data-mid="195668718" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d8d9f96fb197c221ad3202014d14e699e8c4e1ccc4fb45a25fce61d0744f94cd/SLAB3.jpeg" /> &nbsp; https://adamstearns.com/Respiratory-Organs Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:41:17 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/Respiratory-Organs Respiratory Organs— Respiratory Organs is a technologically mediated installation piece in which a participant’s breath and heartbeat are used to generate sounds from various sound sculptures. My aesthetic intention behind this piece is to bring focus to the body of the performer/participant.&nbsp; More specifically, this piece is an attempt to highlight the physiological processes essential to being alive; processes that are in flux, and to which we have only partial conscious control over.&nbsp; By extending these forces outside of the body and representing their rhythm and intensity both visually and sonically through various structural objects in three-dimensional space, new spatiotemporal relationships are formed in which the participant is able to ‘plug themselves into’ and embody their surroundings. &nbsp;Filmed during lockdown by Harrison Reid.&nbsp; October 2020. <img width="3648" height="5472" width_o="3648" height_o="5472" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/88e081cdc15892e7d13e59932c76a52faf78a43489d82f0cf1faeef782fd3b71/sample-8851.jpg" data-mid="88444260" border="0" data-scale="28" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/88e081cdc15892e7d13e59932c76a52faf78a43489d82f0cf1faeef782fd3b71/sample-8851.jpg" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img width="5472" height="3648" width_o="5472" height_o="3648" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4273caff9988a6c45e2a0eabeb83d0f732b48bd321dbc5dab1e0122abd139720/sample-8857.jpg" data-mid="88444261" border="0" data-scale="29" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4273caff9988a6c45e2a0eabeb83d0f732b48bd321dbc5dab1e0122abd139720/sample-8857.jpg" />.<img width="3648" height="5472" width_o="3648" height_o="5472" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/048d8caf938c548b8dddb9729b1a351e71a4f15bf25008d81c11437a999b68a7/sample-8866.jpg" data-mid="88444269" border="0" data-scale="24" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/048d8caf938c548b8dddb9729b1a351e71a4f15bf25008d81c11437a999b68a7/sample-8866.jpg" /><img width="3648" height="5472" width_o="3648" height_o="5472" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/27f93b7245725fe1096c7fa58de48884cf348e74888ef4ab5e041687c859a502/sample-8876.jpg" data-mid="88444268" border="0" data-scale="28" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/27f93b7245725fe1096c7fa58de48884cf348e74888ef4ab5e041687c859a502/sample-8876.jpg" />.&nbsp;<img width="3648" height="5472" width_o="3648" height_o="5472" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/754c3ae4b9e4c4ec84663ee2ee6da2f32c3fef4a00dae659a0bc6293b06cb3d1/sample-8873.jpg" data-mid="88444264" border="0" data-scale="28" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/754c3ae4b9e4c4ec84663ee2ee6da2f32c3fef4a00dae659a0bc6293b06cb3d1/sample-8873.jpg" />.&nbsp;<img width="3648" height="5472" width_o="3648" height_o="5472" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/57ed958daf971d2361079b1c03f9f18448bd5541ccfc190c7432dd19dc536932/sample-8865.jpg" data-mid="88444262" border="0" data-scale="27" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/57ed958daf971d2361079b1c03f9f18448bd5541ccfc190c7432dd19dc536932/sample-8865.jpg" /> &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; https://adamstearns.com/An-Urban-Monastic Fri, 09 Oct 2020 15:16:38 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/An-Urban-Monastic An Urban Monastic —&nbsp; An Urban Monastic is a studio project inspired by my mother’s daily spiritual ritual.&nbsp; At various parts of her day, my mother engages in a time of quiet contemplation in which she repeats the word “union”.&nbsp; &nbsp;Her practice of contemplation is largely based on religious teachings from The Cloud of Unknowing, a 14th century text by an anonymous mystic, developed out of the monastic Catholic tradition. &nbsp; The anonymous writer of this text outlines a methodology for contemplation, crucial to which is the repetition of a short, one or two syllable word, claiming ‘…short prayer pierceth heaven’. An Urban Monastic is a composition that attempts to sonically capture the experience of contemplation in an urban environment, with its continous distractions.&nbsp; <img width="464" height="750" width_o="464" height_o="750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/78789eeac7061630f5a6cc4d174e313e43fbd41f4ba59225bef7b079677f5a7c/8ccb13fbd8a298f3f28798f63717af42.jpg" data-mid="85122526" border="0" data-scale="43" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/464/i/78789eeac7061630f5a6cc4d174e313e43fbd41f4ba59225bef7b079677f5a7c/8ccb13fbd8a298f3f28798f63717af42.jpg" /> https://adamstearns.com/Homosexual-on-the-Stairs-of-a-Church Fri, 09 Oct 2020 15:43:49 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/Homosexual-on-the-Stairs-of-a-Church Homosexual on the Stairs of a Church — Homosexual on the Stairs of a Church is an autobiographical&nbsp; attempt to confront my experiences with dogmatic religion. Through contrasting personal soundscapes formed from everyday circumstances against a religiously fundamentalist sermon, I explore and confront my experiences of religion and the pychological affect it has had on me.&nbsp; The piece is intended to be presented in a quadraphonic speaker arrangement, two speakers on one side of a large space, and two on the other.&nbsp; However,&nbsp; here you can listen in stereo. https://adamstearns.com/GRADUALE-ROMANUM Sat, 10 Oct 2020 16:41:21 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/GRADUALE-ROMANUM Graduale Romanum (MS Gen 999) &nbsp;— <img width="1368" height="1824" width_o="1368" height_o="1824" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d7b6f69f572fadfe771cfc6d4b23fcfbf37f68e0ab3ee40f0a71dc5867e04b50/121337710_688542992071856_5358901366679231475_n.jpg" data-mid="85205224" border="0" data-scale="31" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d7b6f69f572fadfe771cfc6d4b23fcfbf37f68e0ab3ee40f0a71dc5867e04b50/121337710_688542992071856_5358901366679231475_n.jpg" />&nbsp;<img width="2134" height="3512" width_o="2134" height_o="3512" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/615d1630e782389557ce124e73509dc692ee28ec1fc6891a5f7a322cffcf2c4e/IMG_20191115_112721.jpg" data-mid="85206138" border="0" data-scale="27" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/615d1630e782389557ce124e73509dc692ee28ec1fc6891a5f7a322cffcf2c4e/IMG_20191115_112721.jpg" /> &nbsp;<img width="1368" height="1824" width_o="1368" height_o="1824" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fec48cbedeed1d596e9840830a08599e41b215f4a41f77ac4493f7d13683f5db/121330823_332276281399229_7799475965505779765_n.jpg" data-mid="85205237" border="0" data-scale="31" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fec48cbedeed1d596e9840830a08599e41b215f4a41f77ac4493f7d13683f5db/121330823_332276281399229_7799475965505779765_n.jpg" /> Gradulae Romanum (MS GEN 999 in the University of Glasgow Special Collection) is a fragment of a late 14th or early 15th century Gradual.&nbsp; This large manuscript would have been used as a memory aid to facilitate group religious singing.&nbsp; Picturing Sound Festival 2019 comminsioned me to respond to this fragment.&nbsp; Inspired by this book’s invitation to sing collectively, I&nbsp; decided to reimagine the ‘Antiphon’ written on the first two leaves of this collection entitiled ‘Pueri Hebreorum’ and create an interactive sound installation which comes alive through collective participation.&nbsp; The purpose of this installation is not to recreate the dogmatisim and monophony typically associated with early Christian chants but rather to create a polyphonic modern reimagining of the notes on these ancient leaves.&nbsp; Surrounding this book are 4 platforms as ground level - each platform corresponds to a different voice singing the Antiphon.&nbsp; By standing on a board you will effectively become a singer in the choir, and by distributing your weight on the board you will be able to alter certain characteristics of the sound.&nbsp; (Featuring Rory Haye, Amanda Nizic and Rosyln Potter singing the Antiphon) &nbsp; https://adamstearns.com/SWUNG Thu, 08 Oct 2020 23:17:21 +0000 Adam Stearns https://adamstearns.com/SWUNG SWUNG — Swung is a piece which utilises light source attached to pendulums as a means to trigger sonic and visual events.&nbsp; The intention behind this piece was to create a sculpture that would enable a cohesive, yet indeterminate, audio-visual performance experience in which various sources of pre-recorded sound – vinyl records, and two radios – could be remixed, and given a visual counterpart using various light sources.&nbsp; This piece was created using arduino microcontrollers and the performance was streamed online at an audiovisual festival during lockdown. Filmed during lockdown by Harrison Reid.&nbsp;