Facilities & Resources

Facilities and Resources

The Department of Art & Technology / Sound Practices is constantly updating its facilities and resources. Our approach is not simply to replace old technologies with newer ones, but to incorporate a range of histories into the ecosystem of technological and sonic experimentation, production, and research. Our facilities include:

• Eight purpose-built labs with tools and facilities for bio art, kinetics, electronics, surface-mount electronics, 3-D printing, digital fabrication, neon and light, hardware hacking, circuit design and bending, light-scale fabrication, instrument construction, and retro technologies.
• Five sound studios for recording, mixing, and mastering including digital audio workstations, digital and analog mixers, samplers, keyboards, and critical-listening monitors; analog and digital synthesis with vintage, modular, and contemporary synthesizers; signal processing and sound manipulation with outboard gear and advanced software; multi-channel and spatialized sound.
• A Black Box studio and project space with advanced video projection, multi-channel sound, motion tracking, and VR facilities.
• A communal Flex Space for exhibitions, lectures, performances, and workshops.
• A range of performance controllers, installation microcontrollers, VR and AR gear, electronic components, studio-quality microphones, hydrophones, accelerometers, and remote recording gear.
• Graduate workstations with modular synthesizers, a Yamaha Disklavier midi-controlled piano, and audio production facilities.

Chicago: Sound and Technology Opportunities 

Chicago is an internationally recognized center for experimental music, sound art, and technological arts presentation. In addition to bringing important national and international artists to the city, local arts organizations are often open to presenting work by current AT/SP students, providing immediate off-campus outlets for their work. SAIC is deeply enmeshed in this community through ongoing connections provided by AT/SP faculty, staff, and alumni. Many of these organizations are staffed by SAIC alumni, and our faculty work with them on a variety of levels, from performing to curating to board service.  

Asian Improv Arts MidWest  
Experimental Sound Studio  
Elastic Arts  
Comfort Station  
Constellation  
Digital Art Demo Space (D.A.D.S)  
Hyde Park Art Center  
The Renaissance Society  
The Logan Center for the Arts  
High Concept Laboratories  
Tritriangle  
No Nation Art Lab  
Heaven Gallery  
Video Game Art Gallery   
Ohklahomo  
LAMPO  
Epiphany Arts Center  
Hairpin Arts Center

Situated in the diverse cosmopolis of Chicago, the Department of Art & Technology / Sound Practices often collaborates with international cultural partners to bring visiting artists and scholars and to organize projects and symposia that broaden the discourse around sound, such as the 2011 "Sound Art Theories Symposium" that brought together 13 scholars in the field for two days; and "Sexing Sound: Gender Sound Music," a three-day program in 2015 of performances, installations, and panels. International partners have included the Goethe-Institut, the Italian Cultural Institute, and the Swiss Consulate, among others.