Dr. Aleksander Kolkowski is a violinist, composer and was a Research Associate at the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History, University of Luxembourg. His practice-led doctoral research into the creative uses of antiquated audio technologies and obsolete media led to a PhD from Brunel University, London (2012). He has since held Research Associateships at the Royal College of Music, the Science Museum, London, and was a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.
Aleksander has a long international career as a creative musician. His performances and sound installations often emphasise archaic methods of sound recording, reproduction and modes of listening. As the first Sound Artist-in-Residence to be appointed at the Science Museum, London, he worked closely with museum collections, involving artefacts in historical re-enactments, recreations, and sound installations. Other tenures include Composer-in-Residence at the British Library Sound Archive, where, inter alia, he created works that explored the early years of broadcast radio.
Aleksander’s hands-on research in Doing Experimental Media Archaeology (DEMA), will focus on past practices involving early sound amplification technology.