My work complicates, simplifies, and explores human-circuit interaction through mechatronic sound sculpture, human-mechatronic performance, interface design, and installation art. Interested in social interaction between robotic entities and humans, many of my installations involve granting my entities personality traits and presenting them as electronic creatures. My novel research fusing together elements from the practice of soundwalking with the discipline of sonic installation art has produced novel outdoor environmental listening experiences. These hyper-soundwalk installations are conducted in remote environments and focus on using electronic sensor and actuator technology to direct attention to the in-situ sonic environment. As a composer I write music primarily for robotic performers, though I am classically trained and enjoy playing rock and punk music..
Nathan Villicaña-Shaw is a mechatronic sound sculptor, experience designer, composer, professor and new media
installation artist. Nathan has worked in the arts education field for four years first at California Institute of
the Arts (CalArts), at the California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, and later at SAE Expression in
Emeryville, California. At CalArts Nathan studied under the renowned digital luthier Dr. Ajay Kapur. He founded and
acted as president over the Hardware Hacking and Circuit Bending Clubs. Nathan began teaching at CalArts on topics
including programming, mechatronic music composition, electrical engineering, PCB design, and hardware hacking.
Nathan now lectures on Prototyping and the Internet of Things at the California College of the Arts in San
Francisco.
As an installation artist, Nathan is Interested in defining new boundaries for human-circuit interaction. His
installations and hardware interfaces blend hardware hacking, electrical engineering, computer science, and
mechanical engineering to create unique interactions which invite us to question our relationships with electronic
devices. By designing and programming his own hardware and software, Nathan is able to create unconventional
interactions between humans and circuitry by removing unnecessary abstractions which separate our bodies from the
electrical systems we are affecting.
In addition to creating novel hardware interfaces and interactive installations, Nathan is a composer of
experimental music for human-mechatronic ensembles. Interested with the interactions between robots and humans
onstage, as much as the sounds they produce, Nathan’s compositions strive to tell stories while sonically maximizing
the potential of both its human and robotic performers.
Nathan has been a performing musician for over a decade playing for a wide array of bands and ensembles including:
the AV Ensemble (code, electronics), the CalArts Javanese Gamelan (Saron and Gender families), Three’s Company
(custom hardware, code), The CalArts Kecack Balinese Monkey Chant Ensemble (voice), The Laney College Jazz Band
(electric bass), The Machetes (electric bass), and The Molestations (electric bass).
During my time as a PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington, I had the incredible opportunity to work with
the Sonic Engineering Lab for Creative Technology (SELCT). My research project, the Hyper-Soundwalk Series, aimed to
address the deprioritization of outdoor environmental listening in today's world. As a passionate sonic artist, I was
motivated to introduce a new exhibition strategy that fused methodology from soundwalking with sonic installation art
to prioritize in-situ sonic conditions when selecting installation locations.
To achieve this goal, I coined the term "hyper-soundscape" to describe a sonic environment augmented with sensor and
actuator technology to encourage in-situ listening. I also introduced the concept of a "hyper-soundwalk" as a
soundwalk conducted through a hyper-soundscape. Throughout my research, I developed three hardware projects that
investigated different methods to collect and redirect attention to the in-situ sonic environment. These self-powered
soundscape augmentation artifacts prioritized transportability, modularity, environmental reactivity, and resistance,
and were exhibited in dozens of Hyper-Soundwalk Series installation scenarios across two continents.
What I found most exciting about this research was the opportunity to expand the reach of sonic installation art to
locations where these works are rarely exhibited. By using a pop-up installation strategy, we were able to bring our
art to remote outdoor locations that otherwise would not have been accessible. This approach revealed significant
untapped artistic potential in focusing, highlighting, and prioritizing in-situ biophonetic and geophonetic sonic
actors over the artist's cochlear and ocular creations.
In summary, my research provides a new approach to hybridizing technology-facilitated sonic art with the practice of
soundwalking. Through this work, I was able to explore the ever-changing environmental and sonic characteristics of
outdoor natural locations and provide a new perspective on the artistic potential of prioritizing in-situ listening
experiences. I am proud to have submitted my thesis for external review in November 2022, and I am eagerly
anticipating the opportunity to defend it in the spring of 2023.