Sam Hamilton
The Sex Choir, 2012
Acoustic
Dimensions variable
While in the Amazon, Sam Hamilton recorded extraordinary sounds made by frogs. Upon returning to New Zealand he replicated these sounds with a choir of 30 human beings. Echoes of the biological, behavioural and social commonalities between humans and other species can be heard in this choral interpretation.
In a nod to Yves Klein who once exhibited eleven identical artworks each listed with a different price tag, Hamilton offers buyers an option of five different sale prices to choose from. In doing so, the artist questions the valuation of art.
"Sam Hamilton received one of the modest, peer-funded Starving Artist Fund grants organised by artist A.D. Schierning, which paid his way to the Amazon to make field recordings of the sounds of the jungle. It is easy to imagine his encounter with the legendarily vibrant ecosystem having something to do with a shift in his music making that coincided with that trip, away from the sit-down seriousness to something more pop. Euphoric and trance-like aspects of soul, rock and other dance music have been combined with art-music experimentalism in constantly evolving ways since in his work, often striking an exciting balance between complexity and immediacy."
More from this artist
Artist Bio
Sam Hamilton is an interdisciplinary artist from New Zealand who, when not projecting abroad, resides in the sovereign state of K’rd, Auckland. Hamilton has an impressively broad and dynamic practice that spans various mediums and disciplines. Over the last decade, he has been deeply immersed in experimental music, composition, sound art, experimental film/video, expanded cinema, installation, performance, design, and photography. Additionally, he has directed and curated numerous events, independent festivals, and programs in Auckland.
While active in his hometown, Hamilton has also dedicated significant time to working on projects, residencies, exhibitions, and tours across South America, North America, Europe, and Australia. His practice, while more refined today, refuses to conform to any fixed form, remaining ever-evolving and expansive. Reflecting on the interconnectedness of life itself, Hamilton's work acknowledges that nothing exists in isolation. Like various scientific disciplines, his practice thrives in a dynamic, interdisciplinary environment that resists the exclusivity and singularity that defined the 20th century.
In recent years, Hamilton’s musical practice has predominantly shifted toward pop music, releasing records and touring internationally. Described as the “Double Rainbow” of music, his pop music is an ecstatic and hypnotic ritual, engaging with the present moment. His work blends chaos and order, reflecting universal vibrations through the human experience—social, emotional, intellectual, and sexual. Drawing influence from a wide range of sources, from Prince to Noam Chomsky, Yoko Ono to Sesame Street, Hamilton’s music emerges from a fertile union of deep experimentation and an intuitive connection to the pop genre.
Hamilton has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, grants, and scholarships, including the Arts Foundation New Generation Art Award, multiple CNZ project grants, the SOUNZ Community Commission, the Brombron series in the Netherlands, a Goethe Institut cultural ambassador scholarship for Berlin, and the Mamori Project residency in Brazil. His work has been exhibited and performed in New Zealand, Australia, the US, South America, and parts of Europe.
