Technology and Aesthetics is an international symposium which aims to focus on how advances in technology provide a framework within which music, film and other artistic fields are developing – ushering through changes in the way sonic and visual art is perceived. This symposium takes a closer look at what these changes are – and where we are likely to be headed.

Contributors to the symposium are people who have helped define novel expressions in various artistic fields, or who have spent years commenting on these changes. The roster includes composers, music performers, film sound designers, academics and editors of peer-reviewed journals. The program includes the following speakers: Leigh Landy, Barry Truax, Natasha Barrett, Arnt Maasø, Nicolas Collins, Øyvind Brandtsegg, Cristoph Cox, Randy Thom and Gisle Tveito.

In conjunction with the symposium, there will be evening programs with concerts and film viewings, featuring Randy Thom (film sound designer on Apocalypse Now! and many more), Barry Truax (composer), Natasha Barrett (composer) and Leigh Landy (composer and editor-in-chief for Organised Sound).

The symposium leads up to NIME 2011 – a conference that annually gathers 200–500 participants from all over the world to share their knowledge and late-breaking work on new musical interface design. Technology and Aesthetics is arranged as a “pre-NIME” event, and registration to the symposium is done through NIME’s official web site.

The symposium is organized by NOTAM, and supported by the Norwegian Academy of Music and Arts Council Norway.

Randy Thom’s visit is realized through a collaboration with the Norwegian Film Institute, who are organizing a seminar and workshop with him on May 25 & 26. The movie screening on the 27th, which concludes the symposium, is also a result of this collaboration.