Presentation of the residency Sounds for Coma by the artists Joe Acheson and Ali Tocher

- Can you introduce yourself?

Joe Acheson (Composer, Musician, Sound artist) & Ali Tocher (Game Audio Designer, Sound recordist) have formed an artistic collaboration. We aim to combine our skills and experience with music, non-linear sound design and recording to create artistic works with tangible benefits for medical institutions and hospital patients.

- Can you present your project Sounds For Coma?
Sounds For Coma i s a multidisciplinary collaboration between cognitive neuroscientists from IRCAM’s CREAM Team, Saint-Anne’s Hospital ICU staff and sound artists Joe Acheson & Ali Tocher. The project has three aims; designing and using sounds as a way to explore states of consciousness in coma, improving the soundscape of the ICU environment with the aim to reduce anxiety in patients, designing more informative and less anxious alarms.

- What do you expect from this residency?

Joe and Ali aim to create a sonic work that can be used in the ICU. The goal of the residency is to maximise  the opportunity to learn from IRCAM’s neuroscientists and Saint-Anne’s ICU staff. The goal is then to use the real constraints of the ICU environment to inspire and inform a sonic work.