Dr David Meckin
- Tutor (Research)
- Information Experience Design MA
David is a sound designer, artist and researcher practising across disciplines including installation art, inclusive design and artistic research, as well as on commercial projects.
David is Tutor (Research) in Information Experience Design. He works with students to facilitate the development of their projects by running a Field Collective that investigates areas such as speculative instrument design, critical listening practice and futures thinking. He currently leads the Independent Research Project (dissertation) unit, alongside supervision of postgraduate students.
David also works on the AcrossRCA unit, which focuses on collaborative creative working across the many disciplines within the College.
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Research interests
Starting out as a musician, David gravitated more towards the transformative effects of sonic experience and became passionate about breaking down barriers to access music and sound-making practice for others. His research investigates methods of designing musical and sound-making instruments with and for disabled musicians. This research has aim of giving more people a chance to express themselves sonically, especially where traditional instruments provide greater barriers for access. David has worked with the charity Drake Music on various other projects, designing accessible instruments with and for disabled adult musicians.
David’s artistic research also includes a long-term collaboration with the artists and designers Dr Keir Williams, Dr Alice Helps, Joe Fairweather Hole and Rhiannon Evans. This project was borne out of an artistic residency at the Nordland Academy of Arts and Sciences in the town of Melbu in Northern Norway. It has led to several exhibitions and performances both in Norway and the UK, responding to the themes of migration and post-industrial maritime communities the changing nature of our oceans.
Practice
David is a practising sound artist and designer who often works collaboratively on large-scale installations that have been exhibited internationally, including over ten years working with the pioneering arts collective United Visual Artists (UVA). Notable recent works with UVA include their show Synchronicity at 180 Studios in London, in which David designed the sound for two new pieces: Edge of Chaos and Polyphony, which used soundscapes by Dr Bernie Krause.
David also designs sound for commercial projects, both for experiential and animated screen-based content. These works range from idents for cult TV channel Adult Swim; a campaign about disinformation for the United Nations; through to larger experiential projects for brands such as Netflix and Meta. Throughout his commercial career, David has worked with studios such as Art&Graft, Unit9 and Amplify.