Philip Samartzis is a sound artist and curator focussing on the environmental and social conditions of remote wilderness regions. His deep fieldwork employs advanced sound recording technologies to capture natural, anthropogenic, and geophysical forces, which he integrates into exhibitions and performances exploring perception, immersion, and embodiment. He co-founded the Bogong Centre for Sound Culture in the Victorian Alps and has received three Australian Antarctic Territory Fellowships to create a sound map of Eastern Antarctica.

His project Polar Force, with Speak Percussion, earned an Honorary Mention at the 2019 Prix Ars Electronica. In 2021, he was featured on the $2.20 Australia Post stamp for his contributions to Antarctic arts. Recent projects include Tectonic Resonance for the 2024 World Science Festival and Kulininpalaju, a collaboration with Tura and Martumili Artists blending cultural heritage and sound art.

Tell us about your experience with ANAT SPECTRA.

Presenting Atmospheres and Disturbances at The Capitol as part of ANAT SPECTRA Multiplicity in 2022, during the pandemic, was both a challenge and a revelation. The work, which registers the changes in high-altitude ecologies caused by increasing global temperatures, is based on field recordings I made of the High-Altitude Research Station at Jungfraujoch. Over four weeks, I deployed various recording devices throughout the station and surrounding alpine environment to capture natural, anthropogenic, and geophysical forces shaping the landscape. The resulting composition places audiences deep inside this extreme environment, offering an embodied experience of an alpine ecology under duress.

The pandemic, with its restrictions on gatherings, heightened the themes of disconnection and isolation embedded in the work. With limited attendance, the performance became an intimate, almost meditative experience. The Capitol’s vast space amplified the immersive spatial audio, mirroring the solitude of Jungfraujoch, where human presence is fragile against the immense, shifting environment. The interplay of sound, space, and absence reinforced the precarious balance between nature and human impact. Despite the challenges, the performance underscored sound’s ability to evoke presence and connection, even in a time of separation.

Philip Samartzis, Atmospheres and Disturbances, The Capitol, ANAT SPECTRA 2022. Installation video Elliott Bledsoe.

What or who inspires you in the realm of interdisciplinary practice, and why?

I draw inspiration from artists including Jean Dubuffet, Ilhan Mimaroğlu, and Iannis Xenakis, whose interdisciplinary approaches have deeply influenced my work. Dubuffet’s raw, unrefined artistic expression has encouraged me to explore the unmediated potential of sound, much as he did with his unconventional materials and techniques. His focus on outsider art and naïve music aligns with my interest in capturing the authentic, often overlooked voices and places through field recordings.

Ilhan Mimaroğlu’s pioneering work in electronic music blends classical and experimental forms with a strong political charge. His compositions challenge societal norms, using sound as a tool for activism—an approach that resonates with my own explorations of marginalised communities and environmental dissonance. Sing Me a Song of Songmy (1971), his collaboration with Freddie Hubbard, exemplifies how radical experimental music can be. Mimaroğlu’s electronic manipulation, spoken word, and field recordings create an avant-garde soundscape, while Hubbard’s jazz improvisations heighten its emotional urgency. An uncompromising critique of the Vietnam War, the album fuses musique concrète with free jazz, juxtaposing beauty and brutality. 

Iannis Xenakis, with his experimental approach to sound and architecture, inspires me through his integration of mathematics, physics, and music. His ability to structure complex sonic environments within physical spaces demonstrates how sound can transform spatial awareness to evoke deeper emotional and intellectual responses. Persepolis (1971), with its overwhelming mass of sound and architectural precision, resonates with me not only for its radical sonic approach but also in relation to my Macedonian heritage. The piece’s evocation of ancient histories through sound mirrors my own interest in how auditory landscapes can carry cultural memory, blurring the lines between past and present. Xenakis’ approach reinforces my belief in sound as a means of exploring identity, place, and historical resonance.

Name a cultural work (film, book, music etc) that inspired or challenged your creative perspective, and tell us why.

Marguerite Duras’ films / screenplays, particularly India Song (1975) and Hiroshima mon amour (1959), have profoundly influenced my approach to sound art. Her use of disembodied voices, fragmented narrative, and evocative silence has shaped the way I think about spatialised sound and environmental storytelling.

In India Song, the interplay of distant voices, ambient sounds, repetition, and absence creates an atmosphere where space and memory intertwine—something I strive for in my own compositions. The way Duras allows sound to exist independently of image has inspired me to craft immersive auditory experiences that transcend traditional representation.

Hiroshima mon amour further reinforces the power of layered sound to evoke emotional and historical depth. The juxtaposition of intimate whispers and stark environmental noise has informed my approach to field recording, where natural elements become conduits for narrative. By drawing on Duras’ aesthetic sensibility, I seek to create soundscapes that invite deep listening to reimagine how place and memory are experienced.

If you could collaborate with any figure from history or contemporary culture, who would it be and why?

A few years ago, I hoped to collaborate with Ligia Branice, renowned for her work with Polish film director Walerian Borowczyk. I wanted to create a site-specific composition that explored both her Polish heritage and her lead role in Blanche (1971), merging personal history with the film’s medieval atmosphere. Set in the 13th century, Blanche tells the story of a young, beautiful wife trapped in the Château de Chambord, a remote castle where every man, including the King, falls in love with her, creating a narrative of desire and isolation.

For this project, I envisioned moving portable speakers throughout the castle, allowing its material and acoustic properties to shape Ligia’s voice as she recounts her experiences of the Second World War. As her voice travels through the echoing stone walls and vast halls, it would mirror the isolation of her character in the film. Unfortunately, Ligia was unwell when I approached her, leaving this project an unrequited yet recurring dream.

What’s next? Tell us about your next project, collaboration or thinking.

I am currently working on Concealed Spaces, a project that explores the hidden infrastructure embedded within the landscape ecology of the Valais region in Switzerland. This dramatic landscape, shaped by glacial movements and steep valley formations, conceals a complex network of systems beneath its surface—glacio-hydrological facilities, nuclear shelters, life support systems, resource sites and military bases. In collaboration with the Verbier 3-D Foundation, I am registering the spatial, acoustic, and material characteristics of these sites through field recordings and photography, revealing how they interact with and adapt to the alpine environment. While these spaces serve specific civic and ecological functions, they also stand as powerful symbols of broader anxieties surrounding the climate emergency and global security. By listening deeply to the subterranean sonics of this hidden infrastructure, Concealed Spaces aims to reframe our understanding of the relationships between sound, environment, and the unseen forces shaping our world.