Photo by Lawrence Kurnarsky
David Leith (b. 1952, Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Galiano Island, British Columbia. His practice encompasses photography, site-specific audio-visual installations and interactive community events — while sound is his primary medium, with a focus on recording and composition. He is best known for combining natural ambiences with electronic music.
David’s early fascination with dismantling television sets and constructing large music synthesizers shaped his life-long experimental approach, as did his 1976 performance in Stockhausen’s Kurzwellen (Eva Clare Hall, Winnipeg, Manitoba). Since then his themes have been gradually narrowed down to ecology and the human-nature relationship. Notable projects include Oscillations (LocoMotoArt/International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art) and Arbres de Mémoire – Trees of Memory, LocoMotoArt@Queen Elizabeth Park (Vancouver, B.C.).
Leith has performed at the Active / Passive Festival (Galiano Island, B.C.), VIVO Signal & Noise (Vancouver, B.C.), Vancouver New Music’s Mixtophonic series (Vancouver, B.C.) and the Woodstockhausen Festival (Santa Cruz, California). His recordings include contributions to the Cities and Memories project (London, England), Infinite Zest and Zen Escalator. He has also participated in residencies and exhibitions with the Vancouver Parks Board, Manitoba Arts Council, VIVO Media Arts Centre and Polygon Gallery (North Vancouver, B.C.).