Study

Artists · collaborators · consultation

Artists &
contact

Decades of work across sound, moving image, public space, community, and cultural production.

How we work

A work made
with its place.

The artists have spent decades developing works and events for community spaces, gardens, galleries, concert halls, and cinemas. Together they bring extensive experience as artists, collaborators, curators, and producers.

The project begins with consultation. We work with the people who manage and care for distinctive outdoor spaces, shaping each instrument to enhance the garden’s vision and to engage passersby in curiosity—about the sound, the work, and the place they are visiting.

Fabricators, engineers, ceramic artists, garden practitioners, cultural advisors, and host partners will join as specialist collaborators as each site develops.

The project team

Artistic director / artist

Oliver Hockenhull

Oliver developed the project’s initial ideas and philosophy and leads its artistic direction. A renowned Canadian filmmaker, he is also known for his writing and work with computer- and electronics-based media systems. His practice has long examined the relationship between technological and living processes.

ohfilm.art

Sound artist / curator

Peter Courtemanche

Peter is a sound artist and independent curator with extensive experience creating and managing outdoor exhibitions and events in gardens and parks, including VanDusen Botanical Garden and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. His recent projects include three garden sound works in Solar Bee Garden Tea Zen remix with Lam Wong at UNIT/PITT in Vancouver.

absolutevalueofnoise.ca

Cultural organizer / educator

Keiko Honda

Keiko is a Japanese Canadian writer, cultural organizer, and educator. Fluent in Japanese, she writes bilingually in the zuihitsu tradition. Her honours include the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025) and the City of Vancouver Remarkable Women Award (2014). She brings a long practice of intergenerational programming, dialogue, co-creation, community engagement, and careful attention to cultural context.

Keiko Honda’s website

Build Advisor / Consultant

Gregory Henriquez

Gregory Henriquez is Design Principal at Henriquez Partners Architects. His work brings ethics and social purpose into architecture, from Vancouver’s Woodward’s Redevelopment to TELUS Garden, Oakridge and Toronto’s Mirvish Village. A Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, he has received the Governor General’s Medal in Architecture and written five books, including Towards an Ethical Architecture.

henriquezpartners.com

A garden conversation

Begin with the site.

We welcome conversations with gardens, curators, cultural organizations, fabricators, researchers, and potential host partners.

oliver.hockenhull@gmail.com

Email Oliver ↗