Dr Ian Costabile is a UK-based artist, interface designer, and researcher whose work explores interactivity, lighting, and sound spatialisation.
As a composer, Ian has written experimental music for orchestra and chamber As a composer, Ian has written experimental music for orchestra and chamber ensembles, collaborating with a variety of musicians. His recent musical experiments focus on spatial sound, the integration of light devices, and themes inspired by stars and constellations. His compositions have also featured in documentaries, including This is China of a Particular Sort, I Do Not Know (2020) and Ultraviolence (2020).
As a sound artist, Ian creates sound-light installations, most notably through his Sound Canvas series—mixed-media artworks presenting interactions between sound and light via embedded loudspeakers, LEDs, sensors, microcontrollers, and compact multichannel systems. His Sound Graffiti project extends this approach to outdoor environments, creating immersive sound webs in public spaces through custom-designed urban loudspeakers.
Ian is also the founder of Sonalux, an electronics manufacturer making innovative tech for musicians.
As myself… (AUTOBIOGRAPHY)
I was born in São Paulo, Brazil — a vibrant city full of concert music, jazz bars, and luthiers. Like many Brazilians, my first contact with music was through the acoustic guitar, leading me to explore both rock and classical music. Alongside music, I became interested in technology, learning HTML, CSS, and graphics while working in web design.
I studied at the ULM/Centro Tom Jobim conservatoire and later at the Guitar Institute of São Paulo, before earning a BA in Composition at FMU University, where I worked with orchestration, counterpoint, and chamber music. I also played in experimental bands, notably Selene, which explored live trance and dodecaphonic/atonal material. After completing further studies with Brazilian composer Almeida Prado, I moved to the UK in 2009 to continue my artistic journey.
In the UK, I performed as a guitarist, taught languages, and recorded a solo demo album (Masks, Devas and Aliens). I later completed an MA in Art Aesthetics & Cultural Institutions, where I focused on concepts of originality and abstraction, deeply influenced by Susanne Langer’s writings. This led me to expand beyond traditional composition and venture into sound art.
In 2016, I began a PhD at the University of Liverpool, which opened new directions in electronics, interface design, and sound-light interaction. This culminated in the creation of the Sound Canvas, a series of interactive sound-light installations, and in founding Sonalux, a startup for sonic inventions. I also developed projects like Sound Graffiti, transforming public spaces with sound webs, and MagicPick, an electronic guitar pick with an embedded metronome.
Some of the projects I value most include my soundscape recordings in Indonesia, my site-specific work at the Pisa Baptistery, and Intersidereal, a suite for harp and lights performed by Bethan Griffiths. My creative practice today brings together spatial sound, lighting, and technology to explore new aesthetic experiences.
Beyond my artistic work, I have self-published a novel (The Wizard’s Lilies) and a book of philosophical reflections (Meditations on Past, Present and Future). In my spare time, I enjoy yoga, playing guitar, piano, bamboo flutes, spending time with my Lesure numbered collection of Debussy recordings and working on schematic mazes!
