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PhilDadson

  • Artist
  • Musician
  • Director
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Phil Dadson has made art and music out of videotape, PVC pipes and rocks. Having studied at Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts and earned a Masters of Arts with honours in Australia, Phil Dadson became known for performances that used improvised instruments like PVC pipes and old lampshades. He founded long-running group From Scratch in 1974. Dadson has also directed a great many experimental films, and recorded sound for documentaries. He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2005. Dadson is the subject of documentaries Sonics From Scratch and Let the Earth Hum.

Screenography

Anatomia Sonora Da Camera
2015 Director Short film
Heavy Metal (Schmidtsche Shack Factor Percussion Ensemble)
2015 Director Short film
Compass of Frailty
2014 Director, Subject Short film
36 x 360s
2013 Director Short film

Awards

2005 Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
For services to the arts

2001 Arts Foundation Laureate Award

“I still love the sound of a good PVC pipe. For me it has a wonderful thump. It hums, you know? If you get a good set of them, they have a beautiful sound. ”

Phil Dadson in an interview with Pantograph Punch, 18 April 2018