Johann Don-Daniel is predominantly a 4D sound artist exploring technologies/instruments, drums, distortion, performance and play.

Colonial legacies

Currently, the artist is exploring traditional artistic languages that have been affected by colonial legacies.

‘I conduct ethnographic research which leads me to develop dialogues reflecting decolonialisation and neo-colonialism. For my own work, its outcomes result in various experimental technologies. These include sound distortion, combined with sculpture and a beat driven narrative.’

Johann Don-Daniel is also a drummer, musician and collaborator for Punk band Lapan.

One of Johann Don-Daniel’s recent projects ‘Many a Slip Betwixt Cup ’n’ Lip’ derives from his own SriLankan heritage and concerns tea. Looking at tea in a historical context, he began by examining the tea chest and its development over time. His resultant work experimented with the sounds of a tea spoon stirring, the use of decorative china, the press of a pedal, a taut fishing line.

Parallel Play

As well as having trained as an art practitioner, Johann Don-Daniel has a background in alternative provision teaching and was once Deputy Head of an SEMH school. These interests come together in some of his collaborative projects. Together with Heini Marie King he conceived of a performative project Parallel Play, whereby they combined mark-making with elements of sounds and peripheral vision. Underlying this work were their previous discussions about themes of decolonising, freedom of movement and the power of media. However, the name of the work refers to a stage in child developmental psychology where children play alongside each other without any obvious interaction between them. The form of play follows an earlier stage of social development, onlooker play and is followed by associative play. In this last stage, children interact and continuously co-create their shared play, taking complementary roles.

Workshops, residencies

Johann Don-Daniel has a wide-ranging practice, which includes regular elements of workshop teaching. These he integrates into his own work, specialising in co-creation. An example has been Suffolk Artlink’s Brave art project, where he was developing methods of exploration with a group of practitioners through a charity that has a rich history in developing projects in marginalised communities.

Working with Norfolk and Norwich Festivals on the Hotspot project. He worked with pupils and staff at Grove Primary School in Norwich, to celebrate a local graveyard. They did this through sound, words, programming and instrument building. Pupils used Scratch, MAkeyMAkey, Garageband and a variety of microphones.

Johann Don-Daniel’s art studies began at Leeds College of Art and Design in 2001. From there he went onto London Metropolitan University’s School of Art and Desgn, (formerly the Sir John Cass School of Art) and Berlin Volkshochschule. Following a spell training and practising as a teacher, he returned to art study for an MA in 2023 at Norwich University. He is now a full-time freelance practising artist. He has further developed his work via different kinds of research projects and residencies: at High House, West Acre and Dachschiff, Berlin.