Kjartan Abel is a highly skilled and multi-talented artist who specializes in sound design, music composition, and immersive installations. His work explores the intersection of technology and creativity, blending digital tools with traditional media to create innovative and impactful art. He holds an MFA from The Slade School of Fine Art and a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Kingston University. As a composer, Kjartan Abel has created original music and soundscapes for a variety of media projects, including films, games, YouTube videos, podcasts, television shows, and art installations. He is inspired by the works of Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, KOTO, Laserdance, Røyksopp, Tangerine Dream, and Kraftwerk, among others.
In addition to his artistic pursuits, Kjartan Abel is a Digital Transformation Consultant and Software and Technology Specialist with a background in media production and web development. He uses his expertise in business analysis, project management, and technology to help businesses adopt and integrate new digital technologies and drive growth, efficiency, and productivity. He has experience working with a wide range of technologies, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data, and the internet of things.
Work experience
2016 – d.d. Østfoldmuseene
Digital Transformation Consultant, Editor and Exhibition Consultant.
2010 – 2016 Public Art Norway (KORO)
Digital Consultant and Superadmin for Primus (a collection management tool for museums).
2004 – 2007 Freelance photographer
Photographer for Bonnier Media magazine Max Power and Woman.
2002 – d.d. Idéfarmen
Mid-stack WordPress, HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL freelancer.
2002 – 2006 Herresalongen.no
Webmaster for online Lifestyle magazine.
2002 – 2003 FAST Search & Transfer ASA
Webmaster.
2000 – 2001 Radio Tango
Multimedia developer.
1998 – 1999 Nordialog
Sales assistant and technician.
1992 – 1994 NRK-TV
Sound assistant.
1991 – 1992 Radio Oslofjord
Sound assistant.
Education
2007 – 2009 Slade School of Fine Art, University College London
MFA in Fine Art New Media.
2005 – 2007 Kingston University, BA(Hons) Fine Art
First Class (A) Hons.
2003 – 2005 Strykejernet Art school
Audio engineering and music theory course.
1995 – 1997 Norsk Lydskole
Two year Foundation course.
Exhibitions
2009 Graduate Degree show
Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK
2009 Research Images As Art 2009
UCL(University College London), London, UK
2009 Nothing but the voice
Woburn Square Studios, London, UK
2008 Notation
Woburn Square Studios, London, UK
2008 The Body Project
Woburn Square Studios, London, UK
2008 Curated the exhibition “Demoscene”
Galleri brenneriet, Oslo, Norway
2008 COSM, UCL Observatory
University College London, London, UK
2008 Kunstvlaai A.P.I,
Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2008 Norskart
Menier Chocolate Factory, London, UK
2007 Existential Computing
Hayward Gallery, London, UK
2007 LollipopManBlues
Nolias gallery, London, UK
2005 Homeless
Waterloo Underpass, London, UK
2005 Utdanningsmessen
Norges Varemesse, Lillestrøm, Norway
2004 Group Show
Smuget, Oslo, Norway
Lectures/Talks
2009 Introduction to Content Management Systems
The Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK
2008 Introduction to Demoscene
Galleri Brenneriet, Oslo, Norway
2008 Interactive Art
Galleri Brenneriet, Oslo, Norway
2008 Workshop on Interactive Art
Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK
Awards
2009 The Julian Sullivan Award
2005 Strykejernet Kunstskole Scholarship
Residencies
2009 Utopia project, ASFA in Rethymnon, Crete
2008 Residency through the LITTORAL trust at Kurt Schwitters Merzbau site, Cylinders Merzbau, Ambleside, UK
Publications
2009 Landing Space