Dave Allen

Dave Allen, born in 1963 in Glasgow, UK and educated at Glasgow School of Art and the California Institute of the Arts, lives and works in Stockholm. Allen uses a range of media, including drawing, sound, video, performance and installation. His practice examines the ways in which music is disseminated and mythologized; in other words, how a piece of music might acquire a set of readable cultural associations that extend beyond its formal composition, lyrics and orchestration. Allen’s approach is characterized by a process of translation and interpretation, which he uses to demonstrate how a piece might circulate and acquire cult value as it becomes part of our collective experience. His work plays upon music’s ability to communicate and elicit an interpretive response over and above its basic affective impact, often departing from Rock ’n’ Roll songs and contemporary experimental music to write new arrangements with narrative undertones.