tekhnē

NikNak (aka Nicole Raymond), an artist well-known for her creative and boundary-breaking work, has gained worldwide recognition with her unusual albums, remixes, and engaging performances. In 2020, she made history as the first Black Turntablist to receive the prestigious Oram Award that recognises women and gender diverse artists who are innovators in the fields of music, sound and related technologies. Not limited to any one genre or role, NikNak excels in composing, sound design, DJing, and electronic arts. With multiple releases, collaborations, and live shows, NikNak stands out in the music industry for her unique style. Featured in various publications as a rising star, NikNak continues to advance the boundaries of sound innovation with her complex turntablism and spatial music production.

NikNak also hosts “The Narrative”, a podcast that focuses on and features Black female, trans and non-binary creatives in music, art, photography, dance and many more creative industries.

Her most well-known recordings are 2020’s “Bashi”, devoted to the concept of peace, 2023’s EP “Moon”, devoted to sleep, darkness and the unconscious, and this year’s “Ireti” – a bass music inspired album that “DJ Mag” described in the following words: “Turntablist NikNak has a unique style, cutting and scratching field recordings and samples into ambient tracks — but her latest album finds her leaning into the dance music you might hear in one of her club sets.”

It is also invisibly structured by an afro-futuristic sci-fi story that NikNak devised, inspired by the classic film “Blade Runner” and the video game “Cyberpunk 2077”.

In its review of “Ireti”, “The Quietus” writes thus: “Her patterns shimmer with eeriness, barren like a desert yet coloured in gleaming chrome. There’s a darkness churning within these glossy beats, something lurking and waiting to pounce – the anxiety of dystopia looms, and NikNak captures it and sends it out in mysterious waves.”

From December 4 to December 12, NikNak was in a creative residency in Riga and during her stay, she worked on a new sound art installation. The highlight of her visit was a performance at Bar 1983 (Vagonu Street 21) on December 5.

NikNak’s time in Riga also included a free DJ workshop on December 9 at Kanepes Kulturas centrs, hosted in collaboration with DJAkadēmija and Elvi Soulsystems. On December 11, her residency concluded with the opening performance for “Merge”, a quadraphonic sound installation at Smilga gallery. The work was exhibited from December 12 till December 22.

About the work

The quadraphonic installation “Merge” serves as a culmination of two key aspects of the artist’s career and time spent in Riga. The first component features a live recording of an improvised turntablism performance, incorporating sounds collected during the artist’s time in the city. The second element presents an ambient adaptation of her performance of album “Ireti”, previously showcased at the bar “1983” in Riga. The goal is for both works to provide insight into the artist’s roles as a creator, performer, and producer, while also reflecting on her time during the residency in Riga.

The installation is part of the sound art project “tekhnē”. It is supported by the European Union and The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.