Kikù Hibino

“When I think of nature, I often envision the primordial Earth, bathed in intense sunlight and radiation. Last year, I witnessed a volcanic eruption in Iceland up close, and it was an overwhelmingly inhuman scene.

For me, the act of creating music is about finding humanity through imagination while wandering in such a harsh world. It is human consciousness that can measure the eternal past and the fleeting present, and I believe that music holds the key to uncovering the secrets of that consciousness.“ - Kikù Hibino

Sound artist Kikù Hibino has dedicated his career to exploring the complex interplay between nature’s inherent structures and human imagination through electronic music. Inspired by the intricate beauty of human languages, natural patterns, optical illusions, and moiré effects, Kikù creates electronic compositions that challenge traditional rhythmic structures and melodies, inviting listeners into a world where linear and non-linear elements converge harmoniously.

He has collaborated internationally with a wide variety of artists and scholars, including Whitney Johnson, Baudouin Saintyves, Yuge Zhou, Mitsu Salmon, Kawaguchi Takao (Dumb Type), Theaster Gates, Mike Weis (Zelienople) and Norma Field.

Kikù is on the Italian record label Superpang. His work has been shown in Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, Bemis Center For Contemporary Arts, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago Cultural Center, Three Walls, Compound Yellow, Elastic Arts, Hairpin Arts Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, among others. He’s a 2017 Individual Artist Grant recipient from Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, 2021 Outer Ear Artist in Residency at Experimental Sound Studio. Kikù lives and works in Chicago.

The publication, The Wire (U.K.) once described his music as "trying to cram in as many memories as possible before it all disappears" and that the music "concerns itself with themes of capturing and preserving fleeting moments" (2007, issue 279).

He studied electronic music composition at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus with Toru Iwatake, Atau Tanaka, and Christopher Penrose, and at University of California at Santa Barbara with Curtis Roads and Karen Tanaka, and holds M.A. in media art and technology.

In 2021, Kikù and Gregory Bae launched SN, an electronic music concert series/label. Signal Noise (SN), an independent platform from Chicago, is dedicated to avant-garde electronic music, noise, and video art. Founded in 2021 by Gregory Bae and Kikù Hibino, SN has released live works by artists such as Ana Paula Santana, Kikù Hibino, Marcus Fischer, Peter Speer, and Sam Prekop, pushing the boundaries of sound and art. After Gregory Bae's passing, Joe Gilmore took over visual direction, whose designs symbolize SN's unique identity.