nonlinear
updated: January 2026
swipe/scroll to view all projects below ︎
Nonlinear is a portal of inquiry established by multidisciplinary designer, graphic+sonic artist and educator Michael Hersrud. His exploratory creative practice involves analog, audiovisual, automation, data, drawing, dérive, geography, geometry, language, layering, looping, patterns, performance, printmaking, sound, space, surface and systems. The resulting projects, often collaborative, investigate experiences, interactions & phenomena. Michael is the co-director of the Sonic Jeel Research Lab.
Sonic Jeel Research Lab
Sonic Jeel celebrates the interplay of the sonic and the graphic. We collaborate with artists and designers to investigate sound, field recording, synthesizers, and audiovisual media within the context of Qatar and the Gulf region. Our lab is a platform for exploratory research, production and distribution of experimental sonic work relative to visual and tangible outcomes. The research lab was initiated cooperatively with my colleague Simone Muscolino.
Sonic Jeel Research Lab ︎
Sometimes we hear visuals and see sounds
Audiovisual Experiments
This work takes inspiration from early animation and sound pioneers such as Oskar Fischinger, John Whitney Sr., & Mary Ellen Bute. These are three looping audiovisual experiments as part of an ongoing project for Sonic Jeel. The visuals are being triggered by audio event and frequencies using modular synthesizers. Exhibited in Doha at an installtion on contemporary sound.
Graphic Notations
This series of four digital vector drawings operates as graphic musical scores that remain intentionally open to the performer’s interpretation. Developed through an exploratory process with MIDI devices in Ableton Live, the notations translate sonic potential into visual form while embracing indeterminacy. The visual language is loosely based on Sadu patterns. The work represents an early phase of a broader audiovisual research project that investigates alternative systems of notation and the interplay between sound and grapic image.
