Phil Dadson is a sound and intermedia artist, working across disciplines. His work includes solo performances and exhibitions, building experimental instruments and sonic objects, video and sound installation, composition and improvisation. He is the founder of the sound-performance group, From Scratch (1974 to 2002), known internationally for its rhythmic and distinctive performances utilising original instruments.
Phil Dadson studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was later Head of Intermedia/Time-based Arts in 1986 to 2001. In 2000 he also completed a Master of Arts (Hons) in Music and Fine Arts from the University of Western Sydney. Dadson has performed and exhibited extensively around New Zealand and internationally for decades and has released many recordings and moving image works. He has also received numerous awards and residencies, including an Arts Foundation Laureate Award in 2001, a Fulbright Award and an Artist-to-Antarctica fellowship. In 2005 he received an ONZM for his services to the arts. He is the principal author of the From Scratch Rhythm Workbook (1995) and co-author (with Bart Hopkin) of Slap Tubes and other Plosive Aerophones (2007). Phil Dadson is represented by Starkwhite, Auckland.