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ARTISTS DIGITAL TRACE

Field
performance, 2020

WRO Art Center / December 10, 8:00 PM

Sounds can be generated from the electromagnetic fields omnipresent in the environment. In this performance, residual electric signals, imperceptible to the eyes and ears, are picked up by electromagnetic transducer microphones and become the materials of the work. Even though they are intangible, they are subject to manipulation. During the performance the artist interacts with two aluminum panels with multiple patches whose inputs and outputs are interconnected. The sound and light composition emerges through a continuous movement of plugging and unplugging between the panels. By his performative gestures, Martin improvises audiovisual configurations that are similar but never exactly the same. With Field, the artist gives material form to this otherwise inaudible, invisible flow.

Martin Messier (CA)

For more than 15 years, Messier has created works in which sound meets images and objects. In the form of performances and installations – with a choreographic tone – , these works place the body front and centre. After studying composition at l’Université de Montréal, Martin began an experimental sound practice that integrated video images. He quickly developed performative audiovisual apparatuses that brought everyday objects and the sound potential of their various materials to the stage. A number of collaborative projects were carried out over the years, notably with artists Nicolas Bernier, Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, Anne Thériault, and Jacques Poulin-Denis. Martin’s latest performance project, ASHES, marks his first collaboration with French artist Yro (Élie Blanchard). Presented in some 50 counties, Martin Messier’s productions have received several prizes and nominations: a special mention at Prix Ars Electronica in 2010; listed for a Prix Opus in 2012; Best Experimental Short Film at the Lausanne Underground Film Festival in 2013; the Canada Council’s Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award in 2014; a special mention by the jury at the 2015 Japan Media Awards; and, in 2018, the World OMOSIROI Award in Japan. Martin is a member of Perte de Signal, an artists’ centre. In 2010, he established 14 lieux, a company dedicated to producing sound works for the stage, and has been its general and artistic director since then. He lives and works in Montreal.

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