Founding member of shibui_oto
Artistic Director
About shibui-oto
shibui_oto [subtlety in sound] is a sound art presentation collective. Dedicated to the act of listening, it facilitates intervention between sound creation and architectural or geographical spaces. shibui_oto strives to push beyond borders with respect for the context of presentation and artistic vision. In the spirit of minimalism and drawing from Japanese culture, shibui can be named as the aesthetic of simplicity, balanced with refinement in detail.
shibui_oto affirms its commitment to the nuances of sound environments and dedicated listening experiences.
The artists:
Christopher Bissonnette is a Canadian musician/sound artist/designer living and working in the Detroit/ Windsor area. He has released two full-length albums for the Chicago based label Kranky and more recently a collaborative recording with David Wenngren (Library Tapes) on Home Normal. Bissonnette is also a founding member of Thinkbox, a project-based collective that has explored art, sound and video in a variety of contexts ranging from art galleries to music venues.
Bissonnette began his career studying fine art at the University of Windsor with a major in video and multimedia. His intense interest in sound art began while creating audio works to support the abstracted imagery of his visual work. Bissonnette also experienced the rise of the Detroit electronic music scene in the early nineties and began to develop a distinct sound of his own. Experimenting with “purist” techno sounds, working with analogue synths and rhythm machines, he soon discovered that this was ultimately unfulfilling. In 1996 Bissonnette teamed up with Mark Laliberte to form Disseminator Audio, which produced hybrid performances of sequenced tracks, turntable experiments and spoken word. Bissonnette refined his practice producing audio, video and installation work. In 1997 Laliberte and Bissonnette began working with Windsor film and video artist Chris MacNamara, founding Thinkbox, a media collective focused on the intersection of art and electronic music. Thinkbox produces art in a variety of media and spaces from art galleries to nightclubs and have fronted a series of limited edition themed compilations.
In 2004 Thinkbox was invited to perform a showcase at the Mutek music festival in Montreal. In addition to a collaborative performance with the other five members, Bissonnette offered a solo piece derived from a body of work that would be the foundation of his solo debut release, Periphery. Over the past ten years Bissonnette has continued to expand his aural vocabulary and production techniques incorporating elements of concrete, field recording and modular synthesis.
Tim Hecker is a Canadian-based musician and sound artist, born in Vancouver. Since 1996, he has produced a range of audio works for Kranky, Alien8, Mille Plateaux, Room40, Force Inc, Staalplaat, and Fat Cat. His works have been described as “structured ambient”, “tectonic color plates” and “cathedral electronic music”. More to the point, he has focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering an approach to songcraft, which is both physical and emotive. The New York Times has described his work as “foreboding, abstract pieces in which static and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow moving notes and chords, like fissures in the earth waiting to swallow them whole”. His Harmony in Ultraviolet received critical acclaim, including being recognized by Pitchfork as a top recording of 2006. Radio Amor was also recognized as a key recording of 2003 by Wire magazine. His work has also included commissions for contemporary dance, sound-art installations, as well as various writings. He currently resides in Montreal
An intellectual pioneer as much as anything else, Akira Rabelais issued forth musical creations and inventions from his perch at CalArts. Born and raised in South Texas, one of his childhood pastimes involved shooting metal plates with BB guns so that he could experience the unique sound that it caused. That fascination with sound, combined with a philosophical and literary bent (his favorite surreal and magical realist snippets of literature are on his website, www.akirarabelais.com) helped lay the path for the musical creations he has been issuing since 1990 — he describes himself as a “composer writing software, not an engineer making music.” The software that Rabelais made reference to in that quote, or at least the most famous among his inventions, was the Argeïphontes Lyre. With functions like Eviscerator Reanimator, Time Domain Mutation, Morphological Disintegration, Verwechslung Kaffeetass, and the Lobster Quadrille, the Lyre was a program that allowed the user to make a number of alterations to a piece of pre-recorded sound. The program quickly became a favorite of electronic music composers such as Terre Thaemlitz and Scanner, who used it to create disorienting sound shifts. Rabelais’ own CD, Elongated Pentagonal Pyramid (Ritornell, 1999), showed the stamp of the Lyre, with its multiple layers of gently wavering sound. Eisotrophobia followed in spring 2001.
immersound_LAX
shibui_oto is pleased to present immersound_LAX in partnership with Human Resources and VOLUME. immersound_LAX will showcase artists Christopher Bissonnette (CA), Tim Hecker (CA), and Akira Rabelais (US), for an intimate evening of performances in an immersive 6.1 channel installation.
About immersound
immersound is a concert series/philosophy initiated by artist France Jobin, which proposes to create a unique listening environment by focusing on the physical comfort of the audience through a specifically designed space. The premise for immersound is to seek out/explore new perceptions and experiences of the listening process by pushing the notion of “immersion” to its possible limits. Set in a very intimate context, limited to an audience of no more than 40, the architecture of the multi-channel sound system is consistent and evolutive in its design and tuning. The artists work collaboratively with the curator and sound engineer to develop musical compositions unique to the immersound experience.
SOLD OUT!
Venue
Human Resources
410 Cottage Home St.
Los Angeles CA, 90012
Zabuttons: Zen Stitchery.
immersound_LAX is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
immersound_SEA
shibui_oto is pleased to present immersound_SEA in partnership with Wayward Music Series at the Chapel Performance Space. immersound_SEA will showcase artists Christopher Bissonnette (CA) and Tim Hecker (CA), for an intimate evening of performances in an immersive 6.1 channel installation.
immersound is a concert series/philosophy initiated by artist France Jobin, which proposes to create a unique listening environment by focusing on the physical comfort of the audience through a specifically designed space. The premise for immersound is to seek out/explore new perceptions and experiences of the listening process by pushing the notion of “immersion” to its possible limits. Set in a very intimate context, limited to an audience of no more than 40, the architecture of the multi-channel sound system is consistent and evolutive in its design and tuning. The artists work collaboratively with the curator and sound engineer to develop musical compositions unique to the immersound experience.
Friday November 8th 2013
The Chapel Performance Space
4649 Sunnyside Ave. N, 4th Floor
Seattle, WA 98103
Corner of 50th st. in Wallingford
immersound_SEA is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
