Nicolas Bernier, John Duncan, Herman Kolgen, Mika Vainio
Curator : France Jobin
Thursday, June 4 and Friday, June 5, 2015 at 6 pm
Tickets on sale at OBORO ($10)
as of May 26, 2015. *Maximum of 2 tickets per person*
From Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 5 pm.
You can also call 514 844-3250 (credit card only).
Limited seats. No ticket reservation.
The Artists:
Nicolas Bernier creates sound performances, installations, musique concrète, live electronics, post-rock, noise improv and video art while also working with dance, theatre, moving images and within interdisciplinary contexts. In the midst of this eclecticism, his artistic concerns remain constant: the balance between the cerebral and the sensual, and between organic sound sources and digital processing. Awardee of the prestigious Golden Nica at Prix Ars Electronica 2013 (Austria), his work have been presented in major events and venues like SONAR (Spain), Mutek (Canada), DotMov Festival (Japan), ZKM (Germany), Transmediale (Germany) and LABoral (Spain) to name a few. His sound compositions are widely published on electronic music labels: Crónica (Portugal), LINE (US), leerraum (Switzerland), Entr’acte (UK) and empreintes DIGITALes (Québec). He holds a PhD in sonic arts from the University of Huddersfield (UK). He his a member of Perte de signal, a media arts research and development centre based in Montreal. He his teaching in the Digital Music program of the Université de Montréal.
John Duncan was born in the United States, currently lives and works in Bologna. Duncan portrays his work as a catalyst, inciting a transmission of energy through which he seeks to compel the audience to actively participate in the process of investigation and self-discovery. His lengthy career of electroacoustic intensity and confrontational performance art events is the result of rigorous investigations into a number of arcane, metaphysical, and at times transgressive themes. Duncan is a rare artist who is totally immersed in existential research.
– Jim Haynes, The Wire (UK). His audio releases THE CRACKLING (1996 with Max Springer), PALACE of MIND (2001 with Giuliana Stefani), FRESH (2002 with Zeitkratzer), THE KEENING TOWERS (2003), PHANTOM BROADCAST (2004), NINE SUGGESTIONS (2005 with Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen), THE NAZCA TRANSMISSIONS (2009) to name a few, are all considered by critics and composers alike to be benchmarks in the field of experimental sound and contemporary music.
Recognized for his multimedia creations for over twenty years, Herman Kolgen is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Montreal. A true audiocinetic sculptor, he draws his primary material from the intimate relationship between sound and image. Kolgen works to create objects that assume the form of installations, video and film works, performances and sound sculptures. Constantly exploring, he works at the junctures of different media, as well as elaborating a new technical language and singular aesthetic. Herman Kolgen creations have been presented at renowned festivals and events, such as: Berlin Transmediale, isea, Venice Biennale, Ars Electronica, Sonic Acts, Centre Georges Pompidou, Cimatics, Dissonanze, elektra, Mutek, Sonar, Tapei Digital Art, Shanghai eARTS. Herman Kolgen is the recipient of numerous prestigious prizes, including Qwartz, Ars Electronica, Best Experimental Film Award of the Independant Film Festival of New York and Los Angeles, and the Award of Conseil Général du Festival International du Court Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand.
Mika Vainio, editions Mego, sähkö, blast first, raster-noton, touch / finland
Mika Vainio, currently based in Berlin, was one half of the minimal electronic duo Pan Sonic from Finland (the other was Ilpo Väisänen), whose brand of quirky, lo-fi minimalism transformed them into one of the most popular exports from the Northern European techno underground. Before starting Pan Sonic in beginning of the 90s, Mika Vainio played electronics and drums as part of the early Finnish industrial and noise scene. His solo works, under his own name and under aliases like Ø, tend more toward the ambient and experimental, blending sparse machine noises with shifting rhythms, stubbornly unmusical sonic textures, assorted channel separation weirdness and known for their analogue warmth and electronic harshness. Be it abstract drone works or minimal avant techno, Vainio is always creating unique, physical sounds. He has released on labels like editions Mego, Touch, Wavetrap and Sähkö.
About immerson:
immerson 7 is pleased to continue its exploration of new perceptions and experiences regarding the listening process, and this year will be an exceptional edition. For some time, I had been hoping to welcome the artists John Duncan and Mika Vainio for an evening of concerts and voilà! In addition, immerson 7 will also present Montreal artists Nicolas Bernier and Herman Kolgen. An evening charged with creativity in an intimate setting. [France Jobin]
immerson is a concert event and philosophy initiated by France Jobin that proposes creating an environment dedicated to an enhanced listening experience through the physical comfort of the audience by means of a specifically designed space.
Jobin initiated immerson in February 2011, in partnership with OBORO and in close collaboration with Stéphane Claude.
France Jobin is an audio / installation artist, composer and curator. Her audio art, qualified as “sound sculpture”, distinguishes itself in a minimalist approach of complex sound environments at the intersection of analog and digital. She participates in festivals, as well as presents installations and events internationally. Jobin has produced numerous solo albums with renowned labels such as ROOM40 (AU), LINE (US), popmuzik records and ATAK (JP). France Jobin was a Sonic Arts Awards 2014 finalist in the category Sonic Research.
This event is part of the Montreal Digital Spring 2015
In collaboration with BIAS – International Art Biennial by ELEKTRA
France Jobin acknowledges the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec.
