Julien Maire and Pierre Bastien, who have each invented their own mechanically charming language for their art, come together on this evening in the Edith Russ House for Media Art. Through the mechanized projection of the performance Demi-Pas sets Julien Maire’s handmade visual scenes in motion. The music for this work was composed by Pierre Bastien, who presents two different performances with his mechanical orchestra.
7 pm: Julien Maire, Demi-Pas, projection performance
8 pm: Pierre Bastien, Mecanium I
9 pm: Julien Maire, Demi-Pas, projection performance
10 pm: Pierre Bastien, Mecanium II
11 pm: Julien Maire, Demi-Pas, Projection-Performance
Julien Maire
“Demi-Pas” 20 min.
Projection-Performance
“Demi-Pas” is a short film that works like a kind of projected theater and is projected with an “inverted camera”: Micro-mechanisms are located directly inside a converted projector and create an animated image. Julien Maire’s performance sets real objects or photographic material in motion within the projector. The film tells of the reality of a man’s daily routine and at the same time refers to the simplicity and complexity of this reality.
Pierre Bastien
A composer’s dream: an orchestra at the tip of his fingers, gently executing every command: a timeless-sounding orchestra, futuristic and a little Dadaist at the same time, evoking ancient traditions in its astonishingly sensual music. In just a few words, this is Pierre Bastien’s “Mecanium” – a kind of daydream that he has been pursuing since 1976. The musicians in his orchestra are machines. The idea behind it is simple, effective and poetic. Traditional instruments (Chinese lute, Moroccan bendir, Javanese saron, koto, violin, sanze, etc.) are played by a mechanical instrument made from parts of a Meccano metal construction kit and reused record player motors. These hybrid and self-playing sound sculptures perform a series of short hypnotic pieces. (Michel F. Côté)
“Julien Maire, born 1969 in Metz (F), studied art in Metz, lives and works in Berlin. Solo exhibitions in France and Germany: Les rencontres internationales de la photographie, Arles; Hull Time Based Art, Hull; Centre National de la Photographie, Paris; International Symposium of Shadow, London. Performances: Site Gallery Sheffield; ZKM, Karlsruhe; Transmediale.01 and .04, Berlin; EMAF 2004, Osnabrück. In 2004 Julien Maire was artist in residence in Berlin (Podewil). His new projection was commissioned by the General Council of Moselle (F) in collaboration with the Saarland State Representation in Berlin and the Institute Francais.”
“Pierre Bastien, born in Paris in 1953, studied French literature at the Sorbonne in Paris and lives in Rotterdam. He built his first musical machine in 1977. In the following 10 years he composed for various dance companies and played with Pascal Comelade while at the same time developing his mechanical orchestra. Since 1987 he has concentrated on working with the mechanical orchestra, presenting it in solo performances, sound installations, recordings and in collaboration with artists such as Pierrick Sorin, Karel Doing, Jean Weinfeld, Robert Wyatt or Issey Miyake. Pierre Bastien travels around the world and presents his performances to an international audience.”