Avant-Garde

John Milton Senior Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer, philosopher, poet, music theorist, artist, printmaker, and amateur meteorologist and mushroom collector. A pioneer of dance music, electrical music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century.

MARTIN MESSIER IS A COMPOSER, PERFORMER AND VIDEOMAKER. IF SOUND STANDS AS THE DRIVING FORCE OF HIS WORK, MESSIER ALSO QUICKLY TOOK AN INTEREST IN THE CLASH BETWEEN ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC AND OTHER ART FORMS AS WELL AS IN ARTISTIC COLLABORATION. THAT WAY, IT IS THROUGH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOUND AND MATERIAL (OBJECTS OR BODIES) THAT MESSIER’S WORK TAKE SHAPE. MESSIER CONSTANTLY REDEFINE THE FRONTIERS OF CONCRETE MUSIC BY CREATING SOUNDS WITH EVERYDAY LIFE OBJECTS, SUCH AS ALARM CLOCKS, PENS, SELF-CONCEIVED MACHINES AND SEWING MACHINES.

Read more about Martin Messier on Last.fm.

Lionel Marchetti was born in France in 1967. His interest in music resides in the qualities of sound. He is one of a handful of artists who in the mid-to-late 1990s took electroacoustic music out of academic studios and into the free improvisation ring. A scholar who worked at the CFMI (Lyon) and GRM (Paris) studios and published a book on acousmatic composer Michel Chion, Marchetti developed a set-up of microphones and loudspeakers he uses on stage along with tape recorders, prepared CDs, motors and radios.