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Pierre Bastien The French composer and multi-instrumentalist Pierre Bastien played first in some collective bands (Operation Rhino, Nu Creative Methods, Effectifs de Profil), and with the Dominique Bagouet Dance Company. Around 1986 he started participating in Pascal Comelade's Bel Canto Orquesta. At the same time he created - and literally built - his own orchestra called Mecanium : an ensemble of musical automatons constructed from meccano parts and activated by electro-motors, that are playing on acoustic instruments from all over the world. " A composer's dream : a fail-safe orchestra at one's fingertips obeying ever so gently to his every command : a timeless sounding orchestra, both futuristic and slightly dada, conjuring ancient traditions in its surprisingly sensuous music. This is, in a nutshell what Pierre Bastien's "Mecanium" is all about, a daydream of sorts that he has successfully pursued since 1976. The musicians of his orchestra are machines. And the idea behind it is simple, efficient and poetic : to have traditional instruments (Chinese lute, Morrocan bendir, Javanese saron, koto, violin, sanza, etc.) played by a mechanical instrument made of meccano pieces and recycled turntable motors. These hybrid and self-playing sound sculptures perform a series of short pieces, charming and hypnotic. " (Michel F. Côté) In the nineties the mechanical orchestra developed up to 80 elements. It took part in music festivals and art exhibitions in Norway (World Music Days'90), Australia (Tisea'92), Japan (Artec'95), Canada (Fimav'95, Sound Symposium'98), Poland (Warsaw Autumn'95), United States (Flea Festival'96)… Last year Pierre Bastien and his machines were playing at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (with DJ Low and video artist Pierrick Sorin), and were performing during the men fashion presentation by Issey Miyake in Milano. This year in November, the album Mecanoid is issued on Rephlex. Sooner in the summer, Pierre showed a sound installation made in collaboration with British singer and composer Robert Wyatt. : Studies :1974 Licence de Lettres, Lyon 1975 Maîtrise de Lettres, Paris Sorbonne 1976 DEA de littérature du XVIII° siècle, Paris Sorbonne: Music for ballets :1977 Tartines (Dominique Bagouet Dance Company) 1979 Sur des Herbes Lointaines (id.) 1980 Les Gens de… (id.) 1982 C'est comme ça (Jean Rochereau Dance Company) 1983 Bis Repetita (id.): Music for string quartet :1984/85 Les Effectifs de Profil : concerts in Paris, Lyon, Torino, Barcelona, Musique Action in Vandoeuvre les Nancy: Mechanical music (selection) :1986 first automatic concerts in Arnhem and Lyon 1987 festival des musiques, Saint-Etienne - Elysée, Lyon - AVE Festival, Arnhem - Apollohuis, Eindhoven - Concertgebouw, Haarlem - ELAC, Lyon 1988 D'Arts, Rotterdam - Forum, Hamburg - De Salon, Groningen - Théâtre romain, Lyon 1989 Spazzio Baj, Milano - Canal Sud, Toulouse 1990 World Music Days, Oslo 1991 Transformadors, Barcelona - Otto Zsutz, Barcelona - MIMI Festival, Marseille - Time Based Arts, Amsterdam 1992 TISEA, Sydney - Ludwig Forum, Aachen - Roxy, Ulm 1993 38° Rugissants, Grenoble - Pôle Sud, Strasbourg, Musique Action, Nancy - Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers - Gran Dia, Paris 1994 Visual Minds, Groningen - Beursschouwburg, Brussel - Area Sísmica, Meldola - Tramway, Rouen 1995 Teatro Miela, Trieste - Rough Trade, London - Musée d'Art Contemporain, Marseille - Musique Action, Nancy - FIMAV, Victoriaville - MIRE, Nantes 1996 Apollohuis, Eindhoven - Ring Ring, Belgrade - Trafics, Nantes - Banlieues Bleues, Paris 1997 Nouveau Musée, Lyon - Oulipo Festival, Museum Boymans, Rotterdam - Carré d'Art, Nîmes - Fondation Cartier, Paris - Dodorama, Rotterdam - Territori Sonor, Barcelona - Les Instants Chavirés (with Lukas Simonis), Paris - Musiques Volantes, Metz 1998 Turnhout, Luzern, Vicenza, Meldola, Lecco, Brescia, a tour with Lukas Simonis - Café de la Danse, Paris - Médiathèque, Mons - Sound Symposium, Newfoundland - Leonardo, Québec - La Bâtie, Genève - CBK, Rotterdam - Alternativa, Praha 1999 Sons d'Hiver (with Pascal Comelade), Fresnes - Barcelona, Zaragoza, León - Lantaren, Rotterdam - België, Hasselt (with DJ Low) - Curva Minore, Palermo - Cyborg, Rennes 2000 Théâtre, Sens - Casino, Genk - Issey Miyake presentation, Milano - Area Sismica, Meldola Sidecar, Barcelona - Auditori Montaner, Valencia - Chalet Serra, Reus - Casino, Vic 2001 Kunstmuseum des Kantons Thurgau - Asprojazz, Besançon - Ridehus, Oslo - Las Palmas, Rotterdam - Angelica, Bologna - IM, Genk - Batofar, Paris - SenXperiment, Lucena - elektronic, Barbican London - DOM, Moscow |