Minibloc is an ongoing collaborative project shared between Nicolas Dion and Anne-Françoise Jacques (Montreal). Minibloc uses amplification of objects, small electronic circuits and recontextualisation of field recordings as the material to create live hands-on sound performances, sound installations and radio art pieces. The duo often perform live and have participated in many festivals including Club Transmediale (Berlin), Send & Receive (Winnipeg), Mutek (Montréal), Festival des Musiques de Création (Saguenay) and Rencontres de musiques spontanées (Rimouski). Their first sound installation entitled “Oreilles”, a germinal project that has provided the impetus for much of their current research and production, was curated by Eric Mattson and presented at Centre Clark (Montreal) in 2009 and at Galerie Séquence (Chicoutimi) in 2010. (Please see Curriculum Vitae documents for both artists appended to this application.)
The month-long Minibloc residency at PAVED Arts will be structured around a four-part series of workshops that culminate in a live performance. The first workshop will focus on different aspects and considerations of sound amplification; workshop two will involve field-recording projects; workshop three will be on building contact microphones and hydrophones; and the final workshop in the series will implement all of the technologies touched upon in the series within the context of performance/installation. Each workshop will touch upon areas that have been a focus of Minibloc’s own research and production, and parallel to this activity the duo will develop a site-specific sound installation/performance piece for a live event to take place at the culmination of the residency. Nicolas Dion and Anne-Françoise Jacques are developing the performance component as a collaborative project that will involve participants in the workshop series.
For the Friday, July 27th edition of the Sounds Like… audio-art festival minibloc and workshop participants Terry Billings, Joel Carignan, Constantine Katsiris, Tanjalee Kuhl and Jon Vaughn will present a series of performances that reflect the collaborative and experimental work that they have produced through the workshop series.
Check out some photos from the first Minibloc workshop here
This residency was funded with generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Media Arts section, and the Saskatchewan Arts Board.
