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Paris
Connection is
co-produced and co-published by Arteonline.arq.br
(Rio), Coriolisweb.org
(Toronto), dichtung-digital.org
(Berlin), Turbulence.org
(New York). It contains introductions to,
interviews with, and reviews on: Jean-Jacques
Birgé, Nicolaus Clauss,
Frédéric Durieu, Jean-Luc Lamarque,
Antoine Schmitt, Servovalve. For French, Portuguese
and Spanish version see: http://vispo.com/thefrenchartists.
The version on dichtung-digitial is made possible
by ZKM. | Birgé | Clauss | Durieu | Lamarque | Schmitt | Servovalve |
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INTERVIEW with
Jean-Luc Lamarque
by Jim
Andrews Jean-Luc
Lamarque:
It’ s a multimedia
instrument. Just like a pianist, you have to practice and
learn your score in order to play and have fun. But it is
also a work of art, it seems to me. Do you think it is as
good an instrument as it is a work of art? Each piano is an in-progress
environment in which users can play. Though each piano is
conceived with an artistic aim, i see it more as an open
work rather than a work of art. Are there
any important differences between instruments and works of
art? The instrument belong to the
artistic process. When the instrument is mastered it fades
away and the work of art emerges. Are there
any important differences between tools and works of art?
Tools just like instruments
are creation means. Is there a
tension between the idea of a tool and the idea of a work of
art? The original idea of the
pianographique was to mix various graphic and sounds style.
Though it is a myth i still dream about a magic tool or a
process that would generate works of art. Have you
found yourself before in a situation where, if you wanted to
make it a better tool, it would make it less outstanding a
work of art? Of course i always want to
add new features to pianos. But i do it gradually to avoid
complexity, i want to keep that fresh sensitive
feeling. Do you see
yourself working out new forms of music? How would you
describe these, if so? My goal is more to create
graphics and sounds that feed each other and see how the
user will appropriate this. |
"When i created the pianographique in 1992, i was very influenced by Dada, surealists, collage techniques and experimental movie makers like Oscar Fischinger who worked on the synesthesic relation of sound and image. " |
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When i created the
pianographique in 1992, i was very influenced by
Dada, surealists, collage techniques and experimental movie
makers like Oscar
Fischinger
who worked on the synesthesic relation of sound and
image. Are you able
to make money with Pianographique? I note that you
make custom versions of it. Have you been commissioned by
musicians to make versions for them? We did pianos for The
Beatles website (comissioned by EMI) and for a " french
touch " band Bosco (comissioned by the musicans who
enjoyed the pianographique website). In France, the
web is unfortunately considered as a tool of promotion and
not as an innovation and/or experimental playground.
I see that
recently you have added some work by Nicolas Clauss to the
Pianographique work. How did that go? Nicolas sent me an email to
collaborate. Since we are/were both painters, the collab was
easy. I did the piano engine , Nicolas created the visuals
and Jean-Jacques Birgé the sounds. I enjoyed a lot
this collaboration. When an artist has already his own
universe, the piano is an open and ludic interpretation of
his work. That was also the case with Xavier Pehuet
(http://seelans.net)
who has been working with me for 2 years and did the
"Angular Entropy" and "krsh_neige" pianos. Have you
worked with servovalve? If so, what did you do together?
Have you worked with Schmitt or Durieu? Do you share
interests with them? What are they? I collaborated with
servovalve for the Jean Tinguely CD-Rom. And we meet from
time to time when we showcase. I worked with Durieu for an
educational CD-rom for kids. We share this desire to explore
new forms, each of us in our specific way. Are you
involved in performance with Pianographique? What
sort of venues, if so, and how are the
performances?
Since many people have
contributed to the pianographique’s adventure
when we perform there is more than one interpretation. There
is always a camera shooting the keyboard so the audience can
understand what is going on. Thus people can realize that
interpretation is a very important notion in the
pianographique’s creative process. What are you
working on now, and what do you want to do in the future?
There will be new
collabs with graphists and musicians that enjoy
pianographique. There are also new tools in
progress: The "pianomixer" that will allow to create your
own piano by picking up elements in a database of graphics
and sounds The "pianoscripter" that will generate and edit
scores. |
