Elusive MatterMartin Messier (CA)

Light and sound performance, 2022.

With Elusive Matter, a minimalist light and sound performance, Martin Messier transforms simple wisps of smoke into a veritable projection screen. In a room submerged in darkness, armed with a projector as his sole source of light, Messier draws a myriad of ghostly spaces, architectural shapes and dreamlike images from the intangible haze, juxtaposing light and sound in order to conjure atmospheres both ethereal and soothing.

Concept, music composition and performance: Martin Messier
Video: Étienne Desprès
Production: 14 lieux

Martin Messier (CA)

Exploring links between sound and material both living and inert, Martin Messier’s sound works are given tangible form in complex performative electromechanical and digital devices. He is interested in the motifs of the visible versus the invisible, presence versus absence, and the potential of metamorphosis through the transformation of objects and the manifestation of the imperceptible properties they possess. After studying composition at l’Université de Montréal, Messier began an experimental sound practice that integrated video images. Martin Messier’s latest works include Innervision (2019), a monumental outdoor project performed by 60 dancers, the audiovisual performance Echo Chamber, the choreographic performance Con Sordina, and the light and sound performance Elusive Matter. In 2010, he established 14 lieux, a company dedicated to producing performative and installative artworks, and has been its general and artistic director since then. He lives and works in Montreal.

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