Magali Babin
Magali Babin has been active on the expérimental and improvised music scenes since the 1980s. Her artistic work is based on playful amplification, sonic interaction and manipulation of everyday objects. One result of ongoing research is her first solo CD, Chemin de fer (No Type) — a work comissionned by Mario Gauthier for Radio-Canada.
Starting with the amplification of the objects, Magali Babin developed an interest for the recording of environmental sounds and “sounds we no longer hear, since they are such an integral part of our routine.” The artist explores and archives this singular and very personal instrumentation with use of electronic implements and contact microphones. The relationship with sound and “the gesture of object interactions” are important aspects of her compositions.
In parallel with her compositional work, her research activities are presently focused on capturing natural and environmental phenomena, fabricating different types of microphones and exploring acoustic phenomena of performance spaces.
For the last ten years the artist has performed with unique and unexpected sonorities, both solo and in the company of musicians, dancers and performers. Magali Babin is spoken-of as one of the central personalities on the high risk improvisation scene in Montréal.
Magali Babin presented concerts at international electronic music festivals in the Americas (Mutek- Suoni Per Il Popolo/Montréal, Mois Multi/Québec, send+receive/Winnipeg, New Music Festival/Vancouver, High Zero /USA) as well as in Europe (Hull Time Based Arts/UK, Transmediales /Berlin, Nuit bleue /France) and in performances in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Hambourg, Besançon, Bruxelles…
She has participated on many compilations on different labels such as and/OAR usa, Intransitive Recordings usa, SK Factory, Oral, le son 666. Her work is mentioned in Katharine Norman’s book Sounding Art: Eight Literary Excursions through Electronic Music.
In addition to her artistic solo work Magali regularly collaborates with…
– Mineminemine (1997) with Éric Létourneau & Alexandre Saint-Onge
– Le Quatuor de tables tournantes (The turn table quartet) by Martin Tétreault (2007) with N. Tobin, D. Lafrance, A. McSween
– The Nocinema.org collective (2005) Project of French artist Jerome Joy with Chantal Dumas, Jocelyn Robert, Dinah Bird, Luc Kerleo, Emmanuelle Gibello, Alain Michon and others
– The Strickland Trio (2010) with Jon Bole and Maïca Mia
Click here to see the video: “Nocinema.org” on Matricule Archive.