“MECANOID + PAPER ORGANS and PAPER DRUMS”
Pierre Bastien
16 July → 31 July 2004

"From very early on I have wished to be considered in relation to a specific form of music – a strong popular musical tradition – in the same way that Bela Bartok relates to rhapsody, Miles Davis to the blues, Granados to fandango and bulerias. Unfortunately, neither “bourre” (an old French dance tune in common time) and “passacaille” (a slow instrumental work in ¾ time), nor the pop songs played on radio were appealing enough to my imagination.

I found a solid base however, in my own experiences as a child. MECANOID is just a sophisticated development of our childish sound games with a bicycle, when we were adding a piece of cardboard that would pluck the spokes of the wheels. As far back as I can remember, my friends and I had other similar sonic (and musical) experiences such as whistling through flower petals or pulling a twisted thread to make a button revolve and whizz.

The PAPER ORGANS & DRUMS arose from those practical experiences on which my activities are based: I consider them as my true folklore – an underestimated Western tradition." — Pierre Bastien

Supported by the French Embassy, and Alliance Francaise. Presented as part of Liquid Architecture Festival, supported by the Australia Council, Arts Victoria and the City Of Melbourne.