Bill Vorn

Bill Vorn
Born	Yves Bilodeau 1959 (age 65–66) Montreal, Quebec
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation(s)	Artist, musician, professor
Years active	1981-
Known for	Robotic art, Rational Youth

Bill Vorn (born 1959) is a Canadian artist, musician and professor known for his robotic artworks.[1][2] Vorn was also a member of the band Rational Youth from 1981 to 1983.[3]

Life

Vorn was born Yves Bilodeau[4][5] in 1959 in Montreal, Quebec.[1][6]

In 1981, Vorn was a founding member of the Montreal electronic music group Rational Youth.[3][7] The group is considered to be one of the first electronic music groups in Canada.[8] Vorn left the band at the beginning of 1983[9] to complete a Master's degree and PhD in communication studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal.[10]

Vorn is a full professor in the studio art department of Concordia University.[11]

Work

Since 1992,[12][13] Vorn has worked in the area of robotic artworks and installations that employ artificial intelligence.[2][14][15] He has created numerous works in collaboration with Louis-Phillippe Demers.[16][17][18] These robotic artworks have been widely exhibited internationally, in both installation and performance contexts.[19][20][13]

Inferno

Inferno (2015) is a robotic installation that where performers don harnesses that control their arms in synchronization with music and light.[21][22][23]

Awards

In 1996, Vorn received an award of distinction at Prix Ars Electronica. In 1998 he received the Leprecon Award for Interactivity, and in 1999 Vorn received the Life 2.0 award for his robotic artworks.[2][24] For his work Inferno with Louis-Phillippe Demers,[22] he received an honorary mention at Prix Ars Electronica in 2016.[25]

References

1. "Artist/Maker Name "Vorn, Bill"". Canadian Heritage Information Network. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
2. Christoph Lischka; Andrea Sick (July 2015). Machines as Agency: Artistic Perspectives. transcript. pp. 185–. ISBN 978-3-8394-0646-5.
3. "Rational Youth". CBC. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
4. Gedeon-Matusky, Julia. "Where artists' dreams come true". Concordia University. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
5. "Bill Vorn Biography". Societe des Arts Technologiques. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
6. Gerfried Stocker; Christine Schöpf (1 January 1996). Memesis. New York. ISBN 978-3-211-82846-5.
7. Michael Barclay; Ian A. D. Jack; Jason Schneider (2011). Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance, 1985-1995. ECW Press. pp. 173–. ISBN 978-1-55490-968-1.
8. "A Canadian minimal wave retrospective: Rational Youth's Cold War Night Life (1982)". CKUT blog. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
9. Canadian Pop Encyclopedia, Profile of Rational Youth^[usurped]. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
10. Marletta, Donata. "Bill Vorn: Immersed in a world of robots, metaphors, and paradoxes". Digicult.it. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
11. "Bill Vorn". Concordia University. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
12. Daniel Ichbiah (20 September 2005). Robots: from science fiction to technological revolution. Harry N. Abrams.
13. "Bill Vorn". V2_NL institute for Unstable Media. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
14. Falk Heinrich (21 March 2014). Performing Beauty in Participatory Art and Culture. Routledge. pp. 110–. ISBN 978-1-317-75518-0.
15. Decentralized Performance: An Exploration of Agent Behaviors in Metacreative Musical Systems. 2008. pp. 115–. ISBN 978-0-549-74757-4.
16. Todd Winkler (January 2001). Composing Interactive Music: Techniques and Ideas Using Max. MIT Press. pp. 298–. ISBN 978-0-262-73139-3.
17. Chris Salter (2010). Entangled: Technology and the Transformation of Performance. MIT Press. pp. 295–. ISBN 978-0-262-19588-1.
18. Stephen Wilson (2002). Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology. MIT Press. pp. 465–. ISBN 978-0-262-73158-4.
19. Luppicini, Rocci (31 October 2012). Handbook of Research on Technoself: Identity in a Technological Society: Identity in a Technological Society. IGI Global. pp. 684–. ISBN 978-1-4666-2212-8.
20. "Bill Vorn". Daniel Langlois Foundation. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
21. Dufétel, Camille. "www.journaldemontreal.com/2016/06/02/elektra-biennale-dart-numerique-au-cur-de-lart-robotique". Journal de Montreal. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
22. Cloutier, Mario. "Inferno: L'âge de la machine". La Presse. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
23. Weber, Jennifer. ""Inferno" – oder die Kontrolle an Roboter abgeben". Tele Basel. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
24. "Robot love". The Gazette. Canada.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
25. "Winners 2016". Ars Electronica. Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 1 June 2016.