Offering both an acoustic and social encounter which explore our perception of sound, Kaffe Matthews’ Sonic Bed, developed at Avatar and presented during Mois Multi 2007, is reinvestigated with new soundtracks that Magali Babin, John Oswald and Georges Azzaria created during a residency in June 2008.

Visitors are invited to lie down on a wood-framed Sonic Bed activated by the vibrations of a soundtrack that resonates along the body and offers a “sound massage” that can be as relaxing as it is unsettling.

Since 1990, Kaffe Matthews has been one of the most active artists on the new electronic music scene. She uses custom designed software as well as a mic, a theremin, and feedback. It is this practice that she has shifted to sonic furniture building with Sonic_Bed London (2005), which has led to the creation of a substantial ongoing venture: the worldwide Bed Project. It is an operation led by the research project music for bodies directed by Matthews, and of which she plans to create twelve versions internationally.

Georges Azzaria is a sound artist who, drawn by radio experimentation in the mid-1980s, later became involved in the creation of sound object. Law professor at Laval University, Georges Azzaria was a member of the group Bruit TTV (1987-1993), has given numerous performances and recorded two CDs. Aside from exhibits of his instruments and his sound performances in Quebec and Europe, he has produced a number of soundtracks for film and the theater.

Sound artist Magali Babin works with custom-made metal instruments that she has created or recycled herself. Most often calm and soothing, bordering minimalist sound effects, her music explores the realm of pots and plans, keys, and colanders… Magali Babin has collaborated frequently with a number of contemporary performance artists (Alexandre St-Onge, Eric Letourneau, I8U, Martin Tetrault, and many others) and her debut CD, Chemin de fer, appeared in 2002 under the No Type label. In 2003, she released the album Peak with Montreal artist I8U.

John Oswald is a saxophonist, composer, dancer, media artist, and among the most remarkable Canadian artists on the current music scene. Active on a number of fronts since the 1970s, he is renowned worldwide, especially for his album Plunderphonics (1990), which is a sonic patchwork of existing music. His arrangements belong to the repertoire of major orchestras, for example the Kronos Quartet, and several national ballets. In 2004, he won the Governor General’s award for Visual and Media Arts.