#1 BLACKOUT. Representation, transformation and de-control in the sound work of Yasunao Tone
By Roc Jiménez de Cisneros
Yasunao Tone (Tokyo, 1935) is a Japanese interdisciplinary artist. He graduated from Chiba Japanese National University in 1957, majoring in Japanese literature. He became active in the Fluxus movement in the 1960s and moved to the United States in 1972. He organised and participated in many experimental music and performance groups such as Group Ongaku, Hi-Red Center and Team Random (the first computer art group in Japan). His unconventional musical work brings together certain forms of traditional Eastern culture and post-structuralist theories, and since the mid to late nineties has become a notable influence on new generations of sound artists worldwide. He lives and works in New York.
The conversations which form the basis for this interview took place in March 2002 (email interview by Anna Ramos) and July 2008, during Yasunao Tone’s visit to Barcelona, coinciding with his performance at MACBA, and were continued by email with Tone, Fell, Hecker and Held during February-March 2009. Tone’s work has also been featured on issues 1 and 7 of the Ràdio Web MACBA programme “Lines of Sight”.
ISSN: 2013-4681
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