Introduction
Exhibitions created by the BASCHET brothers, now developped within the STRUCTURES SONORES SARL. The Sound Structures and Pedagogy, presided by Mr Bernard BASCHET, ensure its spreading since 2004.
As part of the transition between Mr BASCHET and Mr BOUSQUET, about ten exhibition pieces of the « standard » type have been placed at the BOUSQUET workshop's disposition, following the establishment of an exploitation contract.
These pieces are permanentaly exhibited within a sound gallery attached to the workshop. In other respects, they are subject of temporary exhibitions in Europe, linked to François BASCHET's current work in Spain and internationally.
The BASCHET exhibitions
In 1955, the use of curved metal sheets playing the role of an amplifier was not common!
François BASCHET tells the anecdote of the patent office, in the United States, where people thought that no sound can come out of these objects. A demonstration led to the re-writing of those particular patents!
For the novice, metallic sheets, associated with the shape of the keyboards, bring out a sculptural dimension. This origami of metal associated with simple musical kinematics are the founding principles of the BASCHET sound sculpture.
The year 1963 marks a turning point in the artistic expression of the BASCHET brothers, as they appear at the Object exhibition, at the Decorative Arts Museum. The following year, an exhibition entirely dedicated to them is organised. They are then invited in Northern countries, then at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New-York, in Mexico, Chicago, Osaka, Cologne, Berlin... becoming pioneers in the public's free access to the exhibited works.
They created sound structures (monumental fountains of the belfry type), replacing the musician's action by the one of the elements (water and wind) or by the public. They create bent metal objects used as furniture or costumes (for William Klein's movie, « Who are you Polly Magoo? », 1966).
Nowadays, the BASCHET brothers' work is exhibited in the greatest international galeries and appear in many private collections. In other respects, itinerant exhibitions - historical pieces, concert instruments, contemporary fabrication instruments – are welcomed around world.
In this non-exhaustive catalogue, we have gathered representative pieces of the various directions the BASCHET brothers have taken. These pieces allow us to perceive the majority of assemblies met through their empirical experimentations.
Works developped in the History of Art field are presented in the Library/documents section.
Structures/Sculptures
The exhibition collections are set up to represent the evolution of the BASCHET instrumental making, parallel to the development of the sound sculpture.
What needs to be remembered is that an instrument is generally created for and with a musician. It is adapted to a well defined body language and follows musical requirements. The necessary organisation to any musical sound production will represent the nature of the object, which will remain an object or a sculpture for novices.
A sound structure can be used as a sound source, but it results from a fundamental research of sounds and shapes. It can be the prototype of a future instrument, contain symbolical values, simply express the beauty of a sometimes random assembly.
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