Johan Vandermaelen Research Artist

Johan Vandermaelen is a composer, improvisor, maker of instruments and installations. Arte povera? Land art? Fluxus? Many names were given to his performances and installations.

Meeting Hugh Davies in the late 70's triggered the interest for making electro-acoustic instruments.

In the early 80's he attended the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp where he studied electronic music under Joris De Laet. As an improvisor you could find him in several groups and combinations. Furthermore he composed music / sounddesign for films (several for Magnum Photo Agency) and played music by and worked with Alvin Lucier, George Crumb, Phill Niblock, Tom Johnson a.o.

Johan Vandermaelen teaches electronic music at the Royal Music Conservatory of Ghent.

Recent work – installations and concerts – focus on slow natural processes which often remain unseen/unheard because of their slow evolution.

“The Thickness of Air” – about acoustic properties from airlayers, “Singing Stones” – about ressonances in stones, “Birds, part of the weather” about logic but complex systems within a non-linear or metric timestructure. These are evolving projects – sometimes installation, sometimes concert- where listeners are part of a spatial environment.

Recent collaborations include Georg Wissel, Rie Nakajima, Pierre Berthet, Guy De Bièvre, Peter Zummo.