Time-based media art is a generic label applied to all the arts involving time as one of the mandatory coordinates to experience the works. John Oswald involves time at the very center of his own work, making it the hidden fulcrum of the reality he interprets, slowing down or accelerating his own concept of ‘reality.’ In Chronophotic [Arc d’apparition; Whisperfield] there’s an altered immobility reflected in the continuos almost perceptible changes that very slowly add persons to a sort of group picture, shifting, also slowly their dressed/naked image. The nakedness and the being dressed can be seen as two faces of the same reality, the public/private, the official/intimate, the endlessly alterable/the given one. The avoid misunderstandings, the work is not voyeuristic at all, showing human bodies of all ages in their most natural and neutral shape. Furthermore it simply seem to question our conventional daily perspective and the time we spend observing and relating to other humans. It’s an ancestral species’ issue: dealing with our own essence and our own temporal and instinctually mutual recognition.

Jocelyn Robert made a selection of videographic works by John Oswald, Éric Gagnon, Bernard Gigounon, Julia Page and Ben Reisman for La lumière immobile, an exhibition at Dazibao gallery (Montréal) from April 28 to June 3, 2006.

Katharine Norman’s book [ash_0754604268] (242 pages + 1 CD) is now available on electrocd.com. The book describes various aspects of sound art, and presents the work of many artists such as Magali Babin, Luc Ferrari, Barry Truax, Francisco López, Hildegard Westerkamp, Francis Dhomont, Merzbow, John Oswald, and Martin Tétreault.

Composer John Oswald presents the photo-videographic installation instandstillnessence from April 7 to August 14, 2005 at the at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (Québec).

Composer John Oswald presents the photo-videographic installation instand•stillness from February 24 to April 24, 2005 at Espace F gallery in Matane (Québec). The work is based on Oswald’s “chronophotic” technique, a cinema which aim is to convey an impression of animation to still images. This is the same technique Oswald used for his DVD-Video Arc d’apparition, released last year on the OHM / Avatar label.

John Oswald is the feature story of the 2002 April issue (#219) UK magazine The Wire: “The prince of plunderphonia recalls his battles with the majors for his artistic right to reclaim his sound environment from the noise pollution of pop by recycling it through his plunderphonics system.”