In line with the ethos that SiouxWIRE advocates, Michel Lemieux's creations merge media and span class. Founding Lemieux.Pilon 4D Art in 1983, directors Michel Lemiux and Victor Pilon combine performing arts with new media to create a hybrid show merging performance, scenography, cinema, video, dance, poetry, visual arts, lighting design, music and sound. The results are striking and coherent.Here is an example from their latest performance. Note that this clip has no post production. The visuals were filmed as they were on stage.
Presenting more than 300 performances since its creation, Lemiux.Pilon 4D Art has worked internationally and in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. Their latest project, Norman is a tribute to Norman McLaren and the history of art animation.
Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon are currently working on the opera version of Starmania by Luc Plamondon and Michel Berger that will be presented during the festivities of the 400th anniversary of Quebec City with performances on the 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, and 26 of May 2008.
As well as introducing their work to South America in Bogota, Columbia, Lemieux.Pilon 4D Art will also be taking Norman on tour this year.
Michel very kindly agreed to be interviewed in Fall 2007, but due to some technical difficulties it has taken some time to release this interview. Enjoy.What was the inspiration and purpose of your establishment of 4d Art in 1983?
The inspiration was to merge different forms of expression, such as visual arts, dance, theater, cinema, music, in the context of performing arts. One can say that Opera is doing so for centuries, I think in fact ancient Greek theater was quite multi-disciplinarian. Specialisation came later and confined the different mediums to a highly specialized form. All mediums of representation represent in fact a possible way to approach creativity. In our times, I think we are ready to put things in relation, in interpenetration with each other.
And how did your collaboration with Victor Pilon begin? And how do you feel the two of you compliment each other?Victor has been in visual fine arts for a while when we met. I have studied in theater, so our interest and competences were so compatible that we started to work together in a very natural way. We could say that this more than 20 years collaboration is a based on a very strong friendship that helped us to become what we are as humans and artists.
In general, we do all concepts and direction together, Vic would more specialised in space elements such as artistic direction, visual arts, and I would be more focused on «time» elements, such as music , editing, timing but in fact we share all the aspects of the creation in consensual way.
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