Bill Vorn

{{short description|Canadian artist, musician and professor (born 1959)}} {{Infobox person | name = Bill Vorn | image = Bill Vorn.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Yves Bilodeau | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1959}} | birth_place = Montreal, Quebec | death_date =  | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Artist, musician, professor | years_active = 1981- | known_for = Robotic art, Rational Youth | notable_works = }}

'''Bill Vorn''' (born 1959) is a Canadian artist, musician and professor known for his robotic artworks.<ref name="Chin-listing">{{cite web|title=Artist/Maker Name "Vorn, Bill"|url=http://www.rcip-chin.gc.ca/application/aac-aic/artiste_detailler_ind-artist_detail_ind.app;jsessionid=89E918FD6A2894236FA66EC9E29B83AF?rID=51182&fID=2&lang=en&qlang=en&pID=1&anm=Vorn%2C+Bill&sort=AM_ASC&ps=50&pID1=1060&ps1=50&ansf=TAM&sort1=ascending|website=Canadian Heritage Information Network|accessdate=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624113513/http://www.rcip-chin.gc.ca/application/aac-aic/artiste_detailler_ind-artist_detail_ind.app;jsessionid=89E918FD6A2894236FA66EC9E29B83AF?rID=51182&fID=2&lang=en&qlang=en&pID=1&anm=Vorn%2C+Bill&sort=AM_ASC&ps=50&pID1=1060&ps1=50&ansf=TAM&sort1=ascending|archive-date=24 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="LischkaSick2015">{{cite book|author1=Christoph Lischka|author2=Andrea Sick|title=Machines as Agency: Artistic Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsdKCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA185|date=July 2015|publisher=transcript|isbn=978-3-8394-0646-5|pages=185–}}</ref> Vorn was also a member of the band Rational Youth from 1981 to 1983.<ref name="CBC-RY">{{cite web|title=Rational Youth|url=http://music.cbc.ca/#!/artists/Rational-Youth|website=CBC|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>

==Life== Vorn was born Yves Bilodeau<ref name="Conc-feature-realname">{{cite web|last1=Gedeon-Matusky|first1=Julia|title=Where artists' dreams come true|url=http://magazine.concordia.ca/2001-02/march/features/Hexagram.shtml|website=Concordia University|accessdate=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001233957/http://magazine.concordia.ca/2001-02/march/features/Hexagram.shtml|archive-date=1 October 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="SAT-bio-realname">{{cite web|title=Bill Vorn Biography|url=http://archives1.sat.qc.ca/metalab/promo/promo4_0/english/concorvorn.htm|website=Societe des Arts Technologiques|accessdate=1 June 2016|archive-date=30 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630132104/http://archives1.sat.qc.ca/metalab/promo/promo4_0/english/concorvorn.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> in 1959 in Montreal, Quebec.<ref name="Chin-listing" /><ref name="StockerSchöpf1996">{{cite book|author1=Gerfried Stocker|author2=Christine Schöpf|title=Memesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31dQAAAAMAAJ|date=1 January 1996|publisher=New York|isbn=978-3-211-82846-5}}</ref>

In 1981, Vorn was a founding member of the Montreal electronic music group Rational Youth.<ref name="CBC-RY" /><ref name="BarclayJack2011">{{cite book|author1=Michael Barclay|author2=Ian A. D. Jack|author3=Jason Schneider|title=Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance, 1985-1995|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xLIiOE_jCpAC&pg=PT173|year=2011|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55490-968-1|pages=173–}}</ref> The group is considered to be one of the first electronic music groups in Canada.<ref name="CKUT-RY">{{cite web|title=A Canadian minimal wave retrospective: Rational Youth's Cold War Night Life (1982)|url=http://music.ckut.ca/2016/03/09/a-canadian-minimal-wave-retrospective-rational-youths-cold-war-night-life-1982/|website=CKUT blog|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref> Vorn left the band at the beginning of 1983<ref name=canpop>Canadian Pop Encyclopedia, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160310163423/http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/R/Rational_Youth.html Profile of Rational Youth]. Retrieved 2013-01-07.</ref> to complete a Master's degree and PhD in communication studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal.<ref name="Digicult-feature">{{cite web|last1=Marletta|first1=Donata|title=Bill Vorn: Immersed in a world of robots, metaphors, and paradoxes|url=http://www.digicult.it/news/bill-vorn-immersed-in-a-world-of-robots-metaphors-and-paradoxes/|website=Digicult.it|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>

Vorn is a full professor in the studio art department of Concordia University.<ref name="Conc-bio">{{cite web|title=Bill Vorn|url=http://explore.concordia.ca/bill-vorn|website=Concordia University|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>

==Work== Since 1992,<ref name="Ichbiah2005">{{cite book|author=Daniel Ichbiah|title=Robots: from science fiction to technological revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/robotsfromscienc0000ichb|url-access=registration|date=20 September 2005|publisher=Harry N. Abrams}}</ref><ref name="V2-bio" /> Vorn has worked in the area of robotic artworks and installations that employ artificial intelligence.<ref name="LischkaSick2015" /><ref name="Heinrich2014">{{cite book|author=Falk Heinrich|title=Performing Beauty in Participatory Art and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IfkjAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|date=21 March 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-75518-0|pages=110–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Decentralized Performance: An Exploration of Agent Behaviors in Metacreative Musical Systems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Pqq3vBD3bsC&pg=PA115|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-74757-4|pages=115–}}</ref> He has created numerous works in collaboration with Louis-Phillippe Demers.<ref name="Winkler2001">{{cite book|author=Todd Winkler|title=Composing Interactive Music: Techniques and Ideas Using Max|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GrwMuV4Jcw8C&pg=PA298|date=January 2001|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-73139-3|pages=298–}}</ref><ref name="Salter2010">{{cite book|author=Chris Salter|title=Entangled: Technology and the Transformation of Performance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBJbIP0fMr0C&pg=PA295|year=2010|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-19588-1|pages=295–}}</ref><ref name="Wilson2002">{{cite book|author=Stephen Wilson|title=Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology|url=https://archive.org/details/informationartsi0000wils|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-73158-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/informationartsi0000wils/page/465 465]–}}</ref> These robotic artworks have been widely exhibited internationally, in both installation and performance contexts.<ref name="Rocci2012">{{cite book|author=Luppicini, Rocci|title=Handbook of Research on Technoself: Identity in a Technological Society: Identity in a Technological Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wutGAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA684|date=31 October 2012|publisher=IGI Global|isbn=978-1-4666-2212-8|pages=684–}}</ref><ref name="Langlois-bio">{{cite web|title=Bill Vorn|url=http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=261|website=Daniel Langlois Foundation|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="V2-bio">{{cite web |title=Bill Vorn |url=http://v2.nl/archive/people/bill-vorn |accessdate=1 June 2016 |website=V2_NL institute for Unstable Media}}</ref>

===Inferno=== ''Inferno'' (2015) is a robotic installation that where performers don harnesses that control their arms in synchronization with music and light.<ref name="JdeM-Elektra">{{cite web|last1=Dufétel|first1=Camille|title=www.journaldemontreal.com/2016/06/02/elektra-biennale-dart-numerique-au-cur-de-lart-robotique|url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/arts/edmund-alleyns-singular-art-contains-multitudes|website=Journal de Montreal|accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="LApresse-Clouthier">{{cite web|last1=Cloutier|first1=Mario|title=Inferno: L'âge de la machine|url=http://www.lapresse.ca/arts/arts-visuels/201605/31/01-4986842-inferno-lage-de-la-machine.php|website=La Presse|accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="Telebasel-inferno">{{cite web|last1=Weber|first1=Jennifer|title="Inferno" – oder die Kontrolle an Roboter abgeben|url=https://telebasel.ch/2016/02/12/inferno-oder-die-koerperkontrolle-an-roboter-abgeben/|website=Tele Basel|accessdate=7 June 2016}}</ref>

==Awards== In 1996, Vorn received an award of distinction at Prix Ars Electronica. In 1998 he received the Leprecon Award for Interactivity, and in 1999 Vorn received the Life 2.0 award for his robotic artworks.<ref name="LischkaSick2015"/><ref name="Canada-com-feature">{{cite web|title=Robot love|url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=62b0925a-54d6-4744-9313-1d496d65945b&k=48013|website=The Gazette|publisher=Canada.com|accessdate=1 June 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924042120/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=62b0925a-54d6-4744-9313-1d496d65945b&k=48013|archivedate=24 September 2015}}</ref> For his work ''Inferno'' with Louis-Phillippe Demers,<ref name="LApresse-Clouthier"/> he received an honorary mention at Prix Ars Electronica in 2016.<ref name="Ars-prix-2016">{{cite web|title=Winners 2016|url=http://www.aec.at/prix/en/gewinner/|website=Ars Electronica|accessdate=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20130701103541/http://www.aec.at/prix/en/gewinner/|archive-date=2013-07-01|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorn, Bill}} Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian digital artists Category:Artists from Montreal Category:Canadian new wave musicians Category:Canadian keyboardists Category:Musicians from Montreal Category:Academic staff of Concordia University Category:Université du Québec à Montréal alumni