# Bill Vorn

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{{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](/source/Montreal), Quebec
| death_date    = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place   = 
| other_names   = 
| occupation    = Artist, musician, professor
| years_active  = 1981-
| known_for     = Robotic art, [Rational Youth](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Master's_degree) and [PhD](/source/PhD) in [communication studies](/source/communication_studies) at the [Université du Québec à Montréal](/source/Universit%C3%A9_du_Qu%C3%A9bec_%C3%A0_Montr%C3%A9al).<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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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}}

{{Authority control}}

{{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

{{Canada-artist-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bill Vorn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Vorn) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Vorn?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.