present form(s)
Atau Tanaka / Ludwig Berger / Bénédicte / John-Clarence Prosper
01/02/2026 • 7:00pm
The inaugural edition of present form(s) brings together four artists whose work approaches sound in dialogue with the body, environment, and technology. The program centres live performances and listening sessions focused on critical and experimental contemporary practices.
We are pleased to present internationally renowned artist Atau Tanaka performing Om Ujjayi, an interactive electronic performance that explores physiological sensing through muscle electromyogram (EMG), heart electrocardiogram (ECG), and the acoustic capture of breath. In the work, heart, breath, and muscle become sources of sound and data, shaping a modular synthesis system through resonators, ring modulators, waveshapers, oscillators, and filters. Drawing on yogic practices of breathing and chanting, Om Ujjayi treats sound as a means of entering and rendering embodied states, marking Tanaka’s first performance in Montreal in over ten years.
Sound artist John-Clarence Prosper presents micro_bio, a performance that renders internal physiological processes audible through electromagnetic sensing, computational sonification, and acoustic amplification, tracing the body as a complex and evolving system.
Ludwig Berger presents the North American premiere of his album Ecotonalities: No Other Home Than the In-Between, developed for Luxembourg’s contribution to the 2025 Venice Biennial of Architecture, as an extended listening work grounded in an environmental sound practice that preserves and renders perceptible the micro and macroscopic transformations of landscapes.
Bénédicte presents new work grounded in synthesis, field recordings, and ambient textures, combining layered electronic sound with processed environmental material to create an inward, carefully composed listening space.
Photo Credit: Annika Strom
Atau Tanaka studied analogue electronic music with Ivan Tcherepnin, brother of modular synth designer Serge. He went on to study computer music with John Chowning (inventor of FM synthesis) at CCRMA Stanford and moved to Europe to carry out research at IRCAM and Sony CSL Paris. His first inspirations came meeting John Cage in the 1980s. In the ’90s he formed Sensorband with Zbigniew Karkowski and Edwin van der Heide, and since has had duos with Lillevan, Cécile Babiole, Dane Law and Cicanoise. With them he has performed at festivals such as Ars Electronica, WOMAD, Sonar, CTM, with in Canada, performances at FIMAV Victoriaville, Mutek, FCMM and SAT Montreal, the Glenn Gould Studio Toronto, and the Vancouver New Music Festival. He has recorded releases on Superpang, SubRosa and Touch/Ash. He was guest artistic director at STEIM Amsterdam, and is currently editor of the Sonics Series at Goldsmiths Press.
Photo Credit: Kristina Hilliard
John-Clarence Prosper is a student and sound artist interested in investigating how to humanize computation. His work deals with the unease that stems from observing all these hybrid forms in which organic matter has to coexist with synthetic media in order to survive. He approaches these concerns by representing/sonifying human experiences and physiological phenomena through computational methods.
Photo Credit: Johannes Berger
Ludwig Berger is a German sound artist, musician, and educator whose work explores the sonic presences of organisms and places. He focuses on interspecies, geological, and architectural listening in landscapes, with particular attention to microscopic sounds such as insect communication, plant rhythms, and glacial melting. Through installations, compositions, and performances, he uncovers hidden processes and non-human perspectives in various environments. Trained in electroacoustic composition, he was a researcher at the Institute of Landscape Architecture at ETH Zurich and is a certified Deep Listening instructor. His practice integrates field recording, scientific inquiry, and speculative listening across disciplines. His work has received recognition from Prix Ars Electronica, the Sound of the Year Awards, and has been presented at the Venice Biennale, UNESCO Headquarters, and INA-GRM Paris. Berger grew up in the Northern Vosges–Palatinate Forest Biosphere Reserve and is currently based in Montreal.
Photo Credit: Sean Vadaru
Bénédicte is the musical project of Montreal-based producer and sound artist Maxime Gordon. In her music, she carefully crafts and combines soaring synths, distorted field recordings, and glittering vocal samples to explore moments of introspection and feeling. Alongside her electronic music production, her practice encompasses spatial sound art, which she started developing during an internship at the Spatial Sound Institute in Budapest. She has performed and presented work across North America and Europe at festivals including MUTEK (Montreal), CTM Festival (Berlin), Mira Festival (Berlin), Akousma Festival (Montreal), and Pique Festival (Ottawa). Her music has been released on Blueberry Records (NYC) and Causal Chain (Montreal), including her 2021 EP When It Binds. She recently completed a spatial sound art residency with Codes d’accès and PRIM and is currently working on new music.
