Japan's leading electronic composer and sound artist Ryoji Ikeda (born 1966 in Gifu, Japan, lives and works in Paris) focuses on the minutiae of ultrasonics, frequencies and the essential characteristics of sound itself. His work exploits sound's physical property, its causality with human perception and relationship with mathematics. Using computer and digital technology to the utmost limit, Ikeda has been developing particular “microscopic” methods for sound engineering and composition. Since 1995 he has been intensely active in sound art through concerts, installations and recordings: the albums
+/- (1996),
0 degrees (1998) and
Matrix (2000) have been hailed by critics as the most radical and innovative examples of contemporary electronic music. The versatile range of his research is also demonstrated by the collaborations with choreographer
William Forsythe & Frankfurt Ballett and artist-musician
Carsten Nicolai, among others. Ryoji Ikeda received the Golden Nica prize at Ars Electronica 2001 in the Digital Music category.
