iMac Music – Jonathan Reus & Sonolab

Computer music? You’ve heard music made on computers, music generated by computers, music inspired by the sounds of computers… but have you ever heard music from the computer itself?

In his iMac Music performance, Jonathan Reus takes a ‘vintage’ iMac G3, turns it upside down, opens it up and starts poking away with surgical at its circuits in order to produce music using the insides of the machine itself. On a screen behind him the iMac’s desktop is displayed, showing an image which becomes more and more distorted as Reus progresses through the piece.

In an article for Motherboard (Dutch), FIBER curator Fabian van Sluijs notes:

The interventions cause the computer’s desktop to be distorted into a kind of impressionist painting. Aside from being a spectacular experience for the audience, the performance also confronts them with the imposed redundancy of consumer electronics like televisions, mobile phones and computers. The performance is a critical reflection of the medium and thereby embodies a motive that is common in both media art as well as in the contemporary art world.

Jonathan Reus makes hybrid instruments and electronic music that blend machine aesthetics with free improvisation. His music and performances often deal with techno-cultural topics or make heavy use of custom electronics and coded systems in their realisation. To up the ante for this piece, he will be performing with SonoLab, an experimental percussion duo.