Renowned Fluxus artist Yasunao Tone, known for transforming audio into a visual experience, passes away at the age of 90.
Yasunao Tone, a prominent figure in the avant-garde world of music and art, passed away at 90. The news was confirmed by Artists Space, who had showcased his first US retrospective in 2023, on Tuesday. Tone's representative stated that he died due to age-related complications.
Throughout his career, Tone, associated with the Fluxus movement, enthralled audiences with his experimental music. His unique approach to music involved creating scores resembling abstract artworks, manipulating instruments with unconventional materials, and generating white noise from damaged CDs. Tone aspired to challenge musical tradition by employing unorthodox sound-making methods.
Known primarily to experimental music enthusiasts, Tone's work garnered praise, with AnOther Magazine stating in a 2023 profile that he had "revolutionized music forever." His glitchy compositions using scratched CDs opened avenues for numerous composers and sound experimentalists, as Danielle A. Jackson, curator of Tone's retrospective, observed.
Despite being less recognized in the art world, Tone collaborated with influential artists like Nam June Paik, George Maciunas, Charlotte Moorman, Senga Nengudi, and Merce Cunningham. Yoko Ono, who was also associated with the Fluxus movement, commented in the Wall Street Journal in 2013, "Listening to his music or reading his scores will shatter the usual notion of Asian music. He is not Asian. He is Martian."
Born in Tokyo in 1935, Tone graduated from Chiba University with a degree in Japanese literature. His thesis focused on Dada and Surrealism, leading him to engage with fellow students interested in music. Initially planning to concentrate on the theoretical side of music, Tone eventually became a musician, performing alongside his peers.
In 1961, Tone co-founded Group Ongaku, a collective known for heavily improvised music. Around the same time, he began using graphic scores, which present visual musical cues instead of traditional notation. Tone's groundbreaking scores were inspired by those produced by John Cage, a significant influence in postwar Japanese music.
George Maciunas, a Fluxus leader, published Tone's work, boosting his international reputation and integrating him into the Fluxus movement. Fluxus artists employed word scores and performance art to highlight everyday activities and objects as art forms.
Upon moving to the US in 1972, Tone started producing music that sounded more like noise. He also penned criticism for Bijutsu Techo, an essential Japanese art magazine, and collaborated with the avant-garde collective Hi-Red Center and Team Random, considered the first computer art group in Japan.
Later in his career, Tone embraced digital technology, corrupting audio files for a project called MP3 Deviations. Recently, he even worked with AI, developing a system that used its logic against itself.
Tone always prioritized the idea that music could shape the world. He believed that designing a concert hall where everyone hears the same sound is misguided, as it results from preconceived notions about music. He highlighted that these ideas were rooted in specific worldviews.
- Tone's work, which revolutionized music as AnOther Magazine stated in a 2023 profile, also caught the attention of the art world, as he collaborated with artists like Nam June Paik and Yoko Ono.
- Tone's unique approach to music, which often involved unconventional methods like creating scores resembling abstract artworks, would later inspire him to embrace digital technology, corrupting audio files for a project called MP3 Deviations.
- As a curator, Danielle A. Jackson observed that Tone's glitchy compositions using scratched CDs opened avenues for numerous composers and sound experimentalists.
- Upon moving to the US in 1972, Tone started producing music that sounded more like noise, a departure from his earlier work, and began collaborating with avant-garde collectives like Hi-Red Center and Team Random.
- In the art world, Tone's first US retrospective was showcased by Artists Space in 2023, a testament to his significant influence and contribution to the avant-garde world of music and art.
- Yasunao Tone's belief that music could shape the world extended beyond his compositions, as he even worked with AI, developing a system that used its logic against itself.
