Guy Thouin

Born in Montreal in 1940, Guy Thouin is a true original. He played drums in a variety of small bands prior to enrolling at Montreal’s School of Fine Arts where he studied sculpture and refined his understanding of the contemporary art world. By 1965, he had acquired a taste for all things experimental. Around then, he turned to collective improvisation – an experience that led him to explore free jazz and other forms of experimental music. He helped cofound Quatuor de jazz libre du Québec (1967) and l’Infonie (1969) while also accompanying rock singer Robert Charlebois in his efforts to transform Quebec’s musical landscape (including on stage during the numerous editions of l’Osstidcho). At the turn of the 1970s, Thouin studied percussion with Pierre Béluse at McGill University. It is at that moment that he composed “Rien ô tout ou linéaire un,” a sound environment created for a laser sculpture designed by Quebec visual artist Roland Poulin. Presented at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art — from October 21 to November 7, 1971 — as part of the Structure immatérielle exhibit, this piece transports us to an immersive environment born out of early 1970s countercultural happenings. Thouin then spent many years studying tabla in India. Today, he continues to explore new sounds – with HeArt Ensemble and other projects – with the complicity of a younger generation of improvisers and experimentalists.