On July 15, 2000 at 9:10 AM I headed out from Kelowna BC hitch-hiking with a wooded chair across Canada to Laval Quebec.  It took 147 hours 2 minutes and a total of 23 rides.  I had everyone who picked me up sign the chair and leave their mark.
Once the public took the risk to stop, pick me up and transport the chair and I to another destination they ultimately became the performer for the duration of the ride.
A sound diary of the events that transpired were recorded with a tape recorder and all the participants were asked if hitch-hiking with a chair is art.

Documented with 35mm photographs, polaroid’s, a tape recorder, sketch book and the people who happened to drive by and see it.

This performance was part of an exchange between the Alternator Gallery in Kelowna BC and Gallerie Verticale in Laval Quebec.  It was exhibited in the exhibition "Unstable Motion" at the Gallerie Verticale 
Aug 3 - Sept 10, 2000. Curated by Marcel Saint-Pierre.

Sound design: Matieu St.Arnaud, Martin Lord, Christian Nicolay
Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts

You can find more documentation of this project here:
https://www.christiannicolay.com/projects

Hitchhiker With A Chair

Originally made for an experimental dance performance by Lisa Birke, The Great Canadian Beaver.
Tools: Yamaha PSS-680 Synth hooked into a RP-50 guitar pedal hooked into a 
BOSS SP-303, Yamaha Acoustic guitar, SUZUKI Melodion M-36.

The Drunk Beaver

Tools:  Yamaha PSS-680 Synth hooked into a RP-50 guitar pedal hooked into a BOSS SP-303, tape recorders played back into each other for resolution loss and recorded back into sampler, Yamaha acoustic guitar, amplified tennis racket

Songs for a Synth

Written for a contemporary dance piece by Lisa Birke.  The Mosquito is ubiquitous among  the Canadian Landscape.  This is in homage to our little friend.
Tools: Yamaha PSS-680 Synthesizer hooked into a BOSS SP-303, Yamaha acoustic guitar, RP-50 effect pedal, various tape recorders, Opa's violin, lungs

03 - The Mosquito

In 2006 I was commissioned to create a new sound work for a National Radio Broadcast with CBC Radio One across Canada as part of the Deep Wireless Festival, New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA).   This sound performance consisted of an unauthorized climbing of Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver BC from the base to the 364 foot high tower and transforming it into a musical instrument, reconstructing the naturally occurring sounds into a harmonic musical composition by amplifying various parts of its internal structure.
Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts

Taking the Bridge

The Unknown Gifts project asked for participators to share their memories or feelings about death, and imagine a gift for themselves if they die, based from the Funerary Paper burning traditions in Taiwan. Artist Ya-chu Kang made these gifts into paper sculptures and presented as an installation using video projections. Christian Nicolay responded to the installation by composing a 19 minute and 25 second soundtrack of what he thought the installation and concept sounded like. His use of consonance and dissonance, melody and chaotic patterns unify the concept to reflect the known and unknown qualities of life and death. All of the sounds are original and were made during the artists Residency Period at Taipei Artists Village in Taipei Taiwan, October 1 to Nov 12, 2010.

Tools: Casio CTK-3000-Synthesizer hooked into a BOSS SP-303, Stagg acoustic guitar, RP-50 effect pedal, Z00M R-16 recorder, lungs

In the Carry an Object with you Project Kang and Nicolay further develop their funerary research abroad working with participants from North America, Europe and Asia.  If you could take only one thing with you when you die, what would that object be?   Participators were photographed in the nude holding the object they would take with them after death in front of their face eliminating their identity placing more importance on the object.  The relationship of the object to the various bodies brings a wide interpretation of our cultural landscapes and associations with death and the humans indivisible relationship with the material world activating such relationships as viewers/viewed, consumer/consumed and ephemeral/permanent.

Carry an Object with you was exhibited at the Schmiede Art Festival in Hallein Austria (2012), Museum of Medical Humanities, Taipei Taiwan (2012), Community Art Space, Hangzhou China (2013), Kimoto Gallery, Vancouver BC Canada (2013). 



christian nicolay

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