fm3 - biography
Christiaan Virant is a Beijing-based sound artist and musician. Active in the Chinese punk underground for nearly a decade, he founded the pioneering experimental electronic act FM3 in 1999.
Since then, Virant has worked closely with computer musician Zhang Jian to develop FM3 into one of Asia's leading platforms for avant-garde music, performing at the Louvre Auditorium in Paris and at media and art festivals worldwide, including Maerz Musik (Berlin), Impakt (Utrecht), Dissonanze (Rome), Marke B (Berlin), Nuit Blanche (Paris), Arborescence (Marseille), Sprawl (London), Out the Window (Tokyo) and Mutek (Montreal).
Zhang Jian is China's top session keyboardist and computer musician. He has appeared on nearly every underground rock release over the past decade and was a member of many seminal Chinese rock acts, working with Zhang Chu, Zi Yue and Dou Wei, among others. He is also one of Beijing's most sought after film and television composers, working with a diverse range of artists from filmmaker Cui Zi'en to leading stage producer Lin Zhaohua.
FM3 has been called "the most prominent experimental act in China" by the US magazine Grooves. XLR8R described FM3's sound as "poetic noise" and the UK magazine The Wire calls FM3 live sets "meditative" and "soothing."
In 2004, FM3 was commissioned by the Louvre museum in Paris to provide a new soundtrack for the classic 1930s film "La Croisière jaune." The project concluded with three sold-out performances at the Louvre Auditorium in early June.
FM3's sound installations have been featured at the 2004 Shanghai Bienalle as well as the Beijing-Tokyo Art Project, the Dashazi International Art Festival and the Kulturhallen Dampfzentrale in the Swiss capital of Bern. From April-June 2005 Virant was artist-in-residence at the PROGR Zentrum Für Kulturproduktion in Bern.
FM3 records for the legendary Staalplaat record label, and has also released music on Bip-Hop records in France, Mutek_Rec in Canada, Mousike records in Italy, Nascente records in the UK, Leerraum records in Switzerland and Sublime Frequencies in the United States.
fm3 - reviews
Excerpts from reviews of FM3 live performances and various European releases.
“A beautifully proportioned digital lament.”
The Wire | UK | November 2002
“Meditative. Soothing.”
The Wire | UK | January 2003
"Mysterious, portentous, mystical and unsettling."
Stylus | Canada | July 2004
"Très bon et d’ extrêmement intrigant."
Benzine | France | July 2004
"Autentica sorpresa."
Kathodik | Italy | August 2004
“Eindeutiges highlight der compilation.”
Triggerfish | Germany | September 2004
“The most prominent experimental act in China.”
Grooves | USA | October 2004
“Poetic noise.”
XLR8R | USA | October 2004
“A name to watch.”
BBC | UK | August 2004
“Glamourous!”
David Toop | UK | September 2004
"Du très grand art !"
Jean-Francois Micard | France | July 2004
selected discography
2005
mutek 2005 | mutek_rec | CANADA
http://www.mutek.ca
buddha machine | hardware loop player | staalplaat | GERMANY
http://www.staalplaat.com
fm3 + zimoun | live in bern | leerraum records | SWITZERLAND
http://www.leerraum.ch
mort aux vaches | staalplaat | GERMANY
http://www.staalplaat.com
streets of lhasa | tibetan field recordings | sublime frequencies | USA
http://www.sublimefrequencies.com
2004
the very best of the far east | nascente | UK
http://www.nascente.co.uk
condominium | mousike records | ITALY
http://www.mousikelab.com
bip-hop generation v.7 | bip-hop records | FRANCE
http://www.bip-hop.com
pinpan | leerraum records | SWITZERLAND
http://www.leerraum.ch
jing hua yuan | live at the hong kong arts festival | shanghai audiovisual | CHINA
http://www.shav.com.cn
2003
ambience sinica | mini cd | dreamland records | AUSTRALIA
http://www.geocities.com/dreamland_recordings
bu ke neng | live at the peking university poetry festival | subjam | CHINA
http://www.subjam.org
fm3 - selected performances 2004
shanghai | the dome | jan 02
tokyo | out the window | jan 10
shanghai | dongdaming gallery | jan 16-17
beijing | chinese art archives | march 13
beijing | diaf festival | 798 gallery space | may 14-15
paris | louvre auditorium | june 4-5-6
paris | la miroiterie | june 09
baar, switzerland | spinnahalle | june 17
bern | tonus music lab | june 18-19
basel | nt. areal | june 20
enschede, netherlands | dutch art institute | july 04, 09
gent, belgium | modern chinese art foundation | july 18, 25
stralsund, germany | garage festival | august 06
shanghai | shanghai bienalle | september 28
marseille | arborescence | october 01
paris | nuit blanche | october 02
brussels | recyclart | october 06
gent | modern chinese art foundation | october 11-16
gent | vooruit | october 20
utrecht | impakt festival | october 28
brussels | recyclart | october 31
london | sprawl | november 10
london | notting hill arts club | november 14
chicago, usa | heaven gallery | november 26
london | horse hospital | december 05
fm3 - performances 2005
berlin | staalplaat | jan 08
beijing | wumingaodi | feb 16
beijing | MUTEK_china | march 05
beijing | wumingdaodi | march 11
berlin | staalplaat | april 09
bern | dampfzentrale | april 14
bern | PROGR | may 05 -08
basel | atelier masanti | may 20
berlin | marke b | may 27
montreal | la placard | june 02
montreal | MUTEK | june 04
