About
Alessandro Canova is an interdisciplinary artist based in London. He primarily works with sound and computer graphics, occasionally incorporating video and photography into his practice. Under the alias Mugen, he explored the aesthetics of post-modern minimalism, media corruption and glitch developing a keen interest in a zen-like aesthetic. His music aims to create a meditative dimension: a contemplation of the physical nature of sound, space and rhythm through the use of sensory stimuli close to the threshold of conscious perception.
Canova has presented his work during experimental music and media festivals, performing in Italy, France, the UK, and Japan. He currently resides and works in London.
selected performances & exhibitions
The New Italian Futurists / 291 Gallery (London, UK, 2002) live set
IT2JP / Boldù Cultural Center (Venice, IT, 2002) dj set
A-Sincroni / CSA Sisma (Macerata, IT, 2002) live set
Batofar Cherche l'Italie / Batofar (Paris, FR, 2002) live set
Le Placard #6 / Tsukiji Manson (Tokyo, JP, 2003) live set
Mugen Live in Himeji / King Bee (Himeji, JP, 2003) live set
Unbeva Vol.9 / Loft Plus One (Tokyo, JP, 2003) live set
Ultra Minimal Night / Loop Line (Tokyo, JP, 2003) live set
Brushless! / Villa Franchin (Venice, IT, 2003) live set
Italian Live Media / EX Bologna Motori (Bologna, IT, 2003) live set
Netmage 04 / Sala Borsa (Bologna, IT, 2004) live set
Low4mat / Villa Serena (Bologna, IT, 2004) live set
Mugen DJ set / Big Club (Padova, IT, 2004) dj set
Videominuto Festival / Museo Pecci (Prato, IT, 2004) group exhibition
Q13 / Galleria Contemporaneo (Mestre, IT, 2004) group exhibition
Mugen Live on Mars / Venice Biennale (Venice, IT, 2005) live set
Live at Soniclab / Villa Franchin (Mestre, IT, 2005) live set
Open DJ Set / Stalker Reloaded (Padua, IT, 2006) dj set
Architetture Urbane Live (Padua, IT, 2006) live set
Architetture Urbane Workshop (Padua, IT, 2006) lecture
Venetian Industries / CSO Rivolta (Venice, IT, 2006)dj set
Digital Media Workshop / Villa Franchin (Mestre, IT, 2006) lecture
Glasstress / Berengo Studio & Gallery (Venice, IT, 2009) live set
Concrete Landscapes / A+A Gallery (Venice, IT, 2010) live set
Concrete Landscapes / A+A Gallery (Venice, IT, 2012) live set
SETUP Contemporary Art Fair / Autostazione (Bologna, IT, 2013) live set
Message (NOT) Received / University of Texas (Dallas, US, 2014) group exhibition
All Glitched Up / Tate Britain (London, UK, 2014) group exhibition
/‘fu:bar/ 2016 / Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb (Zagreb, HR, 2016) group exhibition
Glitch Art is Dead / Gamut Gallery (Minneapolis, US, 2017) group exhibition
EXTRAS
COMPILATIONS & MP3s
25 October Live @ Fabrica - (2004) term. by 12k
7econds - (2003) Microsound
Live @ Batofar - (2002) Ctrl+Alt+Canc Records
Tu M'p3 Soundtracks for Images - (2002) Tu M'P3
Batofar Cherche... L'Italie - (2002) Batofar
The Only Blip Hop Record You Will Ever Need, Vol. 1 (Side D) - (2002) Luaka Bop
Digital to Analog Conversion - (2002) Deterrent Industries
Pale Mother Compilation - (2001) Pale Mother Recordings
Musik Netz Werke Conference - (2001) Humboldt University of Berlin
SIDE PROJECTS
On Japanese techno label Geometricdeck as Alessandro Canova:
Himawari no Soretsu EP - (2009) Geometricdeck
Cross Processed EP - (2007) Geometricdeck
On Miami based dub & hiphop label Metatronix as Mercury 7:
Plug Tunes Vol.2 - (2003) Metatronix
DJ MIXES
Substances - (2007) Pachinkostudio
3:20am - (2007) Pachinkostudio
As Deep as Thinner - (2006) Laverna
CONTACT
email: 021077 [at] gmail.com
Counting the Eyes
I recorded "Counting the Eyes" while visiting my parents in Italy, just before the COVID-19 pandemic began. While in my old bedroom, I found a Roland MC-303, an instrument that I had purchased in 1997 with the intention of producing techno and electronic dance music. Despite spending countless hours with it, I was never able to produce the type of music I had originally bought it for.
After a 20-year hiatus, I decided to approach the instrument from a different angle, using it not as a groove box but as a simple synthesizer. A few days went by until I stumbled upon some unexpected beauty by playing intertwined arpeggios, I was immediately mesmerized. I continued this practice for a couple of weeks, producing numerous patterns and capturing my favourite ones with the help of a digital recorder that I travelled with.
The release is available on One Instrument
Counting the Eyes is the soundtrack of Fabiana Filippi’s Spring Summer 2021 collection.
ADSR Collective
Following a journey which led through Italy, France, and Japan, experimental media artist Alessandro Canova has taken up residence in London, at least for the time being. Taking his first major steps as a creator of minimalist and experimental sound, Canova released his first self-produced album just as we entered the 2000s. This was a release that came while Canova was still working under the moniker of ‘Mugen’, cultivating his style and taking on inspiration from sources such as post-modern minimalism, glitch and poetic works on the aesthetics of traditional Japanese Noh theatre.
Now performing at a variety of experimental festivals and venues, Canova has been working to capture a meditative space within his music, an aim furthered by his interest in Eastern belief systems.
By working together with label ‘One Instrument’ in the production of his recently released album ‘Counting the Eyes’, Canova undertook an uncommon challenge, as he attempted to follow the label’s policy of supporting tracks limited to using only one instrument. In this case, it was the Roland MC–303 which was manipulated to build five tracks of finely textured ambient and drone.
In track three, ‘Divination Patterns’, the left-field approach that limitation has fostered shines through.
Temenos
Temenos is the result of a series of live sessions with a modular synthesizer recorded in London between July and August 2019. Throughout its duration the piece is dominated by a cloud of analogue tones undergoing a continuous process of subtle manipulation. The interactions between the original sounds and their delayed copies create elusive musical pockets that disperse and resurrect in almost infinite ways. While the first half is fairly animated and chaotic the piece gradually slows down toward the end, morphing into a dilated meditative soundscape.
PS010 (2019) / listen / download
Orthogonal Resonance
Orthogonal Resonance was originally conceived as a physical installation composed by four Tibetan bells, struck at regular intervals by a set of computer-controlled mallets. The piece was subsequently recorded using a modular synthesizer as an attempt to simulate the timbre of the original instruments. Orthogonal Resonance aims to explore the ability of rhythm and sound to affect human brainwave activity, especially theta brainwaves, to induce over time an altered state of consciousness. A state akin to what we normally only experience fleetingly as we wake or drift off to sleep.
PS009 (2019) | download
DFT
DFT is a series of 10 digital releases including 26 permutations of rhythmic and melodic elements generated through a process of controlled randomization. No hardware synthesizers were harmed during the production of these tracks.
PS008 (2015) | download
A Day In The Life Of...
Five soundscapes originally composed and recorded for the Concrete Landscape exhibition at A+A art gallery (Venice).
PS007 (2013) | download
The Bandcamp Diaries
Hailing from London by way of Italy, Alessandro Canova has been active within the experimental music scene for quite a while now, releasing his debut recordings in 1999, under the moniker “Mugen”. This composer takes a very peculiar approach to his music, interpreting, analyzing and studying music genres with a great attention for nuances and details.
His latest project “A day in The Life Of” feature 5 compositions that fall somewhere in between ambient, glitch and minimal electronics. This music features heavy use of field recordings, loops and samples that help create a really organic atmosphere throughout the release, as noise, lo-fi percussive elements and captivating drones fill up the tracks.
This work reminds me of the frequent collaborations between Japanese pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto and German experimental electronic music artist Alva Noto, although Mugen is not as much focused on the interaction between melody and percussive sounds, but rather aiming to develop aethereal sound landscapes.
Sands-zine
Di solito rifiuto di recensire release che prendono vita solo in formato digitale, e questo per svariate ragioni che non mi soffermerò a spiegare. Quando però ho ricevuto la richiesta da parte di Alessandro Canova di trattare questo lavoro scaricabile gratuitamente su Bandcamp, la passata comune appartenenza al network di iXem ha fatto sì che mi ci interessassi comunque, quanto meno per la grande curiosità che questo lavoro suscitava in me dopo tanto tempo che avevo perso le tracce di questo artista.
A partire poi dal suono dei passi che apre il disco (ma si può parlare di ‘disco’ per il formato digitale?) ne sono rimasto stregato, e ho quindi deciso di segnalarlo qui sulle pagine di SandS, dato che l’eccezionale grazia ed equilibrio con i quali Canova (in arte qui Mugen) riesce a mescolare i toni di un’ambient estremamente rarefatta con i field recordings è davvero degno di nota. Non c’è nulla fuori posto in questo lavoro se non – forse – il formato stesso. Un simile breve (meno di 40’) gioiello di delicatezza e leggerezza meriterebbe un’uscita in CD, magari con un mastering che ne valorizzi la ricchezza di armonici non lontana da quella di quelli che il sottoscritto considera i maestri (insuperati) del genere, ossia gli Stars of the Lids.
Kathodik
Espressione appartata e discreta quella di Mugen (Alessandro Canova). Un percorso senza scosse il suo, intriso di tanto buon gusto. Ambient luminosa ed acquatica, in placido movimento ascensionale. Trentacinque piacevolissimi minuti di rarefatta elettronica, minimale e descrittiva, field recordings e qualche gentile rintocco (i movimenti Biosphere di Mirage Of Her Life). Chiaroscurale ed armonica (A Year Elsewhere, lo struggimento della notevole Black Sand). Meriterebbe di non affogare, dentro hard disk gonfi ma per lo più vuoti. Ma questo è. Un download consigliato.
Music Won't Save You
Le cinque tracce che costituiscono il mini album “A Day In The Life Of…” costituiscono l’ultimo stadio di evoluzione delle sperimentazioni affidate da Alessandro Canova al suo progetto Mugen. Composto e registrato tra Londra e Venezia, il lavoro vede Canova nuovamente alle prese con un impianto di synth analogici, field recordings e vari strumenti elettro-meccanici, che nell’occasione descrive un ampio arco espressivo, compreso tra esili soffi ambientali e detriti rumoristi talora anche pronunciati.
I circa trentacinque minuti di “A Day In The Life Of…” muovono infatti da basse frequenze sub-liminali per arricchirsi di un ventaglio di elementi che pure ne lasciano intatto – anzi, ne esaltano – il contenuto di ipnosi (meta)fisica. I tiepidi paesaggi di “Something About Tomorrow” svaporano così nel vuoto riecheggiante di “Mirage Of Her Life”, mentre increspature irregolari, dai vaghi riflessi dub (“Better Things”), lasciano infine il campo a onde di un’elettricità statica moderatamente disturbata (la conclusiva “Black Sand”).
“A Day In The Life Of…” si atteggia così come un raffinato percorso sonoro e percettivo, che adempie con personalità alla creazione di un soundscaping immaginario denso di suggestioni.
Natural Disarray
Our interest in natural things is not only a passive reflection of our inclinations but may instead be the things we come across in nature that engage and stimulate our imagination. (2019)
Ephemeral Dilemma
A painting from German artist Marco Reichert is deconstructed into multiple layers and distorted via a displacement algorithm. The resulting images are then rendered and projected onto a tridimensional canvas. (2017)
Meta(!) Space
An organically glitched seed image from Google Maps is projected onto a virtual 3D space and reprocessed through an array of displacement algorithms.
Vector Fields
The outward flux of a vector field through a closed surface is equal to the volume integral of the divergence over the region inside the surface. (2015)
Enigma
Reprocessed photographic memories combined with pixel sorted found and unfound art.
