ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Georges Aperghis explores machine, body, and instrument in sonic theatricality

publication · 2026-04-23

Georges Aperghis's musical practice challenges the Marxist legacy of the artist-engineer, which assumes a mastery over technology. Instead, his work stages the machine, the body, and the instrument in a search for the theatricality of sound. This approach opens up questions about contemporary art productions where the machine is at play, moving beyond the ideal balance between subject and technical object.

Key facts

  • The text discusses Georges Aperghis's musical work.
  • It critiques the Marxist theory of culture's view of the artist as engineer.
  • Aperghis's work involves machine, body, and instrument.
  • The focus is on the theatricality of sound.
  • The article was published in artpress in December 2002.
  • The title is 'Manipulations / machinations : Georges Aperghis le manipulateur'.
  • The source is a PDF file available for download.
  • The text is in French.

Entities

Artists

  • Georges Aperghis

Institutions

  • artpress

Sources