Artist/Engineer
Bio
Felix Thorn was born in 1985 in Brighton, UK. At an early age, he attended Brighton Steiner School where his affinity for the arts gave rise to a preoccupation with drawing, a passion that later developed into oil painting. Then at the age of 7, he was formally introduced to music as he began studying the piano. His lack of inclination towards reading music preempted an obsession with jazz improvisation in his teenage years.
At college, Felix developed this sensibility into a new media of music creation when he discovered a keen interest in electronic music production via computer software. He had a love for making music with computer synthesisers and an ability to create in a range of styles, something that often derived from his organic means of creation that lacked preconception. His continued passion for art saw him continuing sculptural and painting work during his art foundation course at Brighton City College in 2003.
In this time of music-making and painting, Felix was primarily concerned with finding ways in which the two media could be united. Whilst a focus on the theme of synaesthesia dominated the theoretical side of his work, he continued to exercise the more traditional types of art such as life drawing. The visual side was seemingly interrupted when he chose to study Sound Art at The London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London, however, this did not stop the artist from finding ways to incorporate drawing and sculpture into his sound projects. To achieve this effect, Felix began to teach himself electronics.
After graduating with First Class Honors, Felix's Machines caught the attention of the London Sinfonietta which led to his first installation in Autumn 2007 at the British Library. Since then, interest sparked and Felix's Machines have subsequently performed at venues ranging from the Great Hall at the Battersea Arts Centre to a soundproofed control room inside a turbine bunker at the Faster Than Sound festival. Although they are mainly intended as a performance device, they have proved successful as an installation piece for events such as the final year show party at the Royal College of Art (2008) and a solo public exhibition at the Gasworks gallery (2008-09). In 2009, exposure brought Felix's activity overseas: an exhibition in Norway, a commissioned piece in Slovenia, and performances at Santarcangelo Theatre Festival, in Italy.
All the while, Felix's Machines have been in development and were most notably upgraded for a live collaboration with Warp's Plaid for a live show in Bordeaux. Besides involvement with the arts, Felix was selected to lecture to an exclusive audience at TED Global in the summer resulting in worldwide recognition. 2009 ended with a performance at the Barbican Centre in London. 2010 included exhibitions in Berlin, Paris and a placement as an artist in residency during Ether Festival at SouthBank Centre.
In 2012 Felix co-formed the company Tenhertz which specialised in creating bespoke electromechanical commercial projects. Felix worked with engineers and programmers to deliver technically complex machines, installations, and functional props for brands such as Cadburys, Pringles, Sky, Glenfiddich and Nastro Azzurro.
Alongside Tenhertz project activity, Felix’s Machines were upgraded for further collaborative performances with Plaid. This included a residency in Normandoux, France and later a live show in the TATE Modern Turbine Hall. With help from the arts-led production agency Curated Places, funding was won from Arts Council England. This led to a residency at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts where the collaboration with Plaid was transformed again. This time the formation scaled up involving a five-metre structure to present the machines on stage with an enhanced projection mapping system. From 2017-2019 the shows with Plaid toured music festival venues across Europe with a final show for Red Bull Music Academy at NeoPop Festival in 2019.
Currently, Felix is based in Tokyo where he develops a new solo project.