The Baschet Brothers were two French artists named François Baschet (born 30 March 1920, in Paris; died 11 February 2014) and Bernard Baschet (born 24 August 1917, Paris; died 17 July 2015[1]) who collaborated on creating sound sculptures and inventing musical instruments, such as the Cristal Baschet. François Baschet was a sculptor and Bernard Baschet an engineer. The Baschet Brothers invented the inflatable guitar, the aluminum piano and many other experimental musical instruments. They created an "Baschet Educational Instrumentarium" for exposing young people to musical concepts.
The Baschet's research started in the 1950s artistic turmoil, soon turning the two brothers into the pioneers of sound sculpture, in addition to making them highly requested by musicians, composers, experimental directors.
The quest for new sounds led the Baschet brothers to combine new materials of the time, usually through folding metal sheets into geometric shapes. Their sculptures range from small folded sheet metal of a few centimeters up to structures several meters high with loud, impressive and complex sounds. Their exhibitions were shown in prestigious museums throughout the world – the United States, Japan, Germany – as well as in small villages in France, always with the aim of making art accessible to all.
The work of the Baschet brothers of making sound art accessible to all continues through the official association, established in 1982: the Baschet Sound Structures Association (originally "Structures sonores et pédagogie", it changed its name in 2012). The association has the support of the Baschet family and has an exclusive licence for creating some of the Baschet reproductible works.[2]
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