Francesco Fonassi

Francesco Fonassi (Brescia, Italy, 1986) lives and works in Brescia. The Italian sonic artist, independent researcher, and musician has been active in the fields of sound-based performance, transmission/transmedial art, and experimental music since the mid-2000s. His work explores the dynamics of listening and the mechanisms for auditory perception, investigating the limits and potential of each, and has – via actions, recordings, environmental configurations, radio projects, listening sessions, sculptural prototypes, installations and the creation of audiovisuals/sensory spaces – been presented in various independent venues, institutions, museums, and festivals across Europe, Asia and the United States.
Among the international institutions that have supported and produced his work are: Museion, Bozen; EMS – Elektronik Musik Studios, Stockholm; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; El Eco, Mexico City; MAXXI, MACRO, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Quadriennale, Rome; Roskilde Museum, Copenhagen; InterArtCenter, Malmo; OMI Foundation, New York; Corge/Kohjii International, New Delhi; Centrale FIES, Dro; Emily Harvey Foundation, New York; CoCA, Toruń.
As a musician, in solo or within several collaborative projects, he has played in numerous European venues and he has taken part in festivals including LUFF, Lausanne (2019); Transmissions Festival, Ravenna (2022); Robot Festival, Bologna; Heart of Noise, Innsbruck (2023); Braille Satellite, Vilnius (2019); Polija, Belgrade (2024); Cosmic Gathering, Chemnitz (2022), Troglobatem Festival, Stuttgart (2019), and Club Cocoon, Brussels (2022).
Since 2018 he has been co-founder and co-artistic director of Spettro (www.spettro.info), an independent venue/research sound lab/radio platform/club in Brescia, part of a European circuit of musicians and sound artists outside the mainstream market. Since 2015 he has co-managed the independent label Villa Recordings.