Khrystell E. Burlin (b. 1975)

Khrystell Burlin is a United Kingdom based New Media artist, photographer and contemporary music composer.

Born in a small village of southwest France, close to the spanish borders, he moved to the United States in his early twenties and then to Canada (2000) where he studied Music and Media Arts at the University of Montreal under the direction of Jean Piche. Extremely active within the Montreal and Toronto artistic scene during 8 years, he finally moved back to Europe in 2008.

His multiscreens films and video installations have been shown in several major festivals and museums in London, Paris, Berlin, Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo and Sydney amongst others.
As a researcher, he also wrote several research articles focusing on music, film, and post-modernity.

Strongly influenced by ancient arts and mythologies, as well as by Salvador Dali’s paintings and surrealistic cinema, Khrystell Burlin develops a very metaphoric, non-realistic and estheticist approach floating between the classical and the modern. The main purpose of his work is to explore the interconnections between music and visuals by creating layers of superimposition and montage inside the shot.
Very similar to the musical concept of orchestration, these techniques put an emphasis on the concept of Compositing, (a concept which is often contrasted with that of montage) and allow him to create moving images scores in which colors, shapes and movements melt into polyphonic visual chords.

As a music composer, Khrystell Burlin has been engaged in several collaborative projects involving visual arts, film, and contemporary dance. Influenced by the American repetitive school and popular electronic music, his works have been performed in several concerts as well as receiving airplay on several radio stations, including France Musique.