John Duncan (born 1953) is an American conceptual and performance artist. He was born in Wichita, Kansas and grew up in Los Angeles. He started his career in the 1970s, and became associated with the West Coast performance art scene. His work often addresses issues of power, authority, and control, often involving elements of personal risk and danger.

Duncan’s early works included confrontational performances and public interventions. He also produced a number of audio works, many of which incorporated found sounds, shortwave radio signals and field recordings. Over the years, his work has become increasingly focused on spirituality, ritual, and the subconscious mind.

Duncan has had numerous solo exhibitions in galleries and museums, and his work has been included in numerous group exhibitions. He has lived and worked in Tokyo, Amsterdam and the area of Udine, Italy; he currently lives and works in Bologna. His creative activity remains highly influential in the world of contemporary art, with a pivotal role in the development of experimental music as a member of LAFMS, of Japanese noise and pirate radio in Tokyo.

Recent events include DECADENCE, the SHAPE of MINDS to COME North American tour with Scot Jenerik, Schneider TM and Chandra Shulka, MANTRA, a multi-channel surround-sound concert for voice performed for sellout audiences at Immerson 7 (Montreal) as well as the Flussi Festival (Avellino) and Swedish Energies V (Brooklyn), RED SKY at Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich) and MAXII (Rome), TERRA AMARA with Coro Arcanto for Angelica (Bologna).

His music and performance work has been presented at Nicodim Gallery (Bucharest and Los Angeles), Fylkingen, Gallery Niklas Belenius, ZKM, MAK (Vienna), MOT (Tokyo), MACBA (Barcelona), Super Deluxe (Tokyo), CCA Kitakyushu, MOCA, KPFK, The Getty Center, and The Box (Los Angeles), L’Arsenic and LUFF (Lausanne), Raum, Netmage, Decadence and Angelica (Bologna), Ars Electronica and the 2nd Gothenburg Biennial.

SOFT EYES (2021), TRY AGAIN (2021 with Stefano Pilia), BITTER EARTH (2016), THERE MUST BE A WAY ACROSS THIS RIVER (2010 with Michael Esposito), The NAZCA TRANSMISSIONS (2009), NINE SUGGESTIONS (2005 with Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen), PHANTOM BROADCAST (2004), THE KEENING TOWERS (2003), FRESH (2002 with Zeitkratzer), PALACE of MIND (2001 with Giuliana Stefani), TAP INTERNAL (2000), THE CRACKLING (1996 with Max Springer) and RIOT (1984) are all considered by critics and composers alike to be benchmarks in the field of experimental sound and contemporary music.

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