Connexion
It all begun in 2009. After quitting my job as an engineer I moved to Madrid to study a Master in Motion Graphics while making my first experiences in the world of video art.
In 2010 I started up several collaborations with art organizations in Madrid and they proposed to me to shoot a dance performance by the choreographer Iratche Ansa.
The performance was going to be held at the Matadero in Madrid. From that recording I put together my first video dance “Comunicación Interpretación Automática” which had a very good reception.
A few months later I made my first dance pieces with live visuals with choreographer Barbara Fritsche.
Thanks to those projects I was able to work on the musical “Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar” in 2013. In 2014 I directed my first proper theatre show: “Girasomnis”.
I try to “connect” the visuals with the dancers. Sometimes I encourage the dancers to “connect” or follow my visuals.
In this project I also composed the music. This is very useful as I have better control of the creative process. With this project I tried to evoke feelings in the audience without words: just images, dance and instrumental music.
This quarantine caused an abrupt stop in my job, but also gave me time to start imagining something new.
The idea was born during the first week of confinement. At the start, It was simple: I just wanted to publish some of our best projects and make them public. But I also felt a need for a change.
The last 3 years I was quite disconnected from my artistic side due to working mostly on commercial projects.
I was just focusing on making money to pay my bills and trying to have a stable team for audiovisual production. The outbreak of the Covid-19 has been an absolute shift in our work. We started questioning the possibility of doing our shows as we did before.
So, in April I started to visualize and write a synopsis of this new project. I then decided to publish “Dance Mapping Virtual Tour 2020” as a memorandum of all these years of physical shows.
This new production is planned to be released in VR and physical 360 projection format in late 2021.
When I have the budget I can work with some powerful audiovisual freelancers from my network of collaborators. Failing that I work alone.
I also work with very talented dancers/choreographers from Barcelona. During the years they started to understand my ideas and transform them in beautiful choreographies.
I have mostly 2 ways of work. I compose a music draft and then I work on the visuals and choreography or vice versa: I make a draft of visual content with a draft choreography and I try to match the sounds and music.
Sometimes I give leeway to the dancer, so they can create their own choreography and then I create the visual content following their movements.
In the last few years I also worked with some talented musicians for a faster audiovisual production.
This was a concept from Roman Torre. In 2015 I shared a space with him and we collaborated together on a video mapping of a rotating stone. It was a nice project called Liquid Series.
In the video mapping area I also tried to develop innovative concepts, differing from the typical big projection on a building facade. 2 Years ago I started to develop the concept of “Holomapping”. I am planning to finish it next year as well.
Nowadays, it is possible to learn a lot following digital online courses, but it is always better if somebody guides you. As with everything in life the best way to learn is practice, making mistakes and improving.
Spain is not the best country for arts, I would say. As far as I know French artists or from other European countries have more grants and support from their governments, but everything is possible if you are passionate about your work.
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Artistic gestures and processes can be seen as magical rituals, from which the myth of the artist has emerged over time. The aura of the artwork is used to cast a spell on its viewer!
In the art scene in particular, mysticism around art-making is kept alive by common rituals such as exhibitions, vernissages, and performative events, which propose collective shared experiences of something bigger.
For this open call, bb15 is seeking original project proposals that trigger mental associations and subliminal experiences at the junction of art, ritual and magic.
The residency program focuses on and explores the interplay between contemporary visual art and auditory practices, in relation to the theme of art+magic. The call doesn’t exclude any artistic media.
Collanews 
Teresa Cos: Tunnel Boring MachineDuring the residency at bb15, the selected artists will be expected to push forward and bring further their proposal into a work that will be presented to the public at the end of the residency.
It is highly desirable that the invited artists create specific and new works during their stay.
– Duration: 2-3 weeks
– Possible periods: Spring 2021 or Autumn 2021
– There is a € 1200 all-in budget per artist in residence. This amount should cover all costs such as travel, equipment, production costs, daily expenses, and artist fees. Artists will be provided with free accommodation and workplace at the premises of bb15.
– The residency entails the realization of an exhibition or performative event at bb15.
– bb15 will provide technical and curatorial support as well as the promotion of the exhibition.
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From immersive VJ sets to operatic projection mapping, from AV live graffiti to cutting-edge interactive installations. Cosmic Lab always achieves to captivate the audience and mind-blow even the more AV experts.
As we said: no fear of experimenting. Here we see a very interesting fusion between hip hop and audiovisual culture.
At the opening event of MAGNET by SHIBUYA 109 “ShibuGekiSai”, Cosmic Lab and Doppel collaborated on a performance combining live painting and video projection.
The 3D video cubes are animated in motion graphics by the audiovisual artists guiding the graffiti artists on the patterns they will fill with their spray cans.
The DJ spins tunes throughout the performance linking graffiti and projection through the overall hip hop groove.
An audiovisual feast and a once-in-a-lifetime experience to celebrate the Koyasan’s 1200th anniversary (The center of Shingon Buddhism).
We see something truly remarkable and unique: a fusion among the vibrating tones of the Buddhist chant, Japanese drums and an elaborate projection mapping.
Under the musical inputs and the AV latest technologies the great Pagoda comes alive. The result is spectacular, mesmerizing and sumptuous to honor the ancient tradition of Japanese Buddhism.
Here Cosmic Lab went a few steps ahead by reinventing the way of making AV live performances through a new tool called QUASAR.
It loosely reminded us of the Reactable Machine, developed in Barcelona in 2003 to make music through physical interaction.
In this next-generation AV instrument, each musical measure is not interpreted in a linear fashion, but as an endless loop.
Also the tangible interface gives a physical structure to the AV content making possible to build rhythm and layers in all new intuitive physical way. Impressive!
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The festival showcases projection mapping, audiovisual installations and light sculptures in order to develop a dialogue between new media and the urban context of the Basque Country capital city.
The participants have total freedom regarding the proposal theme. However proposals addressing environmental issues and/or United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be highly valued by the jury.
These will be the main focus of the 2021 edition of UMBRA Light Festival. The installations will be selected accordingly to the sculptural value and interactive implementation of art and light.
Javi Erriera - Berdeko Konstelazioa The selection process will be finalized within one month after the submission deadline. All finalists will be notified individually by e-mail
The artists may present proposals as an individual and/or collective. There is no limit to the number of members per team, however each proposal requires a distinct form and must be completed accordingly.
The Jury or selection committee, appointed by Argia_3, is made by professionals from lighting design, public space intervention and the Light Art sectors.
The Jury shall take into account the artistic quality, originality, innovation, and themes regarding sustainability (SDGs), as well as features of the artwork regarding the actual set up within the festival capabilities.
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The foundation supports creative processes that encompass all cultural and artistic expressions or manifestations understood from a wide point of view.
They are looking for new artistic creations addressing the impact that Covid-19 is having on Catalan society and the challenges arising from it.
The artwork must have a clear transformation goal and must be developed in the public space, also incorporating a digital alternative to face possible new periods of lock-down.
Creators with a minimum career of two years and with residence in Catalonia are encouraged to submit their proposals.
One scholarship will be awarded per project and creator. Several creators cannot present the same project to be developed within the framework of a group.
All projects will be scrutinized during the month of September. The development process will take place between October 2020 and January 2021.
At the end of January the artists will be required to present a memoir reflecting the process and the creative proposal.
Until the 31st of July and from August 24 to 31 there will be a dedicated phone line for any arising questions: +34 932 090 948. The foundation can also be reached via email.
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We met in 2009 in Buenos Aires, and we’ve decided to work together. Cecilia comes from animation and Ygor from painting and drawing. We mixed our best and created VJ Suave.
At that time, we used Adobe Flash, After Effects and Photoshop for animation. Later on we met Maki, and he introduced us to Tagtool, a tool to draw and animate in real time.
The first version of Tagtool was a DIY thing, you needed to have a wacom, arduino, knobs and sliders, ps2 controller, all connected to a computer and a controller box.
You needed to build it yourself, it was a bit complicated. Later on Maki and his crew started to develop Tagtool for iPads and we fell in love with it.
Most of our animations are made frame by frame, using Flash, and this takes time and people to work. Tagtool is easier. It’s a tool that allows us to create drawings and animation by ourselves in a short amount of time.
The VR is a very immersive solo experience. You actually believe you are inside a different reality. In Floresta Encantada, together with our crew, we’ve created an experience where participants are teleported to a magical forest where they can interact with both characters and the scenery.
They can play instruments near a bonfire and even drink medicine from a shaman. Each experience is unique as the map is very big. Some people say that they saw a spaceship, others say they had a trip on mushrooms, experiences which are rare in the map. At thee end of the journey all travelers come back to reality with a big smile.
We were happy and we wanted to keep doing moving projections. Instead of keeping on creating videos we wanted to try the performance format, so people on the streets could see it live.
Instead of a car, we thought of a way that could be affordable to us, first a bicycle, and then finally the tricycle as our moving base to project from.
Suaveciclo was created to be able to move our animations throughout the city, bringing joy to everyone who happens to be around. As we don’t use background in the projection the characters look more alive, with a digital graffiti style.
The idea was to take the characters out of the TV screen and make this colorful universe that was inside our heads to merge it with the real world.
It felt like a perfect gap for us to fit in. From then till now, we keep on doing what we love, what is true for us and we believe anything made like that will always be successful.
There have been a lot of adaptations till we got to the actual version of Suaveciclo. First version was very heavy, had small sound speakers and an overall flimsy structure for the projector.
We also had issues as we bought the wrong batteries (now we only use deep cycle batteries). We now have 2 tricycles in São Paulo, one for Ygor and one for Cecilia. What we use now is actually the 5th version.
A few months ago we finally installed an electric battery to help us doing the cycling. It’s also equipped with great sound speakers and a tripod head adapted for the projector.
We like the idea of more visual artists working with images in movement throughout the city. We encourage and help people around the world to build an audiovisual tricycle to express themselves.
Ygor: VJ Suave was the starting point for me. Thanks to that I developed my career in animation, creative technology, virtual reality and music. If it wasn’t for it I would still be doing graffiti on the city walls, or maybe working in the forest.
Ceci: I would be applying technology to some other area, maybe holistic health.
Nowadays it is blooming. During the isolation, many audiovisual artists from all over Brazil started to project videos on building walls outside their windows. They have come together and created a group called Projetemos. Thanks to this group, we can share our animations to be projected in different cities.
Great artists have come out of Brazil like VJ Spetto, VJ Vigas, United VJs, and there’s definitely a scene for vjing and videomapping!
If VJ Suave had a little bit of each event, we would be defined by this mix which is something new with technology, animation and movement.
With Suaveciclo we can create magical moments. We gather people to see the city in a different way, more imaginative. We colour the path with light, expressing love. We think this can open people’s hearts, at least for a second.
Regarding the colours, we have the limitation of the projector. For Suaveciclo performances we carry a 5.500 lumen projector, which is very bright and powerful for a tricycle. However darker colours can be difficult to project. That’s why our colour pallet is always bright, with high contrast and saturation.
Kids are essential for our performances, because they appreciate magical beings. They want to play with the characters. When they do, adults start to believe in that magical moment too: when kids are yelling and chasing our enchanted characters.
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The stage then turned into a ship launched into space with Tobin residing in a hyper-sleep pod. After dream-like hallucinations Tobin comes out actually wearing the suits shown in the animation.
A complex audiovisual narrative that blurs the boundaries between real and digital world, firing all sorts of trickery to cleanse out the audience of all their spatial references. Only when we lose all the anchor points we are truly primed to experience the digital voyage.
ISAM takes us on a journey through the unexplored universe generated by the EDM soundscape of Amon Tobin to the bring us back to the core of the action: the musician and his performance.
In my opinion, Xite Labs major breakthrough is their ability to truly animate their installation, snapping out of the static AV sculpture by delivering an immersive experience where all senses are captured within the space.
Their audiovisual world is disorienting and astonishing as it builds up in front of our eyes, departing far away from the bidimensionality of the screen experience.
Formed in the year 2000 as V Squared Labs by Vello E Virkhaus they have then merged with Tandem Digital Entertainment in 2018 to form XiteLabs.
Through the leadership of Greg Russell and Vello Virkhaus the audiovisual studio continuously executes next level experiential visual artistry.
The duo is always taking “never been done” concepts and turning them into reality. This process always starts with the blank page, and working with clients to define the words, scenery, illumination, content, interactivity, and the means to deliver it all.
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It is interesting to notice the wide range of categories not necessarily related to the new media arts world. The inclusion of animation and manga highlights their wide recognition in the Japanese scene as special forms of art.
The Japan Media Arts Contest offers opportunities for young and emerging artists as well as recognized professionals making the audiovisual event a turning point every year for artistic innovation and excellency.
The Japan Media Arts Festival has been awarding prizes to outstanding artistic works since its establishment in 1997.
It is supported by The Agency of Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan to develop and promote the creation of Japanese and international media arts.
Through the annual Exhibition of Award-winning Works, the festival has offered the opportunity to the audience of directly appreciating these celebrated works.
The attendants are also invited to participate to the side events such as symposia, screenings and artists’ showcases.
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Of course every open call or artist residency is welcome, no matter where it comes from. But more coordination among venues and events will bring more opportunities and visibility for young and recognized artists.
Europe has the advantage (still, let’s see for how long) of a long-lasting infrastructure that connects different cultural scenarios across a myriad of different languages and beliefs.
SHAPE: Sound, Heterogeneous Art and Performance in Europe is the result of this network in action. By fostering audiovisual artists in showcasing their work internationally and audiences in experiencing a very diverse cultural offer.
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Compressorhead - Animatronics BandEvery year, the organizers propose a controversial and thought-provoking theme set to trigger reflection in the community and cutting-edge experimentation by the selected artists. Innovation in digital creativity is key and the festival creates a sonic space for this.
Every year, the result is an insanely powerful and immersive artistic rendez-vous that leaves a lingering impact awhile after the end of the festival.
In this Age of Pandemic, we are made acutely aware of our dependence on digital technology for work, education, and healthcare. Now more than ever, the growth of digital technology demands critical reflection.
Globalization and economic growth have brought us pandemic and environmental destruction. How can we break this cycle? Can we harness quantum technology to protect ourselves and the world we live in?
Pubblicato da GOGBOT su Domenica 12 luglio 2020
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The protagonist is the hand, the starting point of the artistic expression. From a simple gesture the whole audiovisual narrative takes over the building, truly engaging with the audience by inviting them to play along.
As part of our series about the Genius Loci Weimar 2019 winners, our young journalist Marta Minguell asked the creator about his creative process and how he approached the audiovisual event open call.
Basically, one person claps a rhythm and the crowd responds by clapping the same rhythm. In “The Shape of Sound” hands on the façade animate the audience through gestures to participate and rhythmically respond.
It’s a game of call and response. The viewers communicate with their hands. It’s a dialogue between them and the new Bauhaus Museum. By responding to the façade, the audience completes the projection. The rhythms are arranged in a way that they become increasingly difficult.
The simple beginning encourages as many spectators as possible to participate. The increase of rhythmical difficulty is not only challenging but also fun for the audience. It creates a feeling of community.
Photo Credits: Henry SowinskiPhoto Credit: Jonas DenzelThe building transforms into an oversized instrument which is played by hands. For me it’s important that not only the visuals but also the sounds refer to the building. This is why the sounds were directly recorded at the new Bauhaus Museum facade.
Together with sound designer Sören Schaudel, sounds and rhythms were recorded on the actual building by knocking on windows, stroking on rough walls, drumming on railings, anything that makes sounds.
These sounds are then arranged in a composition which is an interplay of image and sound. Recording the sounds on the façade is an essential and inspiring part of the design process of the projection.
In the specific case of the new Bauhaus Museum, the fine horizontal architectural lines on the facade were used to create a keyboard which then transforms the building into a huge piano played by over-dimensional hands.
Interview to Genius Loci Weimar
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We had the chance to see their artwork NUCLEUS³ live at Signal Festival 2018. An audiovisual thunderstorm infusing every element of the facade with vibrant life: another of their masterpiece!
As part of our series about the Genius Loci Weimar 2019 winners, our young journalist Marta Minguell asked the creators about their creative process and how they approached the audiovisual event open call.
In the first layer, the absolute beginning, we chose the main “topics” to work on graphically. In this case the architecture, the facade composition and the historical and urban context of the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar.
Being architects, we believe that the building plays the part of the protagonist. Our main instruments for the visual narrative creation are building plans, sections, 3D-models, satellite images, 2D and 3D geodata, plans and models of the surroundings and finally the landscape of the city itself.
Photo Credits: Oliver BlumIn the second layer we reflect upon the historical, political and social impact of the Nationaltheater in the past, present and future. With this in mind as well as the current political and social development in Germany and Europe we decided we have to make some kind of statement, in using clear font. Finally, the categorical imperative (Kant) and its analogies found in the different world religions seemed to be the right answer.
The third layer is the sound design. Obviously it is important for composing the atmosphere in the visuals. We try to envision what will happen visually. We start working in 2D and 3D.
As soon as we have a rough cut, we send it to Jarii van Gohl / Soundselektor (our sound magician). Then he works on the sound composition and sends it back to us. Then the ping-pong-game starts, by sending back and forth. This goes on until we achieve the desired result.
We also use different techniques offered by video editing software like DaVinci Resolve and others. For 3D we mostly use Cinema 4D and some known and unknown Plugins.
Often there are given topics. Thereafter we start the conversation. Talking and sketching are the main instruments here. We shout out ideas and discuss them. This process leads to new ideas, which are also discussed and the wheel begins to turn. Eventually we find a concept which we can all agree on.
Then the typing starts. We try to formulate our ideas the way an “outside” person would interpret it. Meanwhile the visualization starts. We try to squeeze in as much concept as possible within little pictures.
Finally we work on matching the text and the visuals, which is always a good test for the concept itself. If we cannot connect the written words with the images we created, we know there is a bug and we know what to do. Finally we add some artistic flavors and statements.
Then we win the call, the game begins and a new discussion starts. We love it!
Interview to Genius Loci Weimar
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As part of our series about the Genius Loci Weimar 2019 winners, our young journalist Marta Minguell asked the creators about their creative process and how they approached the audiovisual event open call.
The ground, that otherwise would have been inaccessible or even hostile to life, became fertile. Ideas that couldn’t be previously heard can now be shared and developed.
The whole building can be perceived as a foundation stone for decades of dialogue, cultural and artistic expression, political engagement and countless untold personal stories that otherwise would have not been possible.
We reenacted that progress, but not in a historically accurate way. Instead we opted for a fantastic reinterpretation of the construction of the building. Abstract beings finding themselves back in the former swamp surrounded by ruins and rubble.
They are there to rebuild an alternative MON AMI, revealing more of the
inner nature of the place than the facade might be able to show on its
own.
Photo Credits: Henry SowinskiSince our story evolved around the fictitious rebuild of MON AMI, we tried not only to superimpose imagery onto the real world structure.
Instead we referenced it and played with its spatial perception to immerse a viewer even further by forcing perspectives and vanishing points.
While the composition of the different elements, their movements and lighting was done in a digital 3d environment, almost all visible surfaces were hand drawn, scanned and then integrated into the scene.
This mixture of analog and digital technology enabled intriguing animated movement, dynamic lighting and complex scene setup. But it was also providing the necessary detail, texture and imperfection that created a natural and tangible look, even at the scale of such a mapping piece.
Entire areas of the city seemed to be immersed in a dream-like state. Yet all the locations featured different atmospheres achieved in many different ways.Inspired by that we were eager to create our own approach reflecting our interests and skill sets.
For the submission we wanted to create an artwork that well portrays
our stylistic decisions as well as giving a glimpse of the narrative
structure we planned for the full animation piece.
At the same time, we were trying to figure out whether our ideas could work on a medium that we only knew from a spectator’s point of view back then.
Interview to Genius Loci Weimar
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The unprecedented rate of global warming is melting the polar ice caps, raising sea levels and undermining food and water security for many of the world’s people.
The response to this situation is being too slow for what is probably the greatest challenge that the human species has ever had to face. In this global climate emergency situation it is necessary to raise awareness and act collectively to find solutions that can at least slow down the current climate change to avoid the foreseeable dystopian future that lies ahead.
In this context, this call raises the need to think collectively from art, science, technology, video games and ecology to raise awareness and articulate responses to climate change.
Through the composition of knowledge and interdisciplinary collaboration, this call proposes to use the capacity of contemporary art and the practices of visualization as a vehicle to raise awareness and propose responses that address the challenge of climate change and global sustainability.
– €1500 in fees, to which the applicable taxes will be applied.
– €1250 for production of the project selected subject to approval of its budget.
– €1080 for travel expenses.
From July 1, 2020, the call for artist residencies of the Planeta Debug Project is officially opened. Check the open call guidelines.
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One of the first artists to investigate the relations between music and imagery was Kandinski. He explored how different shapes and colours relate to each other by communicating different movements to the viewer. Same as different notes, rhythm and music patterns relate to our inner soul, triggering different emotional movements.
The Japanese artist (currently living in Berlin) features an interesting background of music composition, computer programming and multimedia art. Arai’s generative art is highly complex and goes beyond the audiovisual genre. It takes on a profound reflection around the universe and its structure based on vibrations, as advocated by the theoretical framework of the string theory.
The result is an audiovisual duet between human and machine with the two elements constantly learning from each other in his ever-evolving investigation. Ultimately, Tatsuru uses the sound and its visualization as a key to make experience of the nature of the universe, even if just a small part of it.
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Immersive installations, interactive artwork and live performance communicate complex statements through sensorial experience, giving us the chance to digest information slowly, at our own pace. Generative art as an antidote to the overwhelming data dump we experience everyday.
Matteo Zamagni, Nature Abstraction
Due to the uncertainty of in-person attendance, the organizers are planning the audiovisual event through virtual platforms. It will be therefore accessible to a wider audience through the experimental use of new technologies.
Patchlab will present art projects online and via AR (augmented reality). There will be experimental computer animations presented in the virtual cinema, remotely accessible workshops and also a dystopian multi-person computer game allowing the exploration of a post-apocalyptic New York. There will also be AV NIGHT, during which we will see unique audiovisual projects in 360° format.
All audiovisual artists are invited to submit their project proposals for this year’s program to be implemented online in an unexpected way.
Proposals can only be submitted via the online form.
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The most curious thing about this from a visual artist’s point of view is the fact that they have turned traditional VJ and music video culture on its head – rather than the visual artist creating content based on sound, they’ve taken a more soundtrack approach to the project.
The visual artist creates a 10 second loop, which the Onomatopoeia team turn into 30 seconds and THEN pass them on to a sound artist for the mini projects to be completed. The result? A quarterly webzine of 10-15 audiovisual collaborations and a lot of fun and inspiration.
They’e just launched their first edition (6th July) with a great mix of 12 artists’ collaborations. It’s really curious way to discover new visual and sound artists, and warning, it’s quite addictive. Maybe it’s just me, but I certainly can see and hear the difference of the sound being created after the visual… can you?
Here are my faves from this month’s edition:
Check out the first edition and let us know your thoughts, and get in touch with them if you’d like to participate and have some fun, whilst meeting new artists!
Join the community and see new episodes via the Instagram channel!
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Vj Suave audiovisual live stories are called “Suaveciclos”. They make use of Tagtool, an app for tablet allowing drawings in real time.
These itinerant projection mappings are colorful, imaginative and highly engaging. Kids absolutely love them as they perceive immediately the drawings are made specifically for them to play with.
It’s very hard not being immediately charmed by their delicately funny audiovisual storytelling. And there is no reason to resist! Their communication with the audience is honest, inspiring and most importantly inclusive: none is left out in this projection mapping extravaganza.
The viewer is invited to find their own inner harmony with the sounds and visual elements of the forest in order to become unified with the surrounding environment. The result is an unique experience with plenty of food for thoughts to be snacked upon.
As we often advocate the meaningfulness of the artistic experience depends on the artist intent more than on the tool that is being used.
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When artists are free to work on the concept as they are on the technical implementation, they deliver a much more powerful and meaningful experience to the viewer.
Steve Gerges began to take an interest in Digital Art in 2000 when he created Visual-Delight, the first collective of VJ’s (visual-jockeys) in Luxembourg. This project allowed him to take his first steps in this innovative art form for that time.
Following a trip to Montreal to the Elektra Festival in 2012, he created his first interactive digital artwork entitled LAN 1.0 at the Carré Rotondes in 2014. Here a few projects we felt best showcased his main features as an audiovisual artist.
ONE is a generative art sculpture that develops in real time. The audiovisual totem grows and evolves while progressively revealing its organic essence to the viewer.
One tells us the story of the creation of the universe, from the big bang, to energy flows, creation of planets and humankind.
Steve Gerges
We love this amazing kinetic sculpture that exploits the use of machine programming. Light is the main course of this audiovisual feast. An ethereal force that contours the surrounding space in a beautiful ephemeral moment.
This is an immersive and impressive projection mapping representing the creation of the universe, a recurring them in Steve Gerges work. The audiovisual storytelling features abstract patterns slowly turning into figurative elements.
The viewers is invited to reflect upon the strive of mankind to understand and explore the unattainable complexity of the universe.
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Ars Electronica features a wide variety of activities every year: Symposia, exhibitions, performances, concerts and interventions spanning a broad arc from speculative futuristic scenarios to analytical considerations, from provocative actionism to philosophical debate.
Combining amazing artworks with fruitful conversations is the perfect recipe to create a meaningful experience that constantly scans the new media landscape to find the most inspiring projects. The projects are not simply chosen based on their technical realization but most importantly because the social and artistic innovation they incorporate.
The result of this consistent endeavour is the creation of a loyal community of audiovisual artists, researchers and visitors from all over the world that every year reunites in Linz to inspire and get inspired.
Since its inception, the festival has been dedicated to develop new themes for each edition and the organizers are also constantly on the lookout for interesting new venues.
Indeed, the ongoing effort to break out of the narrow confines of conventional conference rooms and artistic spaces, and to stage cultural and scientific encounters in the public sphere has become something of an Ars Electronica trademark.
Stay tuned: Ars Electronica 2020 theme will be released soon!
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The audiovisual installation will be recorded and publicly presented online as the culmination of the residence. Later on, when audiovisual events will kick back on the projects will be actually presented in the 360° Gallery with participation of the audience.
The 360° Gallery features a mind-boggling set up with 10 projectors displaying images with 16910×1080 pixels resolution. That opens up immense creative opportunities to generate a fully immersive environment.
During the 31-day #home edition residence, between 15/09/2020 – 18/10/2020, the selected audiovisual artists (or artistic groups) are going to work in their home or studio on their own audiovisual project.
The selected artists will have remote contact with the organizational and technical team and co-residents, as well as the possibility of conducting 2 remote attempts to display the work on the projection system in the 360° Gallery in order to check the accuracy and allow for possible corrections.
The following criteria will be taken into account in the selection of the winning projects:
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From the likes of Bertie Sampson, blinkinLAB, Bob Jaroc, DDL, Delta Process, Dr and Quinch, Enjoy Kaos, Fade In Fade Out, Greenaway & Greenaway, Joëlle, Koolik, L’Aubaine (check out the our interview with her) Lazershaft, Lazersonic, LEDS Akimbo, Limbic Cinema, Matt Lee Vs The Positronic Man, More Eyes, Primary Visual Cortex, Rebel Overlay, REM Visuals, WeAreMidnight.
“Taking the Gas Tower from the fields of the festival world into a groundbreaking new reality, Creative Giants are excited to be joining the team Shangri-La on their voyage of discovery to Lost Horizon, which redefines what a festival can be, creating ways for people to come together and experience music and art in a way we never would have previously imagined.”
Simon Vaughan, Creative Giants
“We are thrilled to showcase some of the world’s leading VJs and visual artists in this way. The physical structure of The Gas Tower has been recreated in exact detail in virtual reality, allowing viewers to look around in full 360 degrees to fully immerse themselves in beautiful visuals. We are proud to be leading the way into the digital domain, presenting ground-breaking artists with innovative and mind blowing visuals as part of this ambitious new form of live experience.”
Pete Thornton, More Eyes
Light based minimalistic blade-runner-esque visuals that will make you feel retro futuristic, with everything from lasers to LED totems and 3D structures in the portfolio bag, all with a dash of Resolume control.
No messing about, this studio based in London have done whopping great visual productions for the likes of Coachella, Boomtown and The Human League (for those of you who are old enough to know who they are).
Interesting looking 3D abstract visuals that look like candy cane, sweet enough to hang off your Christmas tree. If you’re into 3D animation, mapping, photogrammetry, and art in general then Enjoy the Kaos should definitely be an audiovisual show on your AV hit-list.
Immersive tour visuals for Adam Beyer, and for Booka Shade, what’s not to inspire any keen audiovisual festival goer? Primarily focused on content creation, blinkinLAB is a motion graphics design studio based in London.
Their portfolio of work includes tour visual content creation, motion graphic design, music video, tv commercials, idents and title sequences, as well as live audiovisual performance, vj-ing and projection mapping installations.
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The building was erected in 1910 and features a ottoman neoclassical design style. The purpose of the open call is to highlight the architectural patterns of the facade and the history of the building through audiovisual techniques
The 3 Finalists of the competition, who will be selected by audience and the festival curators, will each receive a prize.
The winner of the contest will receive the Grand prize of 1500€. The second and third place will receive 1000€ and 500€ respectively.
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The video gaming tool is being widely use in audiovisual art and virtual events. It allows you to simulate real-time scenes and lighting effects. Exhibition visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the surroundings of each installation and can move freely in the room and choose any observation point.
Despite the site-specific nature of the works, the overarching artistic principle behind all of them is the search for a universal language of pure forms. These forms, which correspond to the abstract subjects of the installations, are refined during an extensive detailing process, minimalist in their expressiveness and often even have a functional nature.
The eight installations generate intimate spaces where the viewers sits in contemplation of the structural semiotic elements that compose them: light, sound, movement. Each room triggers different emotions slowly revealing themselves while we explore the space and embrace its unique atmosphere.
The primary expressive element in VOLNA’s work is light and its various characteristics, its interaction with space, as well as its movement, the rhythm of chiaroscuro and the way chiaroscuro scenarios unfold in relation to time. Some works include synchronized sound, created to interact closely with the light’s dramaturgy.
In conclusion the exhibition Keep Yourself Clean attempts to embrace all the real and virtual layers of information that make up each of the works, and then let the works themselves become the determinants of perception.
Each of the contexts will “re-sort” in the virtual world, rethink and obey the laws of perception, and each work, in turn, will become an experience of sensory contemplation.
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The 2020 year theme reflects upon our primitive status in the foundations of the new hyper-informational world, where the data-flux is absorbing the entire existence reaching the status of God.
Is technology serving us or we are serving the data-totem by providing our more sensible information, giving up our privacy for a greater good?
Algorithms, already present everywhere in the digital realm, are reading us better than ourselves, better than our friends and siblings and in the name of optimization of our virtual experience, we are gradually letting them make decisions for us, filter our perceptions predict our behavior, our bio metrics, our emotions.
All manifestations of culture can now be experienced on a digitized basis, translated to a language (code, DNA) and stored for everyone who possess it to experience regardless the circumstances. Markets and Money are transfiguring into intangible algorithmic byproducts. Everything to serve the information flow.
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In spring 2020 Kuflex studio began an experimental project Kusmos Live. The purpose of the experiment was to upgrade the Kusmos system in order to create a interactive online home shows.
In 2018-2019 the Russian audiovisual studio experimented with the innovative tool together with SILA SVETA studio on the Therr Maitz concert, Caprices Festival 2018, Nina Kraviz experimental performance at Coachella 2019.
Scene functions build a 3D model using the data provided by the Tracker and then we can layer all kinds of features with effects on the model and also transform and distort it according to the artistic concept. We also captured video from the laptop’s webcam and sometimes showed its picture. 3D scene acting as the artist surrounding, a set of virtual cameras for capturing from different viewpoints and visual effects were set up in advance in the Unreal Engine. Then the OBS program captures the video of the launched scene and sends it to the video streaming server.
During our second live experiment we tested some new features for the viewers interactive communication with the stream. While Leksha (Smolensk, Russia) was playing his ambient-set, a VJ (Moscow, Russia) was controlling visual effects with the use of commands via YouTube chat in real-time mode. Our team has implemented this function between the concerts and decided not to tell the viewers about it.
During the stream, noticing weird messages in the chat, some of the viewers started to realize that they could not only send a message to the chat but to even affect visualization. In the end the concert has turned into a digital quest. Some viewers picked up effect control by sending particular commands to the chat. We have yet to comprehend how to develop this function in the future.
KUFLEX: Kusmos is a universal software tool, with the possibility of variability of visual and interactive solutions. As a rule, our team creates a virtual stage specifically for the performance of the musician. Of course, we want to upgrade the program creating a database with different scenes, effects. In this case, the user will be able to construct the scene himself and combine the effects for his live/stream.
KUFLEX: Regarding Kusmos Live project, the Kuflex team is collaborating with various musicians. We wanted to support the performers. So this approach determined the emphasis on the figure of the musician on the virtual stage, under whose musical personality, sound we come up with a visual solution. We do not just shoot a video with a musician, as is often done in broadcasts, but create a digital avatar that changes depending on the script, music and VJ control.
We try to achieve the effect of real interaction with the viewer as well. Our team is developing a function of interaction through chat – viewers’ comments fall into the scene, they can affect the content through certain chat commands. But Kusmos can be used by artists of other genres. In the near future we want to try to create a dance performance. Now we are discussing this idea with one Russian choreographer.
Technically, the performer will find himself in different areas of camera scanning, on the screen we will observe how his digital avatar changes. Again, it will all be like shooting a movie in one shot and in real time!
We intentionally did not talk about this function in advance to get the quest. As a result, some viewers guessed and began to help in managing the scene. We explore different possibilities about other ways of interaction.
In the future we want to create a client application for connecting to the broadcast via a mobile phone, desktop PC screen or VR. We intend to develop Kusmos as an art tool. Our team believes in a power of collective interaction. We want to give a palette of visual solutions, effects. Let’s all together create beauty here and now! This idea is a sincere inspiration for us.
We wrote a special function for our software that receives data from chat on YouTube using the Google API. We came up with several commands, for example: cam1, cam2, skin1, skin2, electric noise, lasers and the like. And when someone in the chat wrote one of these words, then a certain visual effect or a corresponding camera was included in our program.
In general, we have an idea to expand the number of commands and their appearance, so that it looks more like live coding. For example, add numerical arguments to the commands, which will additionally specify the parameters of a particular visual effect.
KUFLEX: Yes, this is the main object of research for us. Usually, a limited number of people can come to the offline exhibition. So we want to overcome any space frames. With Kusmos we don’t have any restrictions online! We can find ourselves in amazing digital worlds that are impossible in the physical world.
Now that Kuflex Lab and its creation Kusmos entered our radar we will most definitely keep following their progression, as always supporting innovation and creativity in the audiovisual art world.
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Refik Anadol immersive installations allow us to leap into an universe of data, featuring a matrix that swallows everything around until there is nothing left outside of it.
His overwhelming data sculptures foresee a post-digital architectural future in which there are no more non-digital realities. A world where man and machine are embedded within each other.
One of the greatest eighteenth-century English artists William Blake famously said, “if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is – infinite.” Infinite Space is a collection of works that revisits Blake’s statement and seeks to cleanse the doors of perception with the tools available to twenty-first-century artists.
The exhibition explores memories and dreams through the mind of a machine by using data sets ranging from human memories, photographs of Mars, cultural archives and sea surface activity as data sculptures and digital paintings.
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Rafael has been living in Asia for 10 years where he merged his own European artistic and sociocultural background with the Asian aesthetics and political issues, especially within South Korea.
His phography academic background heightened his sensibility towards the image, with special reference to the body within the space.
This is an extract of a live performance named “BOM” which is part of an ongoing day-by-day project made in Korea: KYOULBOMYOELEUMGAEUL.
The performance took place at the SEMA: Seoul Museum of Art. KYOUL means Winter in Korean, BOM is Spring, YOELEUM is Summer and GAEUL is Autumn.
The four season piece is a video reportage of Rafael experience in South Korea, presented in chronological order throughout different audiovisual mediums such as Live Cinema performance, Installation and screening.
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The festival fuses all the components of beauty, art, culture, education, innovation and higher thinking into one glorious event.
It includes rich programmes, grouped into clusters based on up to 20 locations with new highlights every year showcase the architectural splendour of Sharjah and the beauty of its buildings.
Many of the designs are poetic and inspired by local culture, stories and traditions or incorporate nature and space, some are based on more modern art and design, all are beautiful and thought provoking.
The Sharjah Light Festival extends to the east coast towns of Dibba, Khorfakkan and Kalba. The 2019 edition featured well known artists and curators such as Larent Langlois, Cindy Lo, Studio Halpeji and Group F
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The history of Genius Loci Weimar began 8 years ago, in 2012, when, as part of various regional development initiatives, we were looking for a concept that could combine modern media and historical heritage.
This is how the Genius Loci Weimar Festival came into being, initially on a smaller scale, which has since developed into an event with up to 50,000 visitors annually. The concept has always been to deal with the “spirit of the place” and its individual history, the “Genius Loci”.
As already mentioned, the “Genius Loci” is the focus of our artistic works. It is therefore also the goal to discuss history and to stimulate historical-cultural reflection, which certainly also has political and social aspects.
Another goal is to create and develop our own format, a brand that can provide a framework for the production of artistic works in this field.
The AV media are to be further established as an art form and artistic format and to move away from the “avant-garde” or even “nerd corner”, in which they are still often located. To emphasize their potential as an aesthetic direction with different artistic styles and tastes is the goal of Genius Loci Weimar.
Thus, in addition to very prominent buildings such as the National Theatre or the Herderkirche in the city centre, the Ilmpark and a squatted house in Gerberstraße have already been in the spotlight.
Especially at controverse locations, such as Gerberstraße 3, exciting exchanges can arise: There, the “bourgeoisie” became observer of the usually sceptically eyed façade of the squatted house, the inhabitants of the house project became hosts at the same time – also for the otherwise avoided “establishment”. An exciting situation for everyone, which can only arise during a live event and on-site.
However, in any case, reflection is always encouraged: exchange and examination of past times and other lifestyles. The buildings also appear in new contexts, the library was once filled with fictitious visions or the theatre was shown as an important place of democracy. The selection and the type of performance should always have a very specific effect.
The fact that the concept is sustainable can be seen from the fact that other projection festivals are following up, launching similar strategies or even asking for a transferable concept.
In the end, the awareness for places and cities is always sensitized by the unique, site-specific spectacles.
The audiovisual event starts already in spring with the publication of our Open Call and the announcement of the three competition buildings. A prize money of 15.000 Euro per building is awarded and we receive applications with artistic projects from all over the world during the competition period.
At the end of the competition, the applications will be judged by a jury of experts, while the public will also be able to vote at this early stage to decide who will perform their work in late summer.
During the past eight festival editions, a wide range of artistic styles were chosen as competition winners. Exciting, for example, was last year’s masterfully implemented, seemingly interactive audiovisual performance by Jonas Denzel on the façade of the newly opened Bauhaus Museum in Weimar.
Of 2016, the combination of live performance and video projection on a surface of water from Dieselqueen is also remembered.
Or the already mentioned mapping with the title “Grain Metal Punk” by VJZARIA on the façade of the squatted house in Gerberstraße.
Genius Loci Weimar continues to believe in the presence and magic of live events. We continue to believe in video mapping as a unique, ephemeral and sensual event, accompanied by overwhelming sound and an immense size that can be experienced collectively in public space. This is why we continue to focus on the live event on-site.
Genius Loci Weimar aims to further extend its constant growth path of recent years. As a festival and brand, GLW will continue to grow in breadth, but also in depth.
In the middle and long term, closer cooperation with universities is also conceivable, for example in the form of the creation of a new institute or similar. However, the core will always be the video and its connection to the historical heritage of the city!
Angefangen hat die Geschichte von Genius Loci Weimar bereits vor 8 Jahren, im Jahr 2012. Im Rahmen verschiedener Initiativen zur Regionalentwicklung suchten wir nach einem Konzept, das es schafft, moderne Medien und historisches Erbe miteinander zu verbinden. Dabei entstand das Genius Loci Weimar Festival, zunächst in kleinerem Umfang, das sich inzwischen zu einer Veranstaltung mit bis zu 50.000 Besucher*innen jährlich entwickelt hat. Das Konzept war dabei schon immer die Auseinandersetzung mit dem „Geist des Ortes“ und seiner individuellen Geschichte, dem „Genius Loci“ eben.
Wir möchten mit GLW mehre Dinge erreichen: Immer präsent ist natürlich das Ziel, ästhetisch ansprechende und hochwertige Kunstwerke in Weimar zur Aufführung zu bringen. Dazu kommt aber auch der Anspruch, eine positive Öffentlichkeit zu schaffen und mit dem Festival milieu- und altersübergreifend Zuschauer*innen anzusprechen.
Wie schon eben gesagt steht der „Genius Loci“ im Mittelpunkt unserer künstlerischen Arbeiten. Es ist also auch Ziel, Geschichte zu thematisieren und zu einer historisch-kulturellen Reflexion anzuregen, die durchaus auch politische und gesellschaftliche Facetten in sich trägt.
Ein weiteres Ziel ist das Erschaffen und Weiterentwickeln eines eigenen Formats, einer Marke, die der Produktion von künstlerischen Arbeiten in diesem Bereich einen Rahmen geben kann.
Die Videomapping-Szene ist noch recht jung. Sichtbarkeit, Kommunikation und Vernetzung sind also auch wichtige Anliegen unseres Festivals, insbesondere durch die Veranstaltungsteile TALK, CLUB und LAB. Dort, im LAB, findet auch verstärkt die Nachwuchsförderung statt. Die AV-Medien sollen als Kunstform und als künstlerisches Format noch weiter etabliert werden und heraus aus der „Avantgarde-“ oder sogar „Nerd-Ecke“, in der sie noch teilweise verortet werden. Ihr Potenzial als eine ästhetische Richtung mit unterschiedlichen künstlerischen Stilen und Geschmacksrichtungen herauszustellen, ist Ziel von Genius Loci Weima
Innerhalb der Stadt findet dank des Festivals jedes Jahr aufs Neue ein erheblicher Austausch auf mehreren Ebenen statt. Die Weimarer*innen sind inzwischen zu richtigen „Fans“ des Festivals und seiner Formate geworden und erwarten gespannt, welche neuen Orte jedes Jahr bespielt und auf neue Weise erfahren werden können.
So war neben sehr prominenten Gebäuden wie dem Nationaltheater oder der Herderkirche in der Innenstadt auch schon der Ilmpark und ein besetztes Haus in der Gerberstraße im Rampenlicht.
Gerade an kontroversen Orten, wie beispielsweise der Gerberstraße 3, können spannende Begegnungen entstehen: Das „Bürgertum“ wurde dort zum Betrachter der sonst so skeptisch beäugten Fassade des besetzten Hauses, die Bewohnerinnen des Hausprojekts wurden gleichzeitig zu Gastgeberinnen – auch für das sonst gemiedene „Establishment“. Eine spannende Situation für alle, die so nur im Moment eines Live-Events vor Ort entstehen kann.
Auf jeden Fall wird aber immer zur Reflexion angeregt: Austausch und Auseinandersetzung mit vergangenen Zeiten und anderen Lebenswelten. Auch die Gebäude treten in neuen Kontexten auf, die Bibliothek wurde einmal mit fiktiven Gebäudevisionen bespielt oder das Theater als Ort der Demokratie thematisiert. Die Auswahl und die Art der Bespielung sollen dabei immer eine ganz bestimmte Wirkung erzielen.
Dass das Konzept trägt, sieht man auch daran, dass andere Projektionsfestivals nachlegen und ähnliche Konzepte an den Start bringen oder sogar nach einem übertragbaren Konzept anfragen.
Letztlich wird immer das Bewusstsein für Orte und Städte durch die einmaligen, ortsgebundenen Spektakel sensibilisiert.
Das Festival beginnt bereits im Frühjahr mit der Veröffentlichung unseres Open Calls und der Bekanntgabe der drei Wettbewerbsgebäude. Pro Gebäude ist ein Preisgeld von 15.000 Euro ausgelobt und uns erreichen im Wettbewerbszeitraum Bewerbungen mit künstlerischen Projekten aus der ganzen Welt ein.
Nach Ende werden die Bewerbungen zum einen von einer Expert*innenjury beurteilt, und zum anderen kann auch das Publikum bereits an dieser frühen Stelle mit Hilfe des Public Votes mitbestimmen, wer im Spätsommer seinen Wettbewerbsbeitrag zur Aufführung bringen wird.
Während der vergangenen acht Festivaleditionen konnte eine große Bandbreite an künstlerischen Stilen als Wettbewerbssieger*innen gekürt werden. Spannend war zum Beispiel im letzten Jahr die gekonnt umgesetzte, scheinbar interaktive, audiovisuelle Performance von Jonas Denzel auf der Fassade des neu eröffneten Bauhaus-Museums in Weimar.
Aus 2016 ist aber auch die Kombination aus Live-Performance und Video-Projektion auf eine Wasserfläche von Dieselqueen in Erinnerung geblieben.
Oder das schon angesprochene Mapping mit dem Titel „Grain Metal Punk“ von VJZARIA an der Fassade des besetzten Hauses in der Gerberstraße.
Genius Loci Weimar glaubt auch weiterhin an die Präsenz und die Magie des Live-Events. An das Videomapping als einmaliges, vergängliches und sinnliches Ereignis, begleitet von überwältigendem Sound und einer immensen Größe, das kollektiv im Stadtraum erfahren werden kann. Deshalb fokussieren wir uns auch weiterhin auf die Live-Veranstaltung vor Ort.
Genius Loci Weimar will seinen konstanten Wachstumspfad der letzten Jahre weiter ausbauen. Als Festival und Marke soll weiter in die Breite, aber auch in die Tiefe gewachsen werden. Die reflektiven Formate wie etwa der noch recht neue TALK sollen auch weiterhin ausgebaut und verfeinert werden. Auch die AV-Hybride als Bühnenformat, wie beim AV-KINO in den letzten Jahren schon geschehen, soll noch weiter verfeinert werden.
Mittel- und Langfristig ist aber auch eine engere Kooperation mit Hochschulen, etwa in Form der Schaffung eines eigenen Instituts oder ähnliches denkbar
Kern wird aber immer das Video und seine Verknüpfung mit dem historischen Erbe der Stadt bleiben!
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