We asked a few questions to Elwira Wojtunik and Popesz Csaba Láng, respectively director and program manager of the audiovisual event based in Krakow.

The organizers pulled off an interesting hybrid edition, fully leveraging the latest generation digital tools. And here goes our interview to Patchlab Festival!

1. PATCHLAB FESTIVAL HAS BEEN FOUNDED BACK IN 2012. IT IS NOW A REFERENCE IN THE INTERNATIONAL GENERATIVE ARTS PANORAMA. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE CONCEPTS AND GOALS THAT DROVE YOU TO THE INCEPTION OF THE FESTIVAL?

E.W.: Indeed, Patchlab Festival has happened annually since 2012, after 2 years of organising Share:Krakow – a local unit of a global organisation dedicated to supporting collaboration and knowledge exchange in new media communities.

Those were crazy times full of passion! Organising space for experimenting with digital tools, gathering with people experimenting with digital instruments, plugging in and playing.

Then we organised the 1st and 2nd edition of the festival that happened under the name of Patch: audio_visual_lab with a great support of our partners from the AVnode network.

Back then, new technologies and digital art were quite underground issues in Poland, compared to now, so it wasn’t easy to convince institutions and partners to support such a unique, niche event.

But we made it happen! During these 9 years we managed to build an internationally recognised platform. We showcase and research on one of the most rapidly developing areas of contemporary art: digital art based on the latest technologies and creative coding.

Patchlab festival is a space for meetings and discussions with the creators, experts and public. We have focused on the roles and impact that digital technology has on our everyday lives.

We explored its future developments, its multi-dimensionality, its interrelations with the artistic processes. They change rapidly and bring new possibilities and challenges, as the technology evolves.

2. THIS YEAR YOU DECIDED TO PROPOSE A HYBRID EDITION AS A RESPONSE TO THE CURRENT PANDEMIC CRISIS. WHAT HAVE BEEN THE CHALLENGES AND THE OPPORTUNITIES OF UTILIZING DIGITAL TOOLS TO ALLOW THE AUDIENCE TO VIRTUALLY PARTICIPATE?

E.W.: Due to the pandemic we had to find an alternative format compared to the past festival years. Most of the cultural events moved to the internet. But after some time people got tired of the meetings and events provided online. Mostly via Zoom.

Moreover this form of social connection became so overwhelming in every aspect of our life. Therefore attracting the attention of the public online became quite a challenge.

We have decided to experiment and diversify the program to provide the festival content in hybrid form. The digital world of the internet is a natural environment for digital art. Hence it was obvious for us that it was an opportunity to use alternative ways to reach the public internationally.

We had the chance to bring art to the users at the time they chose. We incorporated the program in a different digital format. Anyone was able to participate live online simply by entering the webpage, but also in Augmented and Virtual Reality. Via mobile phones or VR goggles at any chosen time and space.

The festival webpage was specially designed for this purpose – the exhibition of over 28 artworks was (and still is until the end of 2020!) presented online in 5 virtual rooms.

Among them, the Salon AR hosted audiovisual artworks created by e.g. Ryoichi Kurokawa or Monocolor that could be experienced in Augmented Reality.

In the Salon Virtual Ambient you could experience interactive online installations, 360° animations and immerse in surreal VR video collages.

arc/sec Lab exhibition room, built in Mozilla Hub, allows you to choose your own avatar to explore four kinetic light installations in 1:1 scale created at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

We allocated two studios for the multimedia artworks created by students from the Multimedia Studio of the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw and the Intermedia Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow.

This edition aimed at connecting with artists in different places around the globe. That is why we presented a 2 hours live set from Berlin by German duo INSTANT, and a round-table discussion about the roles of the new technologies during the pandemic, and its impact on our everyday lives.

The audience participated also in a virtual narrative performance: Operation Jane Walk, a dystopian video game space, carried out live straight from Vienna.

Performers from the Total Refusal collective hijacked the digital wargame environment, exploring the possibilities (and impossibilities) of new media technologies, while walking around a digital representation of New York.

We also developed something out of the box to create art projects as mobile applications: the app SOL.AR.IS, inspired by the great sci-fi novel written by Stanislaw Lem and Krakow ARtour.

SOL.AR.IS is an extraordinary project that offers an interaction in real time through AR technology with ephemeral animated 3D objects. Those are inspired by the fantastic phenomena described in the book: creations of the cytoplasmic, intelligent ocean that covers the planet Solaris – mimoids, symmetries or asymmetries.

The project was created in cooperation with CGI artists from Japan, Hungary, New Zealand, Germany and Iran. It’s still accessible for everyone, despite the place and time – downloadable for free from the App Store and Google Play.

During the pandemic, walking has become the most popular physical activity. Thus we designed the mobile application Krakow ARtour for people in Krakow, using Augmented Reality technology.

The application turns a regular walk into a multi-layered journey following the trail of the 20th century architecture of the Krakow Old Town. It allows you to discover unknown stories set in the context of a sustainable future.

P.C.L. For these two applications we used the SDK – newest set of tools offered by Google and Apple – AR Core and AR Kit accordingly, which are compatible with the latest smartphones.

There are still more than 300 types of phones available, but hopefully sooner or later these technological gaps will disappear and these new solutions will be achievable for all spectators without limits.

AR is still a relatively new technology. Surprisingly, most of the artists we invited have never had any experience with it. Therefore they were all very satisfied to get acquainted with a new possibility of presenting their artworks.

In order to showcase AR artworks at the Salon AR we designed the third application – PatchlabAR, available for all phones and tablets. We wanted to create it as simple as possible, so everybody could present their artworks at the Salon AR and augment their reality.

E.W.: The pandemic showed the great potential of digital tools. The internet and technology pushed the digital revolution further.

The new situation also showed that Patchlab program might be available for a much wider audience around the world. And not only during the time of the festival, but for much longer.

That’s why we decided to give access to the online content until the end of 2020. This is one of the aspects that wouldn’t be possible to accomplish while organising it in a regular form, physically in Krakow.

3. NOWADAYS DATA HAS OVERWHELMINGLY PERMEATED EVERY ASPECTS OF OUR DAILY LIFE. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT IS THE ROLE OF CREATIVE CODING AND GENERATIVE AUDIOVISUAL ARTS IN THIS HYPER-DIGITALIZED SOCIETY WE LIVE IN?

E.W.: Creative coding translates the world of computers and code into everyday experience. It is one of the most comprehensive and dynamically developing disciplines of contemporary art.

Thus it results in a wide spectrum of artistic activities. The community of artists using code as their medium is constantly growing, expanding our sense of what is possible with digital tools.

That’s why creative coding has an amazing role in creativity that cannot be underestimate. It opens extraordinary possibilities of artistic expression.

Open source philosophy plays a very important role. The open source platforms encourage growth and experimentation. They support a rich community of creators that share their strategies and work with unprecedented openness.

That demonstrates how artists use technology in new ways, originating innovations and new experiences that actually influence the future, changing many aspects of our world. That fosters a greater awareness of the fast changing world that we live in, also regarding the means and directions of these changes.

P.C.L.: Nowadays big corporations continuously push their products to the global market. These hardware quite often have pre-installed software and firmware but usually producers do not have time to create something ad-hoc for them.

And here come the digital artists. They hack and crack these tools using their own codes to achieve something meaningful and eye glowing, out of the mass production.

Comparing the early 2000s, today these products are accessible almost to everyone. The only limit is often just our imagination. Two perfect examples are Raspberry Pi and Arduino.

Hardware are getting stronger and faster, while the price is getting lower. Both use open source systems as codes are shared online. I dare to say that’s the best way to start your experience with expressing yourself by code.

4. THE 9TH EDITION FEATURES THE THEME “CONNECTED”. CONNECTED BY THE INTERNET AND BY THE PANDEMIC. CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INSIGHTS ON THE DECISIONAL PROCESS YOU UNDERTOOK TO SELECT THIS PARTICULAR THEME?

E.W.: The theme CONNECTED refers mainly to two global aspects. The replacement of social contacts through the internet and the impulse to think about the common public spaces, cultural events and everyday life with and after the virus.

Due to the pandemic the world is undergoing an accelerated digital revolution. it is happening in front of our eyes. The Internet has become our primary channels of communication as never before.

Imagine the pandemic hit us 20 years ago. There wouldn’t have been such global access to the Internet or even no Internet at all! That situation would have been much more difficult for everybody. The pandemic appeared as a an external impulse. It made us develop pre-existing solutions and raise the digital competences, within the contemporary society.

There is also another aspect of this topic. The reliable connection we have with our partners, who we share common values with.

We joined forces with Athens Digital Art Festival, arc/sec Lab of the Auckland University in New Zealand or Digital Cultures among others, to create an intensive program, supporting each other in these difficult times for art and culture.

P.C.L.: A nice and positive example of how pandemic connected people is the Folding movement, which resulted in the creation of the most powerful supercomputer on the planet.

After installing the software you can share the free capacity of your computer’s processors to speed up the mapping process of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 DNA, causing COVID-19 illness.

Hundreds of thousands people around the world gave access to their computer processors. They connected and raised computing capacity, letting the researchers work faster towards the common goal, through this super globally connected power.

5. IN 2018 THE THEME WAS “ARTBOTS”, WHERE YOU REFLECTED ABOUT CREATIVITY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. IN 2019 YOU CHOSE “REALITIES” AND YOU REFLECTED UPON THE DIGITAL WORLDS PARALLELY GROWING TO OUR ENDANGERED PLANET.


WHAT IS THE CONCEPTUAL LINK THAT CONNECTS THE LAST THREE YEARS EDITIONS? HOW DID THE SOCIETY AND ARTS SCENE EVOLVED ACCORDINGLY?

E.W.: Each edition focused on a certain topic of the wide spectrum of the artistic activities that explore the creative potential of machines, algorithms, programming. Therefore each edition of Patchlab festival incorporated key phenomena in contemporary culture and art, including VR, AR, AI, hacking and digital identities.

Artificial intelligence algorithms, reality and simulations, AR, VR, interaction and collaboration between human and machine, the technologies that have a strong impact on our lives and the world we live in now and in the near future. These have always been urging topics for us, since the beginning of the festival.

The world is changing very fast in front of our eyes. Every year there are new improvements, new fascinating technologies that are instantly taken over by creatives and artists.

New technologies play also important roles in enhancing productivity and raising sustainability, such as the efforts to use AI and carbon removal technologies to fight climate change.

Raising awareness of urgent climate issues and acting for significant prompt change should be highly important to every human being. Hence it’s natural for us to implement these topics into the program. We show that digital art as well can make us think about the complexity of the ecology and how to act in alternative ways.

6. THE AUDIOVISUAL EVENT REACHED ITS 9TH EDITION THIS YEAR. TO WRAP UP OUR INTERVIEW TO PATCHLAB FESTIVAL WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK:

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE 10TH EDITION NEXT YEAR? AND WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEAREST TECHNOLOGICAL FUTURE?

P.C.L. So many aspects can change the future, that we can easily fantasize about the future of digital technologies. The forthcoming 5G and Elan Musk’s StarLink will change the internet in the next few years. In the same ways as it has evolved from the 70s until today.

The Internet of Things will create a better global network, expanding the playground for the digital artists. Big Data, Bioart, AI will become more common. Art as well will become more accessible to the audience.

We are going to leave our beloved friends, the smart phones, forever. We will be using HoloLens or similar Mixed Reality devices, where all the calculations will be made in cloud systems, on a supercomputer. The rest will be just displays and terminals to access the network.

E.W. The pandemic year showed enormous growth in the video games industry among others. In the previous editions we already considered some aspects of the valuable creations developed in this significant discipline of digital culture.

Next year we prepare for the 10th edition and we plan to dedicate part of the festival program to creative video games and the interventions in the virtual space. In 2021 Poland will celebrate the 100th birthday of the great sci-fi writer, Stanislaw Lem.

We would like to grace this year by continuing the development of the SOL.AR.IS art mobile app with new content inspired by the creatures of the intelligent ocean described in the Solaris novel. Additionally for this great occasion, we are preparing an interactive AR city game that will be designed together with invited artists.

In the hope that next year the restrictions will be lifted, we are also planning an on-line strategy. It worked great this year as it allowed us to reach a wide audience and to give access to the program for a much longer time.

I would like to emphasize that the Patchlab Festival remains CONNECTED until the end of the year. There is still time to dive into digital art programs online for those who missed it!

We hoped you enjoyed our interview to Patchlab Festival. We are definitely looking forward to the next year edition. As always, Stay Tuned!

Stay connected with Digital Arts Festival

Learn more about the 9th edition of the Patchlab Digital Art Festival

Read our interview to Athens Digital Arts Festival

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George Berlin is leading the design and the construction in collaboration with Tashan native villagers.

What a story! When George Berlin got in touch with us we couldn’t quite grasp the impact of this social-artistic sculpture.

A 6 weeks trip to Taiwan to send a powerful, selfless and reconciliating artistic message. During the pandemic of course. Why not!

Let’s give some background to this (crazy) artistic trip. Typhoon Morakot (The August 8th Flood) hit Taiwan from August 6th to August 10th, 2009.

The typhoon destroyed some people’s home and lands, but spared others. The hearts of the villagers were hit and wounded, and mistrust between people gradually appeared due to many practical factors.

In Laiji Village the pace of reconstruction is slowly progressing. Nevertheless finding a sustainable natural way of development without losing the cultural heritage of Tashan is crucial.

Lighting up the Tashan Tree of Light and a Heart of Love belonging to the Cou tribe will let a bright light shine at the foot of Tashan. Remembering the importance of love and sharing.

In this difficult year of 2020, the Tashan Tree of Light will illuminate the seven corners of the world from the top of Alishan Mountain, warming each heart, and letting the light of love bring peace and blessings to all.

So that’s the story folks. George Berlin is currently in Taiwan, working with villagers of all ages to decorate, assemble and install the 10 meters high Tashan Tree of Light in the mountain of Taiwan. Together with the companion sculpture Heart of Love in a nearby village.

Well the sculpture is in progress! And you can follow the adventures and mis-adventures of audiovisual artist George Berlin on his blog.

We are going to keep ourselves tuned in to see the final result of the Tashan Tree of Light! In the meantime we send all our affection and solidarity to the people affected by the Typhoon.

George Berlin Blog – Follow the adventure

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A special online edition offering an alternative way of enjoying the numerous audiovisual artists involved from all over the world.

The festival is organised by the same ensemble that has been delivering the massive audiovisual artists meeting LPM, since 2004. Flyer SRL, Linux Club and FLxER.net are also behind Live Cinema Festival, the boutique event we attended (physically!) back in September.

Fotonica features a wide focus on the audiovisual arts, embracing the many features and different expressions within the new media.

Not just performances and VJ sets but also installations, lectures and workshops. In each edition, Fotonica offers a space for both artistic networking and outreach of new audiences.

This year, the organizers have created a virtual environment and live streaming channel where it is possible to discover and to participate in a safe, interactive and innovative way.

The team behind Fotonica is very conscious of the importance of international partnerships. This year the festival is collaborating with Athens Digital Art Festival , Lunchmeat Festival, Cerrado Mapping Festival, Live Cinema Festival, Cairotronica, Bright Festival and System11.

Therefore the event does not offer simple entertainment. Fotonica is a valuable hub for all audiovisual artists to keep inspiring and being inspired. Even from their own studios.

Arte19VVR VR Rooms will host the digital exhibitions, VR Mapping, lecture and live AV performances through VJTelevision and Twitch. Workshops, lectures and talks will take place on Meet and Zoom.

A full array of digital and virtual platforms to maintain the audiovisual event alive, despite the second wave Covid restrictions.

Hence the organizers are sending an important message to the audience: arts have to adapt to any arising scenario leveraging the full creative potential of the latest technologies.

Read our report about Live Cinema Festival

Contact

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VJ Television | Twitch | Facebook | Instagram

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EXTRAsync is an inter-disciplinary platform that develops innovative projects and devices within the Audiovisual culture.

Of course when we found out about this new device we asked the developers Marco Monfardini, Gianluca Sibaldi and Amelie Duchow for an interview. And here you got it!

1. We were truly excited when you first showed us this new audiovisual projection tool you have developed. Can you tell us how you came up with the idea of the EXTRAscan?

Marco: My initial idea dates back to a few years ago, when I wanted to create an instrument that could generate sounds and visuals by using video projection on any given surface.

I wanted to experiment a new way of both visual and sound composition. After a long time of fruitless research I was almost on the verge of giving up.

However I told Gianluca about my idea, knowing him as a soundtrack composer and ever since a “computer alchemist”. Combining these two types of experiences, we began to transform our imagination into reality.

The first steps were exhilarating and pushed us to completely immerse ourselves in creating this new “device”.

2. Technically speaking, how does the audiovisual scan work? What kind of technological set up does it require?

Gianluca: this is a “slow” version of a structured light projection, a technique commonly used to perform 3D scans. We project lines on the scanned object by using a video projector. It then detects shapes and colors through 4 specially modified cameras.

The collected data information is processed in real time via a network of 5 computers. We use a mix of standard visualization algorithms and others we developed ourselves. Each computer has a specific task and contributes to the final audio and video output.

3. This cutting-edge tool is designed for live performances. Can you describe how the live manipulation works, once receiving the data parameters from the projector scanner?

We designed this tool to be independent, playing sound and generate images based on what it “reads”.

During a live performance we use a basic structure created ad hoc for the hosting venue. We modify the parameters according to the evolution of the performance while also modifying the structure itself in real-time. Both the audio and the video elements undergo a continuous elaboration.

4. In terms of artistic expression, what are the creative possibilities you discovered by utilizing this tool as audiovisual artists?

It is a tool for exploring and reading reality. It extracts features that are usually undetectable through a cross-contamination between visual elements that generate sound and sound elements that have visual correspondences.

This transports us into an additional dimension that becomes itself an object of stimulation and creation.

5. Could you share with us the audiovisual projects you have been working on thanks to this technology, both in the artistic and corporate world?

We have developed several projects with EXTRAscan in collaboration with both corporate and artistic entities.

Porsche recently commissioned us a live scanning for the launch of the new electric Taycan 4S. We presented a performance at the Scuola Holden in Torino in collaboration with Garofalo & Idee Associate.

For the Bonotto Foundation we developed a study for an audiovisual installation. For the LEV Festival 2019 we have developed the site specific live performance SCANAUDIENCE.

6. You have showcased the EXTRAscan at LEV festival 2019, by delivering an audiovisual representation of the audience called SCANAUDIENCE. Can you tell us about this remarkable performance?

SCANAUDIENCE was born from the study of the human figure and the idea of reversing the roles of a common performance. The audience itself is the protagonist of the performance. They are the subject of the scan and thus directly determining the audio and video result.

In order to develop SCANAUDIENCE at LEV Festival we built a scale model of the Laboral theater. The model included an audience made of small paper dolls that we used to fine-tune the performance.

The technical realization of SCANAUDIENCE is a fairly complex operation. Therefore we had to foresee the characteristics of both the venue and the array of the people to optimize timings for the sound check.

The result greatly exceeded our expectations, thanks to a large number of visitors and excellent technical support from the LEV organization.

Before our premiere set at LEV we did not have the opportunity to do a rehearsal with about 1000 people at the same time.

We had a rough idea of the outcome thanks to our model construction, but actually the real result was far more exciting and surprising for both us and the audience.

SCANAUDIENCE at the Laboral theater revealed a further dimension in addition to the sound generation and video output represented on the screen.

The scan lines projected onto the audience became themselves an additional spectacle inside the main show: an evocative feedback of the action of the “machine”.

7. Can you give us some insights about any further developments you are planning for the EXTRAscan?

We are currently studying the development for large scale scanning of buildings, monuments and architectural elements. We have worked on a draft of “innerVoices”. It is project that “gives voice” to historic buildings and other elements within the context of urban development.

Another area of development is the contemporary design. We aim to carry out the scanning of design objects in a more “chamber music” dimension, as they were generative elements of a small ensemble of voices and instruments.

From a technical standpoint, we are designing a new software that is even more advanced and offers a more immediate way of work.

We have recently started the development of new cameras for EXTRAscan. By integrating many functions directly into the camera software, we are automating many delicate calibration operations that had to be done manually.

We are also designing a new device that will use some of the EXTRAscan technology. The device will allow other artists, performers, VJ’s, DJ’s, etc. to have a customizable graphics engine. It will be driven directly by the sound and programmable through a touch interface.

Contact

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SCANAudience

LEV Festival

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System 11 launched an Online VJing Competition open to all audiovisual artists.

As lockdown is swaying back to numerous countries audiovisual artists are getting creative (again) to keep the show going.

The System 11 VJing Competition is a very good opportunity for emerging Vjs to get their AV art in front of selected jurors, while also aiming for some juicy prizes.

Resolume and Imimot Software are in fact sponsoring the event offering their licensed audiovisual software to both winners and finalists: Resolume Arena & Avenue, CoGe VJ and VEZÉR.

System 11 VJing Competition will unravel as follows:

The team will preselect around ten candidates from a video demo of at least 30 seconds. Registrations are made using the form on System 11 website before November 24.

Then, a compilation will be put together with extracts from the preselected demo videos. The video compilation will be shared publicly, with links to full demo videos and artist information. The audience will be able to vote on the website from Friday November 27 to Monday November 30.

On Monday, November 30 the three finalists will be announced. The finalists will invited to do a live performance of around 7 minutes, streamed publicly, on Saturday, December 5. A jury then decides on the winner of the S.V.C. 2020 Sunday December 6.

System 11 Vjing Competition features a nice and interactive format that we are sure will get quite a few interesting audiovisual artists involved!

System11 is the center of gravity of a great nebula of friends, enthusiasts, artists and technicians.

Originally from the Drôme Provençale, longtime friends started to organize festivals and cultural events in 2014.

Over time they have forged their reputation on a balance of conviviality and quality. System11 is today a network of cultural organization and technical services.

Register to the Competition

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The project kicked off in 2019 in Rome with a spectacular showcase of mapping projections on the Facade of the Palazzo della Farnesina.

The Italian studios selected by The Farnesina Digital Art Experience are: Antaless Visual Design, Antica Proietteria, Apparati Effimeri, FLxER, Kanaka Studio, Luca Agnani Studio, Michele Pusceddu, Monogrid, Mou Factory, Olo Creative Farm, OOOPStudio, Pixel Shapes, The Fake Factory e WöA Creative Company.

During this difficult year for all arts, the organizers set a new phase for the audiovisual arts project, turning it into an itinerant showcase of the best in the Italian audiovisual arts.

The audiovisual exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Bright Festival Connect.

Against all pandemic odds the world premiere of the expo took place in Leipzig on the 23rd of October during the Bright Festival Connect.

The exhibition in Leipzig is promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Berlin and will be open to the public until the 9th of May 2021.

There wasn’t a better venue to host the event than the Kunstkraftwerk in Leipzig, former power plant from the early 1900s then turned into the first digital arts German museum.

The audiovisual artists didn’t waste the creative opportunities offered by the industrial surroundings.

In fact, The Farnesina Digital Art Experience delivers a dramatic multimedia experience to the audience. A true sensorial bath featuring a 360° immersive audiovisual projection breaking all boundaries between artwork and user.

The Kunstkraftwerk will also host other immersive art pieces, interactive installations, mix-media sculptures, live performances and light art shows. The main goal is to encourage visitors to interact with new technologies and discover cutting-edge and futuristic artistic expressions .

The The Farnesina Digital Art Experience proves once more the possibilities of audience engagement offered by the audiovisual arts installations.

It also restresses how we can rethink our way of experiencing arts, while also respecting the COVID related health regulations.

Experiencing immersive arts can be done in total safety when planning has been done thoroughly and followed to the letter.

Shutting down museums and art galleries is possibly the easiest solution, but not so viable when we look at museum sustainability and cultural enrichment for the citizens.

Contact

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Barcelona is home town of many amazing audiovisual artists. It is not a coincidence our magazine has been founded there.

The city and its surroundings have always been very active since the early stages of the audiovisual culture.

Mapping World Lab features a 360° experimental approach to projection mapping.

During 10 years of activity, they have experimented with very different formats such as façade projections, indoor immersive shows, interactive installations, dance mapping and beyond.

MWL is active internationally both in the corporate and artistic world. Their main artistic mission is to transform venues and public spaces into immersive aesthetic environment through audiovisual content.

Vertical Dance Mapping

Very intriguing experiment where acrobatic vertical-dancers from SACUDE performed onto a façade projected upon by Mapping World Lab.

In order to deliver this complex show, the audiovisual artists have utilized motion graphics, VFX, 3D animations and a bespoke motion tracking tool to achieve precise synchronization with the dance’s movement.

An ambitious, gravity-defying mixed media show that didn’t fail in inspiring awe and wonder in the audience through the interaction among body, music and projection.

Interactive Projection Mapping

Based on the classic SIMON SAYS game, Mapping World Lab have developed this playful interactive audiovisual installations.

The audiovisual game has been projected onto the façade of the Sabadell council building, near Barcelona.

It consists of four large pushbuttons (green, yellow, red and blue) placed on the ground, so the player can interact with them.

The game sets a colour sequence, adding one extra colour at every turn. The player needs to repeat the exact pattern in the correct order.

The result? An highly engaging installation that connects strongly with the younger audience, by encouraging them to carry out a creative physical activity while the rest of the viewers enjoy the live show.

Body Mapping

Building facades have been utilized widely by projection mappers worldwide. What about using our own body as a live painting?

Mapping World Lab has been experimenting together with several performers to offer live audiovisual shows where the body in movement is the main expressive medium.

An alluring sensorial experience that captivates the audience and triggers an interesting dialogue between audiovisual artists and body performers.

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It has been a while since our last in-person attendance. We had great expectations from the organizers of the LPM, pioneer audiovisual event with global outreach.

Well, we had a brilliant time! We couldn’t wait to write a report of the Live Cinema Festival 2020. This edition has showcased a painstaking array of amazing audiovisual artists.

The festival took place in the beautiful Acquario Romano – Casa dell’ Architettura in Rome. A minimalistic but very effective set-up featuring a 5x20m curved screen and a powerful sound system.

The necessary gear to truly enjoy an immersive audiovisual festival in this fascinating architectonic surrounding.

Each performance night has been preceded by a symposium about the main topic of the festival. A topic that is very dear to us: “What is synesthesia?”

During the symposia different keynote speakers and the performing artists have explored the theme of synesthesia from a scientific, anthropological and of course artistic perspective.

I am very thankful to the organizers for inviting me as Audiovisual City director to moderate the 15th and 16th October nights talks.

It’s now time to go through the amazing audiovisual artists we had the chance to see at the Live Cinema Festival. Here our highlights of the three great AV nights we attended in the eternal city!

AID KID & PAVEL KARAFIAT

The first show was a great pleasant surprise. You know we love to discover new artists. When we discovered them live is even better!

The electronic music producer Aid Kid and the developer and visual artist Pavel Karafiát have struck up a constantly evolving collaboration.

Their audiovisual performance features a thumping intelligent techno style and an otherworldly shape-shifting visual landscape. They delivered a punchy, colourful and hyped-up show for our indulgence.

The AV duo constantly plays with the synchronization and asynchronization of the techno sounds and video patterns, slowly building up a powerful real-time synesthesia.

It felt like being on a spaceship. We were travelling through an unknown AV galaxy populated by wild geometries in a spiral of entropic disintegration.

AMELIE DUCHOW

Amelie Duchow has showcased her performance TONSTICH, a tribute to her background as a fashion designer. We already had the pleasure to see her live at Splice Festival back in 2018.

She confirmed once again her elegant artistic maturity and outstanding technical quality. A digital tailor fabricating an AV dress utilizing the sounds of the textile machines and visual body patterns.

The visual structure is precise and analytical, uplifted by a powerful soundtrack full of reminiscences from the early German Techno scene.

We are transported inside the very essence of the textile making process. The AV pace is breathlessly intense and each elements of composition connects to each other through lines, dots and numbers: a dress made of data then turned into sounds and visuals.

Amelie works relentlessly on her dress offering out a seamless digital conversation where each word is fine tuned to perfection.

She takes us on an abstract journey through primary shapes and stripped-down sounds, to finally show the sewing machines in an unexpected figurative reveal.

DYLAN COTE & PIERRE LAFANECHERE

The French AV duo has presented this uniquely ominous project based on the aesthetic “hack” of Google Earth.

The audiovisual artists have scanned the totalitarian project by Google looking for system glitches and extracting images from the platform.

The result is an inhuman, cold immersive environment empowered by a disruptive soundscape.

Images from urban and natural contexts are digitally intervened to create a dystopian landscape, populated by lifeless carcasses from a compressed digital world.

The cities melt in front of our eyes while the soundtrack is in constant crescendo generating an informal aesthetic melting pot.

Finally the glitch takes over the entire composition while the music picks up on a 4×4 rhythm. And the figurative world is destroyed by the total abstraction.

ZAGAR AV EXPERIENCE

Zagar AV experience is made by Balázs Zságer and Kati Katona. The AV duo leverages the artistic possibilities of spontaneous creations, using a real-time integration of live images combined with animations. 

Their performance MIRROR OF MIND features minimal ambient techno music interacting with atmospheric monochrome geometric floating objects.

The audiovisual artists explore different shapes and textures during the real-time process through an experimental approach to the AV dramaturgy.

PATRIK LECHNER

Another great surprise was ORBITOCLAST by Patrick Lechner, cutting-edge Austrian audiovisual artist, who has been creating experimental audio & video content since the mid-2000s.

Patrick Lechner and his team developed an ad-hoc AI algorithm. It allows him to generate and manipulate noisy-glitchy audiovisual objects.

ORBITOCLAST represents the audiovisual excess, the extravaganza. The syncopated pace communicates how the artist is taming this AV force generated by the algorithm.

His creations feel alive as they conquer the space and the audience’ senses. This amorphous digital blob animated live by the performer-puppeteer is terribly magnetic.

We felt as the screen was going to collapse any moment under the live manipulation. On the sides of the screen Lechner shows the data he is artistically intervening, sharing with us his own working space.

Distorted sounds overlap while the images flow at staggering speed, generating an alluring combination of different audiovisual textures.

MAOTIK

Last but not least the French audiovisual artist Maotik, internationally renowned for his generative artwork and creative use of data inputs.

Maotik performed AERYON LIVE, an audiovisual journey from the perspective of a drone flying over a vast digital landscape interpreting data inputs from Google Earth.

The drone scans the data environment by endlessly hovering around. All points of view are fragmented while the shapes are dissolving and reassembling.

We are exploring this fragile, unstable scenario where nothing human is left. Only the terribly mesmerizing representation of data.

The world as interpreted audio-visually by a machine, an effect obtained by the clever use of the generative bespoke algorithm.

Throughout the live act, natural looking audiovisual textures resurface from the amorphous magma, giving some peace while the music mellows down. But nothing can stop the overwhelming ocean of data absorbing everything on its path.

Maotik’s style is mature and refined. He perfectly knows how to keep the audience with their eyes and ears glued on, throughout this indulging AV journey.

We hope you enjoyed our report of the Live Cinema Festival. We thank the organizers for having us and the audiovisual artists for the amazing performances they have showcased. #WeLoveAV

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Learn more about the artists

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Maotik has produced a wide variety of audiovisual projects during his long lasting career. He is highly interested in the relationship among science, art and technology.

His aesthetic is refined, well paced and alluring. Pixel by pixel, beat by beat, Maotik builds up immersive environments where the audience gradually and seamlessly slips in.

By developing his own algorithms he is able to design unique artistic experiences where the sounds and images are intrinsically connected. Nevertheless he doesn’t seek full control over the audiovisual outcome.

Across his very different projects there is one interesting component that links them all: the inclusion of outside inputs, such as data feeds or audience interaction which are not totally under his control.

By incorporating these external inputs Maotik enriches the audiovisual experience. His polished aesthetic structure is shaken by the random elements from the outside world, making each show different from the previous one.

A mesmerizing contrast between his precise geometry-based audiovisual aesthetic and the chaos born from the random elements, that are manipulated live by the performer or by the audience.

Maotik has presented his work in various festivals around the world, such as Mutek Festival, Live Cinema in Rio, Signal Festival in Prague, the British Film Institute in London and ARS Electronica in Linz.

Maotik recently moved to Berlin where he continues his artistic research by taking part in the art residency organized between Sonar+D and Factory Berlin.

He also joined the CODE university where he works as a professor giving lectures about interactive design, generative design and AR/VR environments.

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LISTEN TO THE 9TH EPISODE (MORE EPISODES BELOW) :

16.10.20 Terry Morgan

Borealis Festival of Light – is there anything this man can’t do?

The Podcast consists of a series of informal interviews to internationally renowned audiovisual artists.

When Gavin Borthwick from Light FX UK reached out to us, to pitch the idea of a podcast about projection mapping, we truly felt excited!

A podcast about audiovisual culture, it is something that has been hovering around our busy heads for a while. Therefore we didn’t hesitate to lend our expertise as media partners to something quite unique in the Audiovisual scene.

Light FX UK are releasing what we believe is a first for the UK. Colour My World Podcast is an intimate look into the exciting world of projection mapping. A nine episodes series with a further series in 2021.

Listen to content creators, festival organisers, software developers and even a wannabe stuntman.

Hear their stories, learn their insights and gain a new understanding of this creative community!

21.8.20 Tamas Vaspori

Maxin10sity – Broke a world record with their first ever job.

28.8.20 Joshua Ludzki  

Luma Projection Arts Festival – innovative Crowdfunder fighting back against Corona.

 

4.9.20 Wayne Sables 

 Wayne Sables Project – he should have been a stuntman.

11.9.20 Amin Rachad 

Ame In Love – dropped in at the deep end.

 18.9.20 George Berlin 

George Berlin Studios – the amazing dream of an 8 year old kid.

 

25.09.20 Istvan David

Limelight Projections – from slide projectors to world class stages.

02.10.20 Falcon’s Creative Group

Making the impossible, possible.

09.10 Theron Pray

Synesthesia – see that sound?

CONTACT

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