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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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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Their artwork range from audiovisual performances and new media theatre to design, interactive installations and projection mapping.

mammasONica approach to audiovisual reveals a fond social aesthetic and a strong relationship with the public space.

Their most recognized works are undoubtedly their large scale mapping projections.

mammasONica have projected onto prestigious locations such as European Parliament in Strasburg, the Atrium in Weimar, the Palace of Parliament in Bucarest, the Romisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne, the Lancaster Caste in Lancashire.

The Italian collective has won several art awards during their busy career. In 2014 and 2015 they won the Genius Loci Weimar Competition with their TRA-DIGITAL Projection mapping onto the Anna Amalia Bibliothek and Zoetropolis on the Weimar Atrium.

mammasONica design complex AV storytelling experiences that require more than a simple look to be fully appreciated.

They are technically outstanding and conceptually advanced, leaving the viewer with thoughts and feelings that lingers way after the performance.

Their AV artwork is too dense and utterly complex to be described from a single perspective. To better grasp their meaningful aesthetic I have picked a few works sent to me by the collective:

ZOETROPOLIS

This massive 400m projection mappings has been developed for the Gauforum in Weimar in the frame of the Genius Loci Weimar festival.

The building is a symbol of the dystopian Nazi society. The painful human odyssey has been brilliantly transposed by the creative studio, within a dark and unsettling storytelling.

As many other works of the collective, it incorporates a clever fusion of different techniques such as 3D Animation and Stop-Motion.

A superb immersive audiovisual work, triggering historical reflection through a mesmerizing visual impact.

‘KHOR

Very different from the dystopian storytelling of Zoetropolis, ‘KHOR features a beautifully crafted representation of the natural elements.

The main protagonist of this abstract storytelling is the ever-flowing energy that animates the static structure Palace of Parliament in Romania.

Matter and antimatter, light and darkness, hyperbolic fractals and invisible quantic forces. The space boundaries are fragmented leaving the spectators dumbfounded and lost in this constant flow of light.

PLANAR.S & FRAME.S

A very playful light installation engaging with audience of all age. An irrefutable prove of how versatile mammasONica are. And how diverse is their audiovisual narrative.

The light shapes reinvent the urban fabric by engaging with the passer-by and dematerialising the space of predesignated trajectories.

They are placed within the urban fabric to open a dialogue with the public; like a metaphor, where our relationships are filtered through perception and construction.

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Sometimes even artists that we should already know, but that we discover late, like Memo Akten.

I stumbled upon Memo’s work in my investigations and learnings of the well-known VJ software, VDMX (which is to put it quite lightly – VDMX is a very powerful visual creation tool).

Memo Akten describes himself as:

“an artist and researcher from Istanbul, Turkey. He works with emerging technologies as both a medium and subject matter, investigating their impact on society and culture – with a specific interest in the collisions between nature, science, technology, ethics, ritual and religion.”

http://www.memo.tv/

Artificial Intelligence

His work goes much further your average visual artist, as he specialises in Artificial Intelligence, works with algorithms and large-scale responsive installations with image, sound and light.

In AV culture’s layman terms he’s an audiovisual jack-of-all-trades and a true techy, oh and he’s studying for a PhD in AI as if that wasn’t enough. Here you can see a selection of his work in the very accurately named video, ‘Selection of work in 3 minutes’ (2017).

Audiovisual awards and prizes

Akten received the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica – the most prestigious award in Media Art – for his work ‘Forms’ in 2013.

He has exhibited and performed internationally at exhibitions including The Grand Palais’s “Artistes & Robots” in 2018 (Paris FR), The Barbican’s “More than human” in 2017 (London UK) and the Victoria & Albert Museum’s landmark “Decode” exhibition in 2009 (London UK).

He has shown work at venues such as the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (Moscow RU), Shanghai Ming Contemporary Art Museum (Shanghai CN), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo JP), Royal Opera House (London UK), Lisbon Architecture Triennale (Lisbon PT), Itaú Cultural (Sao Paulo BR) and many others.

Creative Collaborations

He has collaborated with celebrities such as Lenny Kravitz, U2, Depeche Mode and Professor Richard Dawkins, and brands including Google, Twitter, Deutsche Bank, Coca Cola and Sony PlayStation. A

kten’s work is in numerous public and private collections around the world.

Alongside his practice, Akten is currently working towards a PhD at Goldsmiths University of London in artificial intelligence and expressive human-machine interaction.

He is deepening collaborative creativity between humans and machines and augment human creative expression.

Fascinated by trying to understand the world and human nature, he draws inspiration from fields such as physics, molecular & evolutionary biology, ecology, abiogenesis, neuroscience, anthropology, sociology and philosophy.

Marshmallow Laser Feast

Memo hasn’t just emerged on the scene by any means. In 2007 Akten founded The Mega Super Awesome Visuals Company (MSA Visuals), an art and tech creative studio.

For some of those who have been following audiovisual culture since before even Audiovisual City was born, then they’ll recognise the name Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) – the evolution of MSA Visuals in 2011.

In more recent years and a lot of success, Akten is now focusing on his own work and research, though his contribution to audiovisual culture and performance, must not go unmentioned.

I strongly recommend that you explore his exceptionally wide and varied body of artwork and scientific investigations, as it takes you on a socia cultural journey that goes beyond audiovisual art.

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Medusa Lab develops creative concepts applied to arts, entertainment and communication to create unique experiences through technological innovation.

They are specialized in delivering sensorial experiences through interactive and immersive installations, projection mapping, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and 360 Video.

They combine digital media with other artistic disciplines such as music, dance, theatre and performance.

Medusa Lab showcases a profound connection with their ancestral roots by enhancing Mexican folklore through the use of new media arts.

One of the projects that we believe is representative of this folkloric connection is the fulldome brand experience they developed for Mezcal brand 400 CONEJOS.

We advocated this specific project as a case study for our article about social distancing and audiovisual, in collaboration with Revells Office.

400 CONEJOS

In this multi-sensory experience the participants received at first a drink of mezcal (a delicious alcoholic drink distilled from the sap of an agave).

Once entered in the dome they had the chance to learn about the slow and crafty process of making this ancient drink.

Laid down on comfy cushions while still savoring the long-lasting agave flavour, the audience is fully immersed within the fulldome projection mapping. A very good example of combining education, branding and audiovisual.

Medusa Lab took part of many national and international events such as Venice Biennale of Architecture 2014, Mediaxion, Live Performers Meeting and Circuito Electrovisiones.

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We present the new media artist, Mónica Rikić, whose work focuses on code, electronics and non-digital objects to create interactive projects often framed as experimental games.

Her interest lies in the social impact of technology, human-machine-human coexistence and the reappropriation of technological systems to rethink them through art. From educational approaches to sociological experimentation, her projects propose new ways of interacting with the digital environment that surrounds us.

She’s participated in festivals such as Arts Electronica, Sónar and FILE, among others. She’s been awarded at Japan Media Arts Festival, AMAZE Berlin, Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument Competition (Atlanta) and with a BBVA Foundation Leonardo grant to work on a research project about robots and social interactions.

She has also done artistic residencies at TAGin Montreal, QUT- The Cube in Australia, Platohedro in Medellin and Medialab Prado in Madrid.

Currently she’s part of two Creative Europe projects: Contested Desires and ARTificial IntelligenceLab.

We encourage you to see her webpage to know more about different projects that connect humans with technology.

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Originally, she studied Fine Arts, and now she is specialised in new media arts and digital technologies applied to the performance arts. She also teaches at the Fab Academy, as an expert in digital fabrication.

Marta develops visuals, interactive and generative graphics, as well as dynamic/interactive content for lighting design, custom electronic devices and wearables, interactive installations for musicians, dance and theatre companies, artists, designers and arts institutions.

Her work is constructed through the use of custom built software and hardware specific to each visual set, allowing her to manipulate all the content in real time and to explore the limits of visual noise, repetition and the link between the organic and the electronic.

She works primarily in Spain and Portugal on a wide variety of projects, from theatre to festivals. Marta has also performed at festivals such as Primavera Sound, LEV Matadero, Sonic Arts Festival, MIRA and WOS Festival.

She also has taught about technology and interactivity at: IED Madrid, Ephemereal Architecture Masters Degree at ETSAM Madrid, Medialab-Prado, La Casa Encendida ,Fundación Telefónica, BAU, UOC, and has mentored Hackatons at Makers of Barcelona with Ciclo.io.

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Their studio was founded in Barcelona in 2009. MID’s origins are found in the arts production centre Hangar, a meeting point for creative professionals, artists, programmers, and designers. This background, along with the experience acquired by the management team, allowed the audiovisual artists to become an established studio.

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Since then he had worked using a vast range of media. He completed an apprenticeship in the ancient crafts of Cordoban and Guadameci in 1997 after which he worked for Arte 2 on interior design projects incorporating the craft while also co-founding MIX, a Madrid based workshop and shop specialized in the upcycling of furniture and decorative objects, an endeavor that was way ahead of its time as the term “upcycling” wasn’t even in use then.

Mowgli started Vjing in 2004 alongside the band Detwiije, this led to more VJ gigs and visual creation for world-class artists and festivals including Above & Beyond, Astrix, Roisin Murphy, Infected Mushroom and Greg Wilson. He was classed amongst the top 8 European VJs in 2008 at the London International Music Show.

Soon after and as a natural progression from Vjing, Mowgli developed an interest in audiovisual performance which he’s been developing since 2010 when the show MAYA was created with producer Silverio Funk. It was premiered at the BFI Southbank as part of Dark Fibre and has since been performed at several venues in London and Rome. During this time he also developed a piece for the Musion holographic projection system which was screened at Kinetika Art Fair in London.

Throughout his career, he’s been involved in organizing and promoting various music and arts events including Stylistik, Sound on Vision, The Nozzle and AV Depot while also being a director of VJ London, a community-focused monthly event dedicated to the diffusion of audiovisual and technology based art forms.

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Marta creates video projections, mappings and LED installations for audiovisual performances, concerts or live DJ sets. She is a VJ at recurring gigs in Krakow and London. For her the starting point of any creative concept is always music.

She uses her own drawings, graphics and animations to design unique loops. Her artistic creations are characterised by multiple dissolving and intertwining layers and monochrome colour palette. Her live shows are never 100% planned; there is always lots of space for improvisation. She was born in Poland, currently live in London.

mrtrdck@gmail.com

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Marta

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