The studio creates immersive multidisciplinary AV shows, especially focusing on the fusion between projection mapping and dance performance.

We asked Paco a few questions about his background and creative career and also about the new projects he has been cooking up during the quarantine period.

1. When did you start working on the interaction between audiovisual and dance performance, and how did you get involved? What are the aspects that are more appealing to you about working in this interdisciplinary field?

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.

I had discovered the potential of dance from an audiovisual perspective and the inner revelation of what I wanted to do in the next few years.

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”.

2. You are the creator of “Girasomnis”, an itinerant project that has been traveling around the world. Can you tell us about the creative process behind the inception of this innovative project?

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.

3. Paco Gramaje Studio recently launched the “Dance Mapping Virtual Tour 2020” which it’s fundraising on Gumroad. This is in preparation for a new cutting-edge AV dance project in 2021 involving a 360 immersive environment . Can you give us some insights about the whole project?

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.

Therefore I needed to devise another type of format for the new normal awaiting us: a fully immersive virtual Dance Mapping Show.

As my previous theatre production, without the pressure of a client and using the Girasomnis music.

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. 

Now it’s time to go further. I want to gather all the knowledge I gained during the last 10 years and apply it to a virtual reality show, where I can break the limits and make an immersive 360º visual performance with dancers.

This new production is planned to be released in VR and physical 360 projection format in late 2021.

4. When working on a project how do you pick your collaborators? What are the main roles you look for in your team? 

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. 

5. Can you describe your general creative approach when starting on a new project?

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.

6. In 2015, Paco Gramaje Studio won an award at the International Mapping Festival in Girona for the Micro-mapping category. Could you share with us your thoughts about the concept of “Micro-mapping”? 

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.

7. We are aware you regularly teach courses and masterclasses of video mapping applied to performing arts, in Spain and Latin America.


What specific training would you recommend for digital artists who have just started their career and why? Which are the countries with more opportunities for audiovisual arts, in your opinion?

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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In the exhibition the Iranian artist Mohsen Hazrati will describe his experience in the Immense VR / AR Residence 2020 at Espronceda.

After his first stage of the artist residence, the pandemic outbreak forced the audiovisual artist to delay his return to Iran and continue to develop research and projects in Barcelona.

During the audiovisual event the artist will describe his virtual talk in the RTTT project of the IAM weekend 2020.

The talk revolves around the concepts of reflections and mirrors in the Iranian literature, and how the RTT (render to texture) technique in 3D game engines could translate these concepts in experiences.

In addition Hazrati explore the speech based art game projects: SOKHON. In these game art experiences the player’s voice can alter the game process.

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New Media Artist, VJ and Photographer born in Barcelona.

I gratuated in Animation & VFX at Universitat Ramon Llull La Salle Bonanova.

My main interest in audiovisual culture is the treatment of image and movement. I have a strong understanding of color, texture, and light, and how these elements work together.

Also sociology, psychology and the overall understanding of human behavior.

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Her career follows a colourful journey from working in optics to graduating in Psychology, working in mental health and homeless services, VJing to Graphic Design.

She has a long-term passion for musical and new media art projects. She makes her mark with technicolour live visual performances under the artistic name VJ AYL.

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On February 14th, 15th and 16th, artists transformed Poblenou in Barcelona into an experimentation between light, movement, and virtual reality, challenging the limits of our own perceptions. We found major names in the international scene such as United Visual Artists, Ouchhh, Luke Jerram, Antoni Varola, as well as artists from the national scene such as Monica Rikic, Anna Carreras, Diego Suarez, to mention just few of the twenty three artists participating in Llum BCN Festival 2020.

We will show you just few of all the installations that impacted us. We think it’s a good experience because it allows you to connect with Barcelona in another way, through light, digital technology and moving images being part of the cityscape without being at the service of its exploitation.

The installation “Fiat Lux” by Antoni Arola made us walk around in circles for a long time, in a contrast of a warm and cold environment composed by geometric sculptures made by lasers and smoke. It was like a theatre play, where we were the actors, as he desired.

The installation “Musica Universalis” by United Visual Artists, an imposing choreography of movement, light and sound that is inspired by the mechanics of celestial objects. We could perceive the light and the absence of light at the same time – it was surprising.

“Persopectiva” by SUMMALAB was an installation from “OFF LLum” inspired in the paintings of the artist Josef Albers. Pictorial pieces that play with the chromatic range to create a sense of depth. The students of the master of Audiovisual Innovation and Interactive Environments at BAU University, had the opportunity to help in the process of construction and we could see awesome results.

Another installation that captivated us because of the approach of playing with light and materials to create compositions in the space was “Instantes cromáticos”by Maurici Ginés in OFF Llum BCN.

But these are just few of all the moments we enjoyed getting immersed in the space, perceiving light, sound and movement from different unique perspectives. We look forward to attending again next year.

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MUTEK Barcelona marks 11 clicks around the sun on March 4-7, 2020, with 4 days and nights of live electronic music, audiovisual performances, professional activities and more.

After a decade of explorations and discoveries, the festival is preparing for a new era as a platform for dissemination and innovation in digital creativity with activities that will be developed throughout the year.

Maintaining the global commitment of the MUTEK international network to promote and create synergies with projects focused on diversity, gender equality and empowerment in the creative industry, in 2020, MUTEK.ES puts special emphasis on fostering spaces for artistic and professional formation, through different seminars and artistic residencies that will have their point of exhibition within the frame of the festival in March.

Characterized by its exceptional presentation standards and a curatorial approach that draws equally from international and national talent, always aiming to deliver revelation and discovery to our audiences, MUTEK Barcelona continues to operate in a human-scale, community-minded context.

Mutek ES 

Barcelona, Spain

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Tell us a bit about the visual side of your show. What can the audience expect in terms of live A/V performance?

The idea is to treat light from a 3D environment by making the light beams coincide, forming geometric figures in motion in the air.

Have your created the visual part of the show yourself or collaborated with a visual artist? (If so, who and why?) If not, tell us about how you developed the project and any challenges you faced in dealing with both elements of the performance.

I’m working with Jose Vaaliña from Eyesberg studio. It was a very natural collaboration, we met after finishing two gigs I did in Barcelona and we talked about the possibility of working together as we have very similar ideas about the relation between music and visuals, now it’s happening and I can say we are both really happy with the results.

What tools and set up are you using for the show? 

We are using 5 powerful projectors, various smoke machines (fog and hazer) and also some visuals. The beams of light will react to sound to create a symbiosis between both. Also we will use some lights and strobes for punctual moments.

How do you feel about the importance of the visual experience in your projects past and present?

It is something I have always thought about as a very important element. Even when I played in rock bands lots of years ago we always carried a few lights to add impact to the final part of the show.

Since I’m working as Huma, I collaborated with Drömnu using visuals at the very beginning, then moved to colorful L.E.D.s, smoke and strobes working with Juan Pablo Larrazabal and now I wanted to try new things and Jose appeared. I like the idea of doing something immersive, not something that you have to look at the detail or that can distract the public but something that will enhance the music. 

You’ve been making music for more than 10 years now. What is the project that you are most proud of, or have the most attachment to so far?

Well, I’m always more attached to the last thing I’ve ever done. Even though I really think that ‘Eva’ and this show is the project in which I have worked the most on and the project I’m the proudest of to date.

Got any questions for Andrés, Eyesberg, or just want to share anything with us? Jot down your thoughts below

https://hedonicreversal.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/hedonicreversal/

https://hedonicreversal.bigcartel.com/

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The VISUAL BRASIL Festival will hold its seventeenth edition at Punt Multimedia. A dynamic center for multimedia projects and digital technologies, located in the Casa del Mig of the Parc de la Espanya Industrial de Barcelona.

Local and international artists will hold this meeting aimed at researching and experimenting within the Audiovisual arts: video art, mapping, audiovisual performances, workshops, installations, and VJs.

The event focuses on real time video production, the culture of free creation and new collaborative formats.

Visual Brasil is an independent project supported by several cultural entities and artists. VB fulfils  thanks to the interests of the participating artists, whom are the core engine 

Visual Brasil

Barcelona, Spain

rickcancado@hotmail.com

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Festival Visual Brasil

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MIRA wants to bring the audience closer to several realms of artistic creativity through an event with two main objectives: to function as a platform for new creators as well as a showcase for world-renowned artists and to create unique immersive experiences through digital and technological innovation and the interlacing of live music and visuals.

MIRA is a digital arts festival based on three interconnected areas: exhibition, dissemination and education, and is held annually in Barcelona (since 2011) and Berlin (since 2016).

Focused on the intersection between arts and digital culture, the festival features a program comprised of audiovisual shows in both traditional and full dome formats, digital art installations, screenings, conferences, and workshops.

MIRA promotes artistic collaborations and boosts the creation of new projects, supporting the relationships between collectives, associations and artists from the fields of digital arts and technology. The associative and non-profit nature of the organization, aided by the participation of volunteers, guarantees that the results are reinvested in promoting digital culture in a sustainable way.

Mira! Festival

Fabra i Coats, Barcelona

C/ de Sant Adrià, 20

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Mira!

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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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