67 - Mia Makela

new media ¬ art now
[email protected]
www.aminima.net
Dirección:: Director:: Clara Alba ¬ Andrea García Méndez ¬ JoséTrascorrales
Diseño:: Design:: Trascorrales
Colaboradores:: Collaborators::
Chris Allen, HC Gilje, Kurt Ralske, Jonny DekamCasey Reas, Telecosystem
(Lucas V.D. Velden, David Kiers, Gideon Kiers), Things Happen, Lia, Lillevan,
Sue C., Pink Twins, Transforma, Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto), Olga Mink (aka
Oxygen), Klaus Obermaier, Ilan Katin, Philipp Geist, Susana Karrasch, Electronic
Shadow, Aether, Realited United, Boris & Brecht Debackere, Sandra Naumann,
Asli Serbest, Mona Mahall, VJTheory, María Ptqk, CAMP, Daniel García Rovira,
Sairica Rose, Arie Altena, Graffiti Research Lab
Traductores:: Translators:: Raquel Herrera, Daniel García Rovira
Editor:: Editor:: Espacio Publicaciones, S.L.
Apartado de Correos P.O. Box 2879 - 08080 Barcelona
Impresión:: Printing:: Eujoa Artes Gráficas dl/as1780/2003
Número Internacional Normalizado de Publicaciones
International Standard Serial Number
ISSN 1697-7777
a mínima:: no se hace responsable de la
opinión de sus colaboradores.
The content is responsibility of the authors.
Numero especial sobre Live Cinema,
comisariado por Mia Makela
Special issue about Live Cinema
curated by Mia Makela
En este número ::
In this number ::
Chris Allen
HC Gilje:
audiovisual spaces
Kurt Ralske
Jonny Dekam
Casey Reas
Telecosystems
Lucas v.d. Velden,
David Kiers, Gideon Kiers
Things Happen
Lia
Lillevan
Sue C.
Pink Twins
Transforma
Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto)
Olga Mink
Klaus Obermaier
Ilan Katin
Philipp Geist
Susana Karrasch
Naziha MESTAOUI,
Yacine AIT KACI,
Bengt Sjölén
Adam Somlai-Fischer
Realited United
Boris & Brecht Debackere
Mia Makela
Sandra Naumann
Asli Serbest & Mona Mahall
Andrew Bucksbarg
Gabriel Menotti
Maria PTQK
Cornelia Lund & Holger Lund
Daniel García Rovira
45
Live Cinema
Creación audiovisual
en tiempo real.
Por Mia Makela
(revisado por Sairica Rose)
Este número especial de a mínima
está dedicado al Live Cinema, un
término acuñado recientemente
para referirse a la creación
audiovisual en tiempo real. Por muy
nuevo que parezca el término, la
creación audiovisual tiene de hecho
tras de sí una larga trayectoria.
Incluso antes de la invención del
Cinématographe, el showman
Magic Lantern desarrolló efectos
especiales ópticos, en tiempo real
y muy vanguardistas para
Phantasmagoria; y la Música de
Color exploró las conexiones
sinestésicas entre el sonido y los
colores.
En la actualidad, los artistas de Live
Cinema continúan esa tradición de
experimentación audiovisual, sólo
que ayudados ahora por las
tecnologías digitales. El montaje en
tiempo real, el dibujo, la pintura, la
mezcla y remezcla, el procesado y
la generación de imágenes son
ejemplos de prácticas
contemporáneas. Existen muchos
enfoques distintos para esta forma
de arte multidisciplinar, lo cual
dificulta su definición y
categorización. No obstante, la
raison d’être del Live Cinema ha
permanecido idéntica a lo largo de
todo el siglo pasado: ofrecer
experiencias alternativas para la
narración cinemática y su
establecimiento tradicionales, y
hacerlo en tiempo real y para una
audiencia en diversos contextos –
desde almacenes subterráneos
hasta museos de arte
contemporáneo, o bien a través de
Internet.
Recientemente, un número
creciente de artistas y teóricos ha
empezado a interesarse por las
prácticas cinemáticas en tiempo
real, escribiendo artículos y tesis
acerca de diversos conceptos:
proyecciones, precursores,
interfaces pictóricos, remezcla en
tiempo real, programación
generativa y trayectorias del Live
Cinema. Este número de a mínima
es una colección de reflexiones
contemporáneas en torno a este
género. La pregunta “¿Qué es el
Live Cinema?” ha sido respondida
varias veces a fin de trazar una
definición general del término,
puesto que hasta ahora éste ha
permanecido como algo bastante
abstracto. El término Live Cinema
todavía suena artificial a muchos
oídos, pareciendo más natural
sustituirlo por “live video” o por
algo más actualizado según los
medios empleados. Sin embargo,
muchos creadores generan sus
imágenes mediante software y no
utilizan el vídeo para nada, con lo
cual sus prácticas están más cerca
del “live painting” que del vídeo o
del cine. Hasta que alguien no
invente un término más coherente,
Live Cinema probablemente
conservará su posición como
común denominador para una
amplia gama de prácticas en tiempo
real.
Este número se centra en aspectos
específicos del Live Cinema, como
las proyecciones y el espacio. Por
eso se incluye la mediarquitectura,
pues el trabajo con la arquitectura
y construcciones in situ constituye
uno de los mayores intereses para
los profesionales actuales del Live
Cinema. Klaus Obermeir, uno de
los artistas presentados, colabora
con salas de danza, utilizando los
cuerpos de los bailarines como
blancos móviles para sus
proyecciones, lo cual termina por
transformar visualmente la realidad
física de los cuerpos. Los Web
Jockeys emplean Internet como
espacio para crear performances
audiovisuales en tiempo real y para
compartir con el público la
experiencia de navegar online.
Otra cuestión importante es el
desarrollo de software: la
mentalidad del DIY y el desarrollo
colectivo de herramientas son
aspectos esenciales de la escena
del Live Cinema. Esto es
especialmente relevante porque las
herramientas digitales que nos
permiten manipular, procesar y
generar imágenes en tiempo real,
existen sólo desde hace un par de
años, y con el aumento de la
capacidad de procesado de los
ordenadores, el espectro de
posibilidades se amplía todavía más.
Por eso, no es ninguna sorpresa
que ya existan alrededor de unos
100 softwares para la manipulación
visual en tiempo real y que su
número vaya en aumento.
El Live Cinema es considerado a
menudo como otra rama del VJng
(Video Jockeying). Sin embargo,
aunque los VJs y los profesionales
del Live Cinema comparten los
mismos softwares y similares
métodos de trabajo, sus contextos
son diferentes, puesto que los VJs
están relacionados sobretodo con
la cultura de club y los DJs.
Muchos creadores de Live Cinema
sienten la necesidad de
desvincularse completamente de la
escena VJ para poder establecer
sus propios objetivos artísticos, los
cuales raramente encontrarían una
audiencia receptiva en un entorno
de club. De hecho, los eventos
audiovisuales y los festivales como
el Sonic Acts o el Mapping son los
principales puntos de encuentro
para los creadores y para el público.
Muchos artistas de Live Cinema
trabajan en estrecha colaboración
con músicos y forman grupos
audiovisuales (Rechenzentrum,
Telcosystems, Pink Twins, etc),
demostrándose así que su enfoque
ha ido mucho más allá de la mera
creación de salvapantallas visuales
para acompañar al DJ. En resumen,
la fuerza conductora del Live
Cinema como movimiento quizá
resida en la cantidad inagotable de
descubrimientos dentro del
misterioso lenguaje de los
audiovisuales, el cual, desde el
principio y contra todo pronóstico,
ha mantenido a tantos creadores
fascinados por esta forma de arte.
Mia Makela a.k.a SOLU
es una artista finlandesa residente
en Barcelona. Trabaja con new media
y Live Cinema. Es profesora,
investigadora y activista cultural.
www.solu.org
67
Live Cinema
Realtime audiovisual creation
By Mia Makela
This a minima special issue is
dedicated to Live Cinema, a
recently coined term for realtime
audiovisual creation. As new as the
term may seem, there is infact, a
long trajectory for realtime
audiovisual creation. Even before
the invention of Cinematographé,
Magic Lantern showmen developed
state-of-the-art, optical, realtime
special effects for Phantasmagoria
and Color Music pioneers explored
the synaesthetic connections
between audio and colors.
Today, Live Cinema artists continue
the traditions of audiovisual
experimentation, and are now aided
by digital technologies. Realtime
montage, drawing, painting, mixing,
re-mixing, processing and
generating visuals are some
examples of contemporary
practises. There are many
approaches to this multidisciplinary
art form, which makes it hard to pin
down, define and categorize.
Nevertheless, the raison d´être of
Live Cinema has remained constant
throughout the century: to offer
alternative experiences for traditional
cinematic narration and set-up, in
realtime and for audience in various
contexts, ranging from underground
warehouses, to museums of
contemporary art or on the internet.
Recently, an increasing number of
artists and theorists have turned
their attention to realtime cinematic
practises and have written articles
and theses on various concepts,
including projections, precursors,
painterly interfaces, realtime,
remixing, generative programming
and the trajectories of Live Cinema.
This a minima issue is a collection
of contemporary reflections on the
genre. The question “What is live
cinema ?” has been answered
various times, in order to map out
a general definition of the term, as
it has remained quite abstract until
now. The term Live Cinema still
sounds artificial to many ears, as it
seems natural to replace it with
“live video” or something more up
to date with the mediums used.
However, many creators generate
their visuals with software and don’t
use video at all, thus their practise
is actually closer to “live painting”
than video or cinema.. Until
someone invents a more coherent
term, Live Cinema will probably
hold its position as a common
denominator for a wide range of
realtime practises.
The focus of this issue is on special
aspects of Live Cinema, such as
projections and space, so
mediatecture is included, as working
with architecture and site-specific
set-ups is one of the biggest
interests for contemporary Live
Cinema practitioners. Klaus
Obermeir, one of the showcased
artists, collaborates with dance
theatres, using the dancers´ bodies
as moving targets for his
projections, which ends up visually
transforming the physical reality of
the bodies. Web Jockeys use
internet as space for creating
realtime AV-performances and
sharing the experience of surfing
online with the public.
Another important issue is software
development: DIY mentality and
collective development of tools are
essential aspects of the Live
Cinema scene. This is particularly
relevant because the digital tools
that enable us to manipulate,
process and generate visuals in
realtime, have only existed for a
couple of years, and with the growth
in processing power of the
computers, the range of possibilities
grows ever wider. Therefore it is no
surprise that over 100 softwares
for realtime visual manipulation
already exist and that the number
keeps increasing.
Live Cinema is often considered to
be another branch of VJng (Video
Jockeying). However, although VJs
and Live Cinema practitioners share
the same softwares and similar
methods of working, their contexts
are different, as VJs are
predominantly related to the club
culture and DJs.
As such, many Live Cinema
creators feel the need to separate
themselves from the VJ scene
altogether, in order to establish their
own artistic goals, which would
rarely find an appreciative audience
in a club environment. In fact,
Audiovisual events and festivals like
Sonic Acts or Mapping are the main
meeting points for the creators and
the public. Many Live Cinema artists
work in close collaboration with
musicians and form AV-groups
(Rechenzentrum, Telcosystems,
Pink Twins, etc), symbolizing that
their approach has gone far beyond
creating visual wallpapers to
accompany the DJ. To sum it up,
the driving force behind the Live
Cinema movement might well be
the endless discoveries within the
mysterious language of
AudioVisuals that has kept so many
creators fascinated with this art
form from the beginning, and
against all the odds.
Mia Makela a.k.a SOLU is finnish
media + live cinema artist, teacher,
investigator and cultural activist
residing in Barcelona.
www.solu.org
a
interview
entrevista
Chris Allen / The light surgeons
Mia Makela
¿Cómo describirías tu trabajo?
How would you describe your work?
Actualmente estamos trabajando a través
de plataformas de audio y vídeo, por lo
tanto yo no me describiría a mí mismo
como un artista ‘visual’ en tiempo real.
Nuestro trabajo combina aspectos de
filmación de documental, diseño de
animación, fotografía y producción
musical.
We are currently working across the
audio and visual plattforms so I
wouldn’t describe myself as a realtime “visual” artist. Our work combines
aspects of documentary filmmaking,
motion graphic design, photography
and music production.
El trabajo de The Light Surgeons siempre
ha abarcado diversos media explorados
en un contexto en directo. Esto no
siempre ha estado relacionado con la
manipulación digital. Estoy interesado
en la simple interacción de proyección,
luz y sombras, así como en un enfoque
personal para crear el contenido.
Nos fascinan los accidentes felices que
tienen lugar en cualquier proceso pero
especialmente en el de una performance
en vivo.
The Light Surgeons work has always
spanned various different media
explored in a live context. That might
not always be about digital
manipulation, I’m interested in the
simple interaction of projection, light
and shadows, as well as an in-camera
approach to create the content. We're
always fascinated by the happy
accidents that occur in any process
but particularly that of a live
performance.
89
a
interview
entrevista
¿Cómo describirías el ‘live cinema’?
¿Empleas este término para tu
trabajo?
How would you describe "live
cinema”? Do you use that term for
your work?
Prefiero describir lo que hacemos con
este término que con el de Vjing, creo
que con él se describe nuestro enfoque,
puesto que trabajamos con estructuras
narrativas dentro de un contexto
performántico y no nos dedicamos
meramente a crear imágenes aleatorias
para música.
I prefer this description of what we do
than the term Vjing, I think it describes
our approach well as we work with
narrative structures within a performance
context and are not just creating random
visuals to music.
¿Cómo tenéis en cuenta el aspecto
espacial de la performance?
Trabajamos con multiples fuentes de
proyección, por tanto, el aspecto
espacial es muy importante para
nosotros. Tener una instalación compleja
siempre supone toda una lucha para
lograr la adaptación de tu espectáculo
a los distintos espacios, pero a menudo
también puede dar lugar a posibilidades
inesperadas. Nuestro espectáculo
consiste en tres fuentes de vídeo y dos
proyecciones de diapositivas,
mezclándose proyecciones delanteras
y traseras. Tenemos dos pantallas detrás
del escenario y una gran cortina de teatro
de gasa en la parte delantera para crear
un efecto 3D a base de capas. Por
supuesto, todo esto tiene que ser tenido
en cuenta en el momento de crear y
editar el material.
Técnicamente, hay que tener en cuenta
muchas cosas. Siempre tenemos trabajo
extra, planificar tal instalación, y muchas
veces ello supone un gran esfuerzo,
sobretodo si tienes que trabajar
alrededor de otros performers en el
mismo escenario. Siempre vale la pena
hacer algo que no sea colocar una
pantalla de vídeo detrás del escenario.
How do you take into account the
spatial aspect of performance?
We work with multiple sources of
projection, so the spatial aspect is very
important to us. Having a complex set
up means it is always a struggle to adapt
your show to different spaces but often
that can throw up unexpected
possibilities. Our show consists of three
video sources and two slide projections,
which are projected as a mixture of front
and rear projection. We have two screens
at the back of the stage and a large
theatre gauze over the front to create a
3D layered effect. Of course, all of this
has to be taken into account when
making and editing the material.
Technically, there's a lot to consider, we
always have to do that bit of extra work
and planning to get this set up and
sometimes it can be a real effort, specially
if you have to work around other
performers on the same stage. I always
think it’s worth doing something a bit
different than one video screen at the
back of the stage.
1011
1213
¿Cuál sería el espacio ideal para tu
performance?
What would be the ideal space for
your performance?
Mi espacio ideal sería algo a mitad de
camino entre un club y un teatro, algo
del tipo cabaret multimedia. Como
nosotros mezclamos narración y música,
es agradable tener a la gente esperando,
sentada informalmente, pero también lo
es darle la libertad de poder moverse
por ahí. En nuestros espectáculos, el
plano de proyección puede ser muy
distinto según el ángulo desde el que
se vea, por eso está bien darle a la gente
la opción de explorar este aspecto. Sería
un lugar con una pista de baile hundida,
asientos agradables y acogedores
dispuestos en diferentes niveles, ¡y un
bar sin colas!
My idea of space is something between
a club and a theatre space, a sort of
multimedia cabaret type of thing.
Because we mix narrative and music it’s
nice to have people attending with
informal seating but give the audience
the freedom to move around as well. The
laying of the projection in our shows can
be very different when viewed from a
different angle so it’s nice for people to
be able to explore that aspect.
Somewhere with a sunken dance floor
and nice cosy seating on different levels
around the outside with a bar without a
queue!
How do you build your performance?
¿Cómo elaboráis vuestra
performance?
Varía, dependiendo del proyecto. Pero
en cuanto al espectáculo que estamos
terminando: empezamos investigando y
reuniendo material documental.
Hicimos otra serie de investigaciones y
de filmaciones, luego dedicamos un mes
a grabar música y, finalmente, tres meses
a la postproducción.
¡Y también una semana de ensayos! Esto
no es lo normal, pero tampoco se trata
de una obra normal.
It varies depending on the project, but
with the show we are just finishing, it
started with research and gathering some
documentary material, another round of
research and filming, a month of
recording the music and then three
months of postproduction. One week of
rehearsals as well! That’s not normal but
this isn't a normal piece of work.
a
interview
entrevista
Me he dado cuenta de que utilizáis la voz
en off como elemento, lo cual da
continuidad y estructura narrativa a vuestro
material...
Sí, estoy muy interesado en cómo funciona el
lenguaje en general, nuestro nuevo espectáculo
explora esto a través del concepto de mito:
cómo las verdades se crean y se distorsionan.
Me gusta explorar los espacios que hay entre
la imagen, el sonido y la palabra hablada. Gran
parte de nuestra obra temprana giraba en
torno a la recopilación de buen número de
entrevistas con gente durante nuestros viajes,
las cortábamos con música transformándolas
en una suerte de piezas para radio, y luego
les añadíamos imágenes. Esto se convirtió en
una especie de forma laxa, expresionista, de
producción filmográfica, un collage que dejaba
un mayor margen a la audiencia para interpretar
la narrativa.
Me gusta mucho el espacio radiofónico, te
permite imaginar, es triste que en nuestros
días su importancia sea escasa con toda la
pulcra animación 3D y su forma tan acelerada
de edición propias de la cultura popular.
Gran parte del trabajo en la escena VJ puede
verse desprovista de significado y de sustancia,
o bien sólo es entretenimiento o bien sólo
estética superficial. Éste es ciertamente el
problema de trabajar con clubs. Yo intento
introducir significado y narración en nuestros
proyectos porque me gusta implicar a la
audiencia y hacer que piense.
Quizá esto resulte un poco demasiado
didáctico para la mayoría de audiencias de
club, pero, como artista visual, creo que
debemos sacar este área artística de su ámbito
restringido para conectar con audiencias
distintas. Es demasiado fácil predicar sólo a
los conversos. ¡Hay tantas cosas de las que
hablar en el mundo, tantas historias y cosas
significativas que comunicar!
I've noticed that you use voice-over as an
element, which gives continuance and
narrative structure to your material...
Yes, I'm very interested in how language works
in general, our new show explores this through
the concept of myth, and how truths are
created and distorted. I like to explore the
spaces between image, sound and spoken
word. Much of our early work revolved around
collecting fairly random interviews with people
on our various travels, we would cut them up
with music and make them into a sort of
montage radio pieces and then start adding
visuals to them. This became a sort of loose,
expressionist form of filmmaking, a collage that
left more space for the audience to interpret
the narrative.
I love the space of radio, it allows you to
imagine and that’s sadly lucking these days
with all the highly polished 3D animation and
snappy editing in popular culture.
Much of the work in the VJ scene can be a bit
devoid of meaning and substance, its either
just entertainment or just surface aesthetics.
That’s the problem working in clubs really. I
try to bring meaning and story telling to our
projects because I like to engage the audience
and make them think.
Maybe that’s all a bit too didactic for most
club audiences, but I think, as an AV artist, we
need to push this area of art out there more,
connect with different audiences. It’s too easy
just to preach to the converted. There's so
much to talk about in the world, so many stories
and meaningful things to communicate!
1415
1617
¿Cómo colaboras en el grupo?
How do you collaborate in the group?
Hago de director. En la mayoría de proyectos trabajo
con un productor independiente, e invito a diversos
artistas y diseñadores a que colaboren sobre la base
del proyecto. Estas colaboraciones varían en función
del proyecto, a veces hago más de comisario y dejo
a la gente que haga lo que le apetezca, en otros casos
las colaboraciones dentro del grupo son más directas.
I operate as the director and work with a freelance
producer on most projects and invite different artist
and designers in to collaborate on a project basis.
These collaborations vary depending on the project,
sometimes I'm acting more as a curator and letting
people do their own thing really, and with some projects
there are more direct collaborations within the group.
Dependiendo de en qué estadio del proyecto te
encuentres, algunas personas son mejores para
empezar un proyecto en sus inicios y otras lo son para
cerrarlo al final.
It also depends on what stage of a project you’re in,
some people are better at opening things up at the
beginning and other closing it down at the end.
Con el proyecto ‘New Adventures’, o ‘True Fictions’
(¡nuevo título!) he estado dirigiendo y produciendo el
proyecto como un todo, lo cual implica trabajar en
todos sus aspectos. Empecé con la fase de
investigación, luego seguí con la filmación documental
y con las entrevistas, también formando parte del
equipo de producción con el veterano miembro de
TLS, Rob Rainbow.
La música que grabamos en New York fue grabada y
en parte arreglada por mi hermano Ben Allen, Dynamic
Syncopation (Ninja Tune). Invitamos a unos veinticinco
músicos a participar en las sesiones de grabación.
Jamás había trabajado con ninguno de ellos. Así que
se obtuvieron muchos resultados inesperados a lo
largo del proceso.
De vuelta a Londres, he estado ocupándome de toda
la postproducción audiovisual con una persona de
mucho talento, Tim Cowie, con quien he estado
trabajando intermitentemente durante los últimos años.
Hay un par de temas que han sido producidos por
otros artistas, como por ejemplo Scanone, aka Jude
Greenaway, miembro de la antigua escuela de TLS,
y Macolm Litson, otro antiguo afiliado.
Ha sido un proyecto con una larga trayectoria que ha
ido creciendo de forma bastante orgánica, pero creo
que va a ser lo mejor que hayamos realizado en mucho
tiempo. ¡Estoy impaciente por mostrarlo ya a la gente!
With the New Adventures, or True Fictions (new title!)
I have been directing and producing the project as a
whole and that involves working on all aspects of it.
I started out on the research and then began the
documentary filming and interviews as part of the
production with long time TLS member, Rob Rainbow.
The music that we recorded in New York was
engineered and part arranged by my brother Ben
Allen, Dynamic Syncopation (Ninja Tune). We invited
about twenty-five different musicians to participate in
the recording sessions, none of which I had ever
worked with, so there are lots of unexpected results
from that process.
Back in London, I have been doing all of the postproduction on the video and audio with a very talented
man called Tim Cowie, who I've been working with
on and off for the past few years. A couple of the
tracks have been produced by other artists, a track
by Scanone, AKA Jude Greenaway who is an old
school member of TLS and Malcolm Litson who is
another long time affiliate.
It’s been a long haul project and has grown fairly
organically really, but I think it’s going to be the best
thing we have made for a long time. I’m just looking
forward to showing it to people!
a
interview
entrevista
¿De qué forma se relacionan audio y vídeo?
En nuestro nuevo proyecto, las dos cosas se
han realizado juntas en buena medida: todo
el audio del espectáculo ha sido grabado en
vídeo, y hemos mezclado y arreglado ambos
a la vez.
¿Cómo ves el futuro de la creación visual
en tiempo real?
Creo que será posible ver una mayor
interacción entre la audiencia y el espectáculo,
lo cual sería muy interesante; las posibilidades
de la tecnología móvil pueden llevar a efecto
algunos desarrollos inesperados en este área.
En este preciso momento, la cantidad de
hardware y de instrumentos nuevos me resultan
muy excitantes. ¡Acabo de iniciarme en el Midi!
Estamos preparando un espectáculo en el
que estrenaremos ese instrumento nuevo
llamado TENORI-ON, que tiene un magnífico
interface.
Estoy deseando dar mayor salida a nuestro
trabajo mediante su publicación en la red y
en formato DVD. Me gustaría desarrollar un
sello para editar DVDs, impulsar nuevas e
innovadoras vías para combinar impresión,
web y vídeo multiangular en DVD.
A nivel general, necesitamos encontrar una
manera de hacer que estas formas de
expresión sean más sostenibles fuera del
mundo corporativo de los sellos discográficos
y de la esponsorización comercial. Estoy
entusiasmado con la nueva oleada de
empresas sociales y de vías a través de las
que la audiencia puede invertir en el arte que
le gusta. Hay aquí un enorme potencial para
rodear las instituciones establecidas.
Por encima de todo, espero continuar siendo
libre y vivir la vida realizando este tipo de
proyectos.
1819
What is the relationship between audio and
video?
With our new project, the two have been made
together pretty much, all of
the audio in the show has been recorded on
video and we have mixed and arranged both
at the same time.
How do you see the future of realtime visual
creation?
I think we might see more interaction between
the audience and performance, that could be
very interesting; the possibilities of mobile
technology could bring about some unforeseen
developments in this area.
The stream of new hardware and instruments
are all very exciting to me right now, I’ve only
just got into Midi! We're about to do a show
to launch this new electronic instrument called
a TENORI-ON which has an amazing interface.
I'm very keen to get our work out more by
publishing it on the web and DVD, I’d like to
develop a DVD label, push new and innovative
ways to combine print, web and multiple angles
of video on DVD.
On a general level, we need to start finding a
way to make these forms of expression more
sustainable outside of the corporate world of
record labels and commercial sponsorship.
I'm excited by the new wave of social
enterprises and ways in which the audience
can invest directly into the art that they like.
There is huge potential to circum-navigate the
established institutions.
Above all, I really hope to continue to be free
and to make a living from doing these types
of projects.
Chris Allen
Founder & Director
The Light Surgeons' work spans a diverse
range of media; print, photography, motion
graphics, digital film production,
exhibitions, installations and ground
breaking live audio visual performances.
http://www.thelightsurgeons.co.uk
20¬21
a
¿Qué te motivó a investigar de qué forma
las tecnologías audiovisuales pueden
transformar espacios físicos?
What was your motivation for investigating
how Audiovisual technologies can transform
physical spaces ?
En parte fue mi trabajo escenográfico y algunas
instalaciones realizadas para emplazamientos
específicos, pero también cuando empecé a
advertir cómo la luz y el sonido pueden
transformar el mismo lugar de maneras muy
distintas, con sólo contemplar el mismo sitio
en diversos momentos del día o en diversas
épocas del año. Me interesa mucho la
plasticidad del tiempo y del espacio, y cómo
el movimiento los interrelaciona. Es decir, ser
capaz de jugar con el espacio focalizándolo
mediante luz, imagen y sonido. Improvisar con
lo que ofrece un espacio, tanto en términos
de input como de output. Qué ofrece como
material para la imagen y el sonido, cómo
incorporar el aspecto tiempo (la memoria) en
un espacio. Cómo focalizar determinadas
partes de un espacio (vídeo en el rincón de
una habitación, una silla, el suelo, una persona,
sonido proveniente de distintos
lugares/objetos...), y después cómo proyectar
imagen y sonido de nuevo en dicho espacio.
Partly through my work with scenography and
some site-specific installations, but also by
appreciating how light and sound can transform
the same place in so many ways, just looking
at the same spot at different times in the day,
different times of the year. I am very interested
in the plasticity of time and space, and how
motion links them together. So, essentially
being able to play a space by focusing it using
light, image and sound. Improvising with what´s
available in a space, in terms of both input and
output. What is available as material for image
and sound in the space, how to incorporate
the time aspect (memory) of a space, how to
focus on certain parts of a space (video in the
corner of a room, a chair, the floor, a person,
sound coming from different locations/objects),
then look at how to project image and sound
back into the space.
Jugar con un espacio consistiría entonces en
crear algún tipo de estructura para todos estos
elementos, casi como una composición o
como una coreografía espacial.
22¬23
Otra motivación fue el sentimiento general de
que los proyectos audiovisuales adolecen de
una falta de tensión. Yo persigo una experiencia
física. Me gusta la idea de una mente
encarnada, de que nuestra mente está
enraizada en el mundo a través de nuestros
cuerpos. Mediante la creación de un espacio
físico utilizando tecnología audivisual, puedes
hacer la experiencia de esto a través de tu
cuerpo.
He observado que los proyectos audiovisuales
para un espacio tienden a consistir en
instalaciones de multipantallas con sonido
surround sin relación alguna con el espacio
en donde se ubican. Yo quiero usar el lugar
físico como punto de partida, y no sólo como
mero contenedor de una instalación.
The playing of a space would then be creating
some sort of structure to all these elements,
so almost like a composition or choreography
of a space.
Another motivation was a general feeling of a
lack of tension in AV projects, I want to get a
physical experience.
I like the idea of the embodied mind, that our
mind is grounded to the world through our
bodies.So by creating a physical space using
AV, you will experience it through your body.
I see a tendency of spatial AV projects being
multiscreen setups with surround sound which
don´t really relate to the space they are in. I
want to use the location as a starting point,
not just as a container for a setup.
a
¿Qué clase de posibilidades futuras ves
para el trabajo audiovisual espacial?
What kind of the possibilities do you see
in the horizon for spatial audiovisuals ?
Todavía espero que sucedan más cosas en
cuanto a tecnología relativa a proyección y
pantalla. Cuando sea posible algo como una
película LED de alta resolución que puedas
cortar en la forma que quieras y envolverla en
un objeto. Eso permitiría un verdadero trabajo
en pantalla.
I am still waiting for more things to happen
with projection and screen
technology, when you can get something like
a high-res LED film which you could cut to the
shape you want and wrap it onto an object,
and it would be a working screen.
Estoy interesado en las posibilidades de
montajes móviles. El desarrollo reciente de
fuentes de energía alternativa, equipo portátil,
y redes sin cable, facilita mucho las
intervenciones con tecnología audiovisual.
Me interesa crear un diálogo con mis entornos.
Por esta razón, mi proyecto se centra en cómo
explorar y capturar espacios, pero también en
cómo transformarlos. Creo que cuanto más
me sumerjo en este área, más deseo realizar
proyectos a pequeña escala. Las mediafacades son fascinantes, pero al final son más
un espectáculo que otra cosa. Así pues, busco
soluciones manejables que permitan a la gente
relacionarse con su entorno mediante la
tecnología.
Me inspiro en intentos de transformar e
interpretar espacios llevados a cabo por otros
artistas, como la ‘Máquina de hablar tiempo’
de David Rokeby, o ‘Displacements’,
instalaciones de Michael Naimark.
24¬25
Actualmente, trabajo en mi proyecto ‘Nodio’,
que consiste en la conexión de muchos
nódulos audiovisuales juntos en una red y en
la elaboración de composiciones audiovisuales
con mi secuenciador casero. Cuando se crean
ritmos y patrones a través de diversas fuentes,
lo más interesante es lo que sucede entre
dichas fuentes. Pero supongo que éste es
sólo uno de los proyectos posibles que
permiten jugar con un espacio.
I am interested in possibilities with mobile
setups. Recent development with alternative
energy sources, portable equipment, and
wireless networks makes it easier to do
interventions with AV technology.
My interest is in creating a dialogue with my
surroundings, that is why my project is as
much about how to explore and capture spaces
as well as transforming them. I think the more
I dive into this area the more I want to do smallscale projects. Media-facades are fascinating,
but too much of a spectacle in the end. So I
look for portable accessible solutions which
makes it easier for more people to relate to
their environment with technology.
I am inspired by other artists´ attempts at
transforming and interpreting spaces, like David
Rokeby´s Machine for Taking Time and Michael
Naimark´s Displacements installations.
Currently I am working on in my Nodio project,
connecting many av nodes together in a
network and make AV compositions with my
homemade sequencer: creating rhythms,
patterns across several sources, what happens
between the sources is the most interesting.
But I guess this is just one of the projects
leading up to being able to play a space.
a
26¬27
26 27
¿Qué pasará con el encantador dúo
proyector + pantalla?
What will happen to the lovely duo
projector+screen ?
No me parece que vaya a desaparecer pronto.
Prefiero una actuación audiovisual en una sola
pantalla que un club en el que se proyecte la
misma imagen diez veces – lo que para mí es
una mala interpretación del trabajo audiovisual
espacial –. Creo que la pantalla todavía tiene
la habilidad de atraer la atención del
espectador, por eso las obras de live cinema
todavía funcionan bien en ese formato.
I don´t see it disappearing anytime soon.
I much prefer a AV-performance on a single
screen to a club with the same image multiplied
ten times, which for me is a misunderstanding
of spatial AV. I think the screen still has the
ability to draw the attention of the spectator,
which is why live cinema works still works well
in this format.
HC Gilje
HC Gilje works with video in real time
environments, installations, live performance,
set design and singlechannel video.
Gilje has presented his work through different
channels throughout the world: in concertvenues,theater and cinema venues, galleries,
festivals and through several international
dvd releases.
http://hcgilje.wordpress.com
a
¿Cómo empezaste a trabajar con
audiovisuales en tiempo real?
Yo trabajaba con música electrónica, y hacia
1997 empecé a utilizar Max/MSP para ciertos
experimentos: realizaba largas composiciones
reestructurando fragmentos muy cortos de
material original preexistente. Un día me di
cuenta de que la estrategia de reestructurar
material también podía funcionar con
imágenes, además de con sonido... Lo
importante era la estrategia: daba igual que
el resultado fuera música o vídeo. Empecé
experimentando con el procesado de
imágenes en Java, entonces salió Nato en
1999... y a partir de aquí, todo fue muy fácil.
How did you get started with realtime
audiovisuals ?
I worked with electronic music, and around
1997, I began using Max/MSP for some
experiments with making long compositions
by restructuring very short bits of pre-existing
source material. One day I realized that the
strategy for restructuring material could work
with images as well as sound...the strategy
was the important thing: it didn't matter
if the result was music or video. I started
experimenting with processing images in Java,
then Nato became available in 1999... and
then, it was all downhill from there.
2829
a
Con Nato, los usuarios de Max podían
controlar el vídeo en tiempo real. Antes de
Nato, la única forma de crear videoarte era
trabajando con un software comercial de
edición de vídeo: un videoartista tenía que
tomar decisiones delicadas, como un
compositor, y después esperar (a veces
durante horas) a la renderización del resultado
final. Con Nato, los resultados eran
instantáneos. Esto abrió la posibilidad de
improvisar con imágenes, del mismo modo
que los músicos improvisan con el sonido.
Es una forma de trabajar más intuitiva y directa.
With Nato, Max users could control video in
real-time. Before Nato, the only way of creating
video art was to work with commercial video
editing software: a video artist had to make
careful decisions, like a composer, and then
wait (sometimes for hours) for the final result
to render. With Nato, results were
instantaneous. This opened up the possibility
of improvising with images, in the way
improvising musicians improvise with sound.
It's a much more intuitive and direct way of
working.
3031
a
¿Cuál es tu relación con el legendario
sofware Max/Msp/Nato?
Nato fue probablemente el primer software
que proporcionó un procesado de vídeo
aleatorio en tiempo real. Era tan excitante por
entonces... Ahí estaba esa poderosa
herramienta, pero para utilizarla tenías que
confiar en una extraña y anónima entidad
online. Tenías que estar dispuesto a soportar
una documentación poéticamente críptica,
utilizar el software mediante unas
instrucciones tipográficamente desafiantes,
y si necesitabas soporte técnico, debías
someterte a un trato condescendiente y/o
abusivo. Pero no había elección – ¡era
demasiado interesante como para no
involucrarse en ello!
What was your relationship with the
legendary Max/Msp/Nato software ?
Nato was probably the first software to provide
real-time random-access video processing.
It was so exciting at the time. Here was this
powerful tool, but to use it, you had to trust
a bizarre anonymous online entity. You had to
be willing to endure poetically cryptic
documentation, use the software via
typographically challenging commands, and
if you needed tech support, submit to
patronizing and/or abusive treatment. But,
there was no choice -- it was too interesting
to be involved!
3233
a
¿Qué ha sucedido después (de Nato), en tu
vida como artista y como desarrollador de
software?
What has happened since (after nato)
in your life as a creator /
software developer ?
En 2001 desarrollé Auvi para Nato, porque
quería ampliar las capacidades de Nato. Auvi
es un conjunto de 85 objetos Max que amplían
las capacidades de Max para vídeo en tiempo
real. Funcionan un poco como los filtros de
Photoshop para vídeo en directo, sólo que
realizan efectos en tiempo real. Además son
muy fáciles de usar algorítmicamente: un
videoartista puede ordenarle a un objeto Auvi
cambiar de diversas formas en tiempo real, y
más allá de eso, también funcionará
satisfactoriamente tomando interesantes
decisiones en lugar del artista, mientras éste
se encuentre ocupado haciendo otras cosas.
Creé Auvi para uso personal, después decidí
comercializarlo como producto para la venta.
In 2001, I developed Auvi for Nato, because I
wanted to extend the capabilities of Nato. Auvi
is a set of 85 Max objects, to extend the
capabilities of Max for real-time video. It's a bit
like Photoshop filters for live video, except they
do time-based effects. Also they are very easy
to use algorithmically -- a video artist can tell
an Auvi object to change in various ways over
time, and it will happily work away making
interesting decisions for the artist, while they
are busy doing other things. I wrote Auvi for
my own use, then decided to market it as a
commercial product.
Más tarde, en 2002, desarrollé Auvi para Jitter,
porque estaba claro que Nato no iba a tener
una larga vida. Desde entonces, me he
dedicado menos al desarrollo de software,
porque es mucho menos interesante que la
creación artística. Me dedico a la creación de
vídeo-instalaciones, he expuesto en galerías
y museos a nivel internacional, y realizo vídeo
en directo con conjuntos de música
contemporánea y compañías de danza. Doy
clases todo el día en el School of The Museum
of Fine Arts de Boston. En 2007, recibí el
Media Arts Fellowship de la Rockefeller
Foundation.
¿Cómo describirías tu trabajo como artista
visual en tiempo real?
Me encanta trabajar con la cámara, capturar el
entorno y luego procesar las imágenes en
directo, de tal modo que, en el momento de
ser proyectadas, transformen el entorno.
Retrasar imágenes en vivo, cambiarles la
velocidad, invertir su secuencia, repetir
secciones: todo ello trastorna la coherencia
Then in 2002, I developed Auvi for Jitter,
because it was clear that Nato would not have
a long lifetime. Since that time, I have done
less software development, because it is far
less interesting than making art. I create video
installations, and have exhibited in galleries and
museums internationally, and perform live video
with contemporary classical ensembles and
dance companies. I teach full-time at the
School of The Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston.
In 2007, I received a Media Arts Fellowship
from the Rockefeller Foundation.
How would you describe your work as
realtime visual artist ?
I love to work with a camera, to capture an
environment, then process the images live, so
that when they are projected they change the
environment. Delaying live images, changing
their speed, reversing their sequence, repeating
sections, all disrupt the temporal coherence
3435
temporal de un acontecimiento. Esto funciona
bien con músicos en directo o con bailarines.
La cámara es objetiva, pero nuestro aparato
sensorial y cognitivo no lo es, por tanto, las
imágenes procesadas quizá se parezcan más
a la manera en que leemos el mundo objetivo;
nuestras mentes reúnen fragmentos de
información percibidos en momentos distintos
en la coherencia de un único modelo. El hecho
de jugar con el tiempo revela nuevos aspectos
de un acontecimiento, incluso mientras está
sucediendo.
of an event. This works well with live musicians
or dancers. The camera is objective, but our
sensory apparatus and cognition are not,
so the processed images perhaps resemble
more the way we read the objective world; our
minds assemble bits of information perceived
at different times into one coherent model. By
playing with time, new aspects of an event are
revealed, even as it is occurring.
¿Cómo describirías el ‘live cinema’?
¿Utilizas este término para referirte a tu
trabajo?
"Live cinema" to me implies that there is an
element of narrative.
When I worked with the video performance trio
242.pilots (with HC Gilje and Lukasz
Lysakowski), we were trying to improvise
collectively in the hopes that a narrative would
spontaneously arrive out of the dialogue of
images. So we were thinking of narrative flow,
of recurring "characters" (which might be a
type of image, or even an effect), of conflict
and resolution.
Para mí, el ‘live cinema’ implica que existe un
elemento narrativo. Cuando trabajé con el trío
de vídeo-performance 242.pilots (con HC
Gilje y Lukasz Lysakowski), tratamos de
improvisar en grupo con la esperanza de que
espontáneamente surgiría una narración a partir
del diálogo de las imágenes. Pensábamos en
el flujo narrativo, en los ‘caracteres’ recurrentes
(que pueden ser un tipo de imagen, o incluso
un acontecimiento), en el conflicto y en la
resolución.
Pero más recientemente, prefiero pensar en
este tipo de trabajo como ‘música visual’ – y
no como ‘live cinema’ –. En la música puede
haber forma dinámica, pero no puede esperarse
una narración. Toda la vida me he dedicado a
la música, por eso esta idea es más cómoda
para mí – sobretodo porque no tengo ningún
talento para la narración.
Sin embargo, es posible que al mundo del arte
le resulten más cómodos aquellos trabajos que
impliquen la destilación extrema de un concepto.
El trabajo basado en tiempo real (como el ‘live
cinema’) presupone que la audiencia se siente
cómoda disfrutando del paseo. La mayor parte
de la práctica artística consiste en ‘ir
directamente al grano’, en parte debido a la
How would you describe "live cinema" ?
Do you use that term for your work ?
But more recently, I prefer to think of this type
of work as "visual music" instead of "live
cinema". In music, there may be dynamic form,
but no expectation of narrative. I've been
involved in music all my life, so this idea is more
comfortable for me -- especially since I
have no talent for narrative, at all.
It may be, however, that the art world is more
comfortable with work that involves extreme
distillation of a concept. Time-based work (like
"live cinema" video) presupposes that the
audience is comfortable with enjoying the ride.
Most contemporary art practice is much more
likely to "cut to the chase", partly because of
a
capacidad de atención media del asiduo a las
galerías de arte. Por esta razón, en la actualidad,
el cine experimental, el arte performántico, o el
‘live cinema’, no gozan de mucho reconocimiento
comercial en el mundo del arte, quizá de forma
injusta. Esto no significa que el trabajo basado
en tiempo real sea superior al trabajo que no lo
esté o viceversa; tiene que ver simplemente con
las diversas formas que tiene la audiencia de
consumir productos artísticos.
¿De qué forma tienes en cuenta el espacio
en tu trabajo?
En una instalación, tengo control total del espacio,
así puedo explotar las infinitas posibilidades de
concebir vídeo en un espacio, de forma parecida
a como lo harían un escultor o un arquitecto.
Pero lo normal es que el vídeo en directo sea
presentado en locales en los que no es posible
tal grado de control. Lo que sí puede controlar
el artista es la elección del tipo de local para la
presentación. Es una decisión importante, porque
todo arte viene determinado por un contexto, y
el local afecta tremendamente al contexto de la
obra, afecta al modo en que la audiencia se
acercará a la obra, le da indicaciones sobre cómo
participar en ella.
Yo he hecho presentaciones en galerías, museos,
cines y clubs. Prefiero las galerías, con sus sillas
y cojines en el suelo, porque en ellas la gente
es muy consciente de que ‘el arte es happening’
y se siente cómoda participando completamente
en él. Los museos son similares, aunque
normalmente son más formales y menos
confortables.
the attention span of the average gallery-goer.
For this reason, work like experimental cinema,
or performance art, or "live cinema" video, do
not currently enjoy much commercial cachet in
the art world, perhaps unjustly. Not to imply that
time-based work is superior to non-time-based
work, or vice versa; it just has to do with the
different ways that the art audience
consumes art products.
How do you take space into account in your
work ?
For installation work, I have total control of the
space, so I can exploit the endless possibilities
of thinking about video in space, the way a
sculptor or architect might. But usually, live video
is presented in venues where that degree of
control is not possible. What the artist can control
is what kind of venue to present in. It's an
important decision, because art is all about
context, and the venue affects the context of the
work tremendously. It affects the way that
the audience approaches the work, it gives them
cues about how they should engage with it.
I've presented in galleries, museums, cinemas
and clubs. Galleries, with chairs or cushions on
the floor, are my favorite, because people are
very aware that "art is happening" and are
comfortable to engage fully. Museums are similar,
though usually more formal and less comfortable.
3637
Los cines también pueden funcionar, porque, en
este tipo de local, la audiencia está acostumbrada
a concentrarse, pero de algún modo son menos
libres que aquellos espacios en los que la gente
escoge su propio asiento. Los clubs son lo que
menos prefiero, porque su propósito estándar no
tiene nada que ver con el arte. Los clubs tienen
relación con el hecho de perderte en el alcohol,
entre música alta y gente agradable, y estas cosas
de algún modo son opuestas a toda atención
artística (Ya sé que suena a sermón paternal, pero
sí que creo que ‘participar por completo del arte’
es un estado metal específico, y dicho estado es
posible en determinados entornos, y no en otros).
Otra cuestión relacionada con la presentación de
este tipo de trabajo es la duración. Las audiencias
tienen una tolerancia limitada respecto a una obra
no-narrativa; llega un punto en el que pierden la
paciencia. Algunos artistas pueden decidir que no
están para nada obligados a tener en cuenta los
límites de la audiencia (incluso pueden sentir que
forzar los límites de la misma forma parte de su
declaración artística). Pero otros piensan que la
obra parecerá mejor y comunicará más si se
presenta en pequeñas dosis. Personalmente, yo
prefiero presentar trabajos no-narrativos en
secciones no más largas de 15 o 20 minutos; el
programa completo de una obra no-narrativa no
debería sobrepasar los 50 minutos.
Cinemas can work well, because the audience
is used to focus in in this type of venue, but it's
somehow less free that a space where people
choose their own seating. Clubs are my least
favorite, because their standard purpose has
nothing to do with art. Clubs are about losing
yourself in alcohol and loud music and pretty
people, and those things are sort of the opposite
of engaging with art. (I sound like someone's
dad here, but I do think "engaging fully with art"
is a specific mental state, and that state is
possible in some environments, and not possible
in others.)
Another issue connected with presenting this
kind of work is duration. Audiences have a limited
tolerance for non-narrative work; there's a
point in time where audiences lose patience.
Some artists may decide that they have no
obligation to consider the audience's limits
(maybe they even feel that pushing the limits is
part of their artistic statement.). But others feel
that the work will look better and speak better in
smaller doses. Personally, I prefer to present nonnarrative work in sections no longer than 15 or
20 minutes; a full program of non-narrative work
should be no longer than 50 minutes.
Kurt Ralske
Kurt Ralske's video installations and performances are created
exclusively with his own custom software. His work has been
exhibited internationally, including at the Guggenheim Bilbao,
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Montreal
Museum of Contemporary Art. Kurt programmed and co-designed
the 9-channel video installation that is permanently in the lobby
of the MoMA in NYC. In 2003, his work received First Prize at
the Transmediale International Media Art
Festival in Berlin, as a member of the video ensemble 242.pilots.
He is also the author/programmer of Auvi, a popular video
software environment in use by artists in 22 countries.
Kurt is the recipient of a 2007 Rockefeller Foundation Media
Arts Fellowship.
Kurt resides in New York City. He is Visiting Professor of Digital
Art at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is
on the faculty of The School of Visual Arts, NYC, in the MFA
Computer Art Department.
How did you get started with realtime audiovisuals ?
Like many video artists I know, I started as a painter. I was at university studying painting in the
early nineties when I bought my first computer. Soon I declared I would no longer paint with
brushes but instead with my computer. This progressed to studies in Electronic Art at Rensselaer,
one of the first graduate degree programs in the field at the time. It was here that I was introduced
to programming with Max, video art, computer music and performance art. The pedagogy at iEAR
was very much focused on 'integration' of all these disciplines in some way. Live performance
of audiovisuals was a natural direction to take. The software tools for performing live with digital
video we're still quite primitive at the time. With the absence of good tools, I became very involved
developing new software to allow me to pursue my craft effectively.
38
39
a
What was your relationship with the legendary nato software ?
The answer to this question I'm afraid is a bit complex... until now, I've never really
written about it in depth. When the first NATO.0+55 object for Max was released,
there was much distrust of NN amongst the Max community, largely because she
was highly engaged in the perturbation of male dominated, academic email lists
(including the Max listserv). But I was among those personally fascinated with both
NN's email performance art, but even more so with the possibilities of the software,
as it was everything I needed to begin writing the video tools I needed. Throwing
all hesitance aside, I do believe I was one of the first artists to purchase the software
(which was relatively quite expensive) and subsequently reviewed it on my website.
This helped pave the way for others to cast aside their skepticism about the
software.
Gradually I entered into an extended, dialogue with Netochka, which at times was
maddening, and at other times highly fulfilling. I needed to first understand her
unique language, which was embedded with cyber-crpytography in multiple
languages, as well as communication through analogies sampled from various postmodern theory. At DEAF 2000, where the first "nato summit" occurred, Netochka
gave her first live performance reading, much to the confused audience who was
expecting a 'traditional' technology demonstration. Afterwords, no one asked any
questions, and no one approached her. I think perhaps many were intimidated by
what they had just witnessed (and rightly so), others had concluded that she was
merely an actress for a more dubious collective. Not me... I took it upon myself to
invite this Netochka for a coffee. "Yes, let's leave this circus" she replied.
A week following this face to face encounter, Netochka asked if I would
participate in one of her live performances as the "operator", which
essentially meant performing a series of audiovisual works of her
creation whilst she read her texts to the audience. This was at
"Interferences" in Belfort, France. To my surprise, the Netochka here
was a different Netochka, yes, there must be an actress. Again, the
audience was confounded with our performance. I was asked
to participate again in several other NN performances at various media
art festivals. It was a bit akin to being a member of a terrorist cell. I
would receive an email invitation to a festival, and within weeks I would
fly in to perform my task, with several casts of characters, never really
knowing who the 'real' Netochka was. Sometimes I would be sitting
with Netochka, and receiving email instructions from "the real" Netochka
from an undisclosed location. It was a fascinating endeavor which
definitely added an air mystery to my reputation as a video artist, which
was no doubt beginning to flourish by this time.
40
41
But this was not by virtue of being an "NN" alone. As DeKam, I had
developed fully fledged VJ software built upon the NATO platform, and
released it under the VIDVOX label with NN's tenuous consent. I was
now being invited to perform my own work and give presentations on
the European and North American media art circuit in my own right. It
was at this point that my relationship with NN began to wain, and it
seemed that NN's interest in further developing Nato was also subsiding.
Eventually, what in my eyes was a shining movement created solely
by the force of NN became subsumed by those that followed suit
with similar technologies. Dozens of new visual software platforms
began to appear, several based directly on the Max framework, with
the proverbial "nail in the coffin" being Cycling74's release of Jitter a
mere 3 years after nato first appeared.
a
42
43
So this is the essential history of my relationship with nato. If NN had
chosen to continue its development, then there would likely be more
to say. Of course, there are many details I've left out, many with good
reason. This period was filled with a great deal of controversy, and
some of the players in this theater I'm certain are glad it all came to
pass. But mostly, this interview just isn't the right format for a
comprehensive history of NN. Needles to say, what I miss is the
revolutionary nature of the software itself. It broke the rules, it opened
up new pathways and new aesthetics in video art, and its legacy is still
very much apparent even today. But technology will always evolve,
and the software must keep moving with it, so we've had to make
changes in our tools since nato ceased to be developed.
What has happened since in your life as a creator / software
developer ?
Vidvox steadily grew through this period and I continued for several
years working on this beyond the nato days. In 2004, Vidvox reached
a crossroads where it needed to move beyond what I was willing to
invest. At heart, I am an artist much more than a marketeer. I gave
control of the company to my small group of employees, who have
continued to do great things developing VDMX, the flagship product
I created. The latest release is superb and I find myself using it more
often than writing my own tools which is a testament to its power and
flexibility. <http://vidvox.net>http://vidvox.net/
Most of my work post-Vidvox has been focused on individual projects
for clients, often involving custom software design, and also making
content or production systems. I also continue to write my own personal,
idiosyncratic tools especially when I find myself working on interesting
shows or exhibitions. I've collaborated on a few small operas and
theater works which has been wonderful. Commercially, I've spent a
good part of my time recently working with the immersive projection
company called "The Elumenati",
<http://elumenati.com>http://elumenati.com/ which purveys a unique
and patented fisheye lens for projection. The past two years have also
been filled with concert tour production. I've been on the road as a VJ
playing for huge audiences across the globe, although you would never
know it because it all happens behind the scenes. I've recently organized
my practice with a talented producer/curator named Bree Edwards
and we're in the process of branding my long time personal domain
'node.net' into Node Video Design as a partnership. The goal ever
since I got started was to strike the balance between being able to
make a living and also make art. Somehow its still working.
a
How would you describe your work as realtime visual artist ?
From a purely visual perspective, I tend towards the abstract, taking
a very painterly approach to my work. One can never escape their
roots I suppose. I consider myself a "formalist" in this way, although,
as one of my painting teachers once told me, "everything is abstracted
from something" and so thinking about the social & political landscape
is an important consideration for me. I also consider my work to be
"generative" or in more plastic terms "about the process". The
predominant process of my practice has been an aversion to timelines.
I believe strongly in "video instrumentalism", taking a musical approach
to working with video. Instead of the usual "acquire, capture, edit and
render" paradigm, I am most concerned with building instruments and
systems, then rehearsing and performing with them. Much of my work
has been in the vein of generative software art, or "meta art" - focusing
solely on the system which makes the art for me, rather than on crafting
the end result.
What is live cinema for you ?
(do you use that term for your work ?)
I do like this term, and I use it when I feel its appropriate to what I'm
doing. I feel its important to differentiate carefully between what live
cinema is and is not. Thinking of live cinema as anything to do with live
video performance is far too broad a definition. I've been fortunate to
be exposed to a tremendous variety of projects, genres and styles
through my work with Vidvox and beyond, and let me assure you, 95%
(or more) of what's out there I would not consider to be live cinema.
This doesn't make any of this other work less valid, it just means it
doesn't fall within what I think live cinema should aspire to be.
For me, live cinema has a lot to do with the intention of the video artist,
and how that intention is framed. The majority of VJs or visualists are
relegated to the role of a supporting actor. In the worst (and unfortunately
most common) case, the desired intent is merely visual wallpaper, an
extension of the light show in reality. This certainly has its place, and
truthfully, there needs to be this kind of "bread and butter" to support
the would-be live cinema artist so they can pursue their individual work.
In fact, I am not ashamed to admit I spend a significant portion of my
working life doing exactly this... although at least its on a level which
garners professional respect, as opposed to begging for work from
the local clubs. On occasion, I'm able to bring the true elements of
live cinema into that space where "eyecandy" would be the usual norm,
which is lovely.
44
45
What differentiates live cinema from normal cinema is the ability to
improvise the narrative or concepts, to alter their course as the
performance progresses, perhaps even interacting with the audience
or present site-specific elements. What separates live cinema from
eyecandy is that the intention of the artist must be front and center.
The best live cinema is where visuals are the solo act or from visual
bands, where nothing stands in the way between the audience and
the visual performance.
How do you take into account the spatial aspect of performance?
On a site by site basis. I try to make every show I do as site-specific
as possible, to react to the available architecture. Some of the technology
I've been involved with recently opens up many possibilities for 'spatial'
video. Working with the Elumenati's Omnifocus fisheye projection
design has been wonderful, this technology allows the image hit every
surface of a space without losing focus... the possibilities are tremendous
for installation work. Recently I've been working with VMS movingmirror projectors which I can precisely move the video in space
dynamically.
What would be the ideal space for your performance?
Projecting onto clouds in the sky.
How do you see the future of realtime visual creation?
The convergence of live netcasting with prevalent displays in architectural
contexts. The displays will continue to grow in numbers everywhere
around us. New generation OLED displays are manufactured on sheetrolls like wallpaper. It won't be long before we can turn entire walls,
even buildings, into active displays. Bandwidth infrastructure will
continue to grow, allowing us to perform easily from any location, even
while in motion.
Johnny DeKam
Johnny DeKam is an acclaimed video artist, VJ and software designer. In 1998 he
founded the software company VIDVOX which is one of the preeminent software
tools for live video production used by thousands of artists worldwide. As a VJ he
has performed and toured with such notables as Sasha and John Digweed, Eminem,
Deadbeat, Pure and Thomas Dolby. As a solo video artist DeKam as exhibited or
performed at prestigious spectacles including Sonar, Transmediale, Mutek, Siggraph,
The American Museum of the Moving Image, KIASMA Helsinki, and the New York
Video Art Festival. DeKam has recently expanded is repertoire working with opera,
theater and major concert tour productions.
a
46 47
Did you create visuals before you programmed Processing ?
We created Processing because we were making visuals. We made
Processing as a tool to improve the process of making our visuals.
Could you describe you method of working on visuals ?
I work in a traditional way. I start with vague ideas and begin to make
sketches. Gradually the ideas become more resolved through exploration
and testing. I start writing software very early and the ideas often change
in response to what happens with the code.
Processing allows me to work faster than with the
programming languages that I was using before (mainly
C++). It is easier to translate my thoughts into code; this allows for a wider
exploration.
Software like MAX/MSP/JITTER, Puredata, VVVV and Processing are
all very "programmer-oriented", meaning that using these software
needs programming skills. What do you think of this ?
Some ideas require programming. Fortunately, these environments were
created so we can realizing these ideas. There are many other software
environments that are not "programming-oriented." They support other
production methods, such as editing photographs or building 3D models
with a mouse.
The tools/languages you listed above were all written for visual and sound
creation. They have different qualities than the programming languages
written for strict computer science and engineering applications. I'm excited
to see more artist-created programming languages. Unlike general
programming languages (C, C++, Java, Python, Ruby) artists and musicians
experiment with languages and libraries that are customized for their more
specific domains. In addition to the languages you mentioned above, there's
Scriptographer, GEM, OpenFrameworks, Supercollider, ChucK, and many,
many more. Most of these are written on top of general programming
languages; they minimize complexity and make it easier to do specific things
like draw a moving line or load and play a sound.
a
What can one do with Processing ?
Processing was created for making visuals (2D and 3D); specifically,
animated and interactive visuals. It has been extended into other
domains including sound, data I/O, networks, video, etc. It's proved
useful across a wide range of tasks and skill levels; it's used for
highly commercial work and for small personal projects. I think the
online Exhibition (www.processing.org/exhibition) is the best way
to get a feeling for the type of work created. There, one can see
installations, information visualization, games, movie titles,
architectural renderings, advertisements, etc., using the media of
software, animation, and print.
People who consider
themselves designers,
artists, architects, programmers, and hobbyists all use Processing
in different ways, each to fulfil their unique needs. They call their
work different things: software, design, art, installation, live cinema,
visual music, etc.
There's nothing that I can create in Processing that I could not
create using C++/OpenGL or with Java (or other environments),
but it's easier to work with Processing. The code is shorter because
it's designed to be specific to the type of work I create.
48 49
a
Processing is a "community software", what does it mean
in practice ?
Much of the software development is contributed from the
community. Processing has a library system for extending the
software beyond it's light core for creating graphics. There
have been over fifty libraries contributed; this is the future of
the software.
Where do you get inspiration for generating visuals ?
I try to live a full life (to have a broad range of experience and
learn about many topics) and I distil this into my work. I'm more
engaged with how the world works than how it looks. I think
in terms of systems, so visual abstraction comes naturally.
I create two types of work. I make conceptually-driven
instructions that define processes and the related software
interpretations. This work is informed by science and philosophy
(systems theory, biology, artificial life, emergence, complex
systems). It's an extension of conceptual art; it is focused on
networks and structure. This type of work is created without
reference to materiality. The dimension, medium, and ratio of
presentation is inconsequential, but I write software to
demonstrate the process. I also make perceptually-driven works
that build on the foundation of the first type of work. These
works are highly dependent on how they are shown (room
conditions, frame specifications, etc.) They are often built or
customized for a specific room and they are meant to engage
the body through materials and space. My performed visuals
for music also fit into this category. They are highly
choreographed for a specific piece of music.
Casey Reas
Reas is an artist who lives and works in Los
Angeles. He focuses on defining processes
and translating them into images. Reas is an
associate professor in the department of
Design | Media Arts at the University of
California, Los Angeles. With Ben Fry, he is
the co-founder of Processing.org, a
programming language and environment for
the visual arts. He's the co-author of
Processing: A Programming Handbook for
Visual Designers and Artists, from MIT Press.
50 51
<>Tag Gallery, The Hague, Viernes 13 de Abril 2007
Viernes 13, inauguración de Meta_Epics II; nueva obra de Telcosystems, expuesta en la
<>Tag gallery en The Hague. Me encontré con Lucas van der Velden y con los hermanos
David y Gideon Kiers en el pequeño patio situado en la parte trasera del espacio expositivo,
y, disfrutando del bonito día de sol, hablamos –sobre su trabajo, sus ideas sobre computer
art y su nueva instalación–. He acabado por conocer bastante bien a Lucas y Gideon a
través del trabajo que he realizado para el Sonic Acts Festival, un festival que han organizado
a lo largo de los últimos años.
AA: Meta_Epics II es una instalación generativa, ¿significa esto que el software
genera tanto la imagen como el sonido en tiempo real? ¿Podríais explicar cómo
funciona exactamente?
DK: Meta_Epics II es una historia cinematográfica sin final en la que los cuatro capítulos
se presentan continuamente con nuevas variaciones, hasta que los aparatos se apagan.
Cada capítulo es una investigación distinta sobre ‘objetos’ en el tiempo y en el espacio
y sobre su comportamiento recíproco.Prescindiendo de complicaciones y tecnicismos,
se podría decir que formulamos reglas de comportamiento para la imagen y el sonido. Un
capítulo podría basarse en reglas que sitúan la imagen y el sonido en el tiempo, mientras
que otro capítulo podría basarse en reglas en las que las frecuencias de sonido controlan
totalmente la imagen.
GK: Si se busca un denominador común, podría decirse que estos módulos tratan las
cualidades espaciales de la imagen y el sonido.
AA: ¿Cómo se define la relación en la espacialización de imagen y sonido?
GK: Las conexiones que hacemos entre imagen y sonido cubren un espectro amplio. En
un extremo del espectro está la relación directa, individualizada. Por ejemplo, aquí podríamos
conectar las cualidades espaciales del sonido con los diversos parámetros espaciales de
objetos en un espacio visual tridimensional. En el otro extremo pueden darse relaciones
muy débiles, casi aleatorias, entre el comportamiento del sonido y la narrativa visual.
AA: ¿Podríais describir brevemente cada uno de los cuatro capítulos que constituyen
la instalación Meta_Epics II? ¿Cuáles son los cuatro temas de investigación?
LvdV: El primer capítulo es el resultado de una conexión directa entre el espectro de
sonido y una matriz de imagen 3D. En el segundo capítulo asociamos la dinámica del
sonido a la matriz de imagen para influir en ésta. El tercer capítulo concierne al emplazamiento
espacial de objetos visuales y sonoros basado en una relación directa e individualizada
entre la imagen y el sonido. Un secuenciador 5.1 (sonido surround) hace girar los patrones
de sonido a través de altavoces, controlando simultáneamente los objetos visuales en el
espacio 3D. El último capítulo trata sobre la relación entre la textura de la imagen y la del
sonido, siendo la textura de la imagen el factor determinante. Esto crea un resultado en
el que la conexión entre imagen y sonido es la menos directa y visible.
52¬53
<>Tag Gallery, The Hague, Friday April 13th 2007
Friday the 13th, the opening day of Meta_Epics II; A new work by Telcosystems, exhibited
at the <>Tag gallery space in The Hague. I met up with Lucas van der Velden and the
brothers David and Gideon Kiers in the small courtyard behind the exhibition space and,
while enjoying the beautiful sunny day, we discuss – their work, their thoughts on
computer art and their new installation piece. I have gotten to know Lucas and Gideon
considerably well through the work I have done for the Sonic Acts Festival, a festival
they have been organizing for the last years.
AA: Meta_Epics II is a generative installation; does this mean that the software
generates both the image and the sound in real time? Could you explain how this
works exactly?
DK: Meta_Epics II is a never-ending cinematographic story in which four chapters
continuously present themselves in new variations, until the machines are shut down.
Each chapter is a distinctive investigation of 'objects' in time and space and their reciprocal
behavior. Avoiding complication and technicalities you could say we formulate rules for
behavior in image and sound. One chapter could be based on rules that position the
image and sound in time while another chapter could be based on rules where the soundfrequencies fully control the image.
GK: If you are searching for a common denominator you could say that these modules
are dealing with spatial qualities of image and sound.
AA: How is the relationship in the spatialization of sound and image defined?
GK: The connections we make between the image and sound cover a broad spectrum.
On one end of the spectrum there’s the direct, one-to-one relationship. Here we could
for instance connect the spatial qualities of the sound to the various spatial parameters
of objects in a three dimensional visual space. On the other end there can be very loose,
almost random relationships between the sound's behavior and visual narrative.
AA: Could you give a short characterization of each of the four chapters that make
up the Meta_Epics II installation? What were the four research topics?
LvdV: The first chapter is the result of a direct connection between the sound spectrum
and a 3D image matrix. In the second chapter we coupled the dynamics of the sound
to influence the image matrix, on which we map a texture created by feedback and
controlled by sound. The third chapter concerns the spatial positioning of image and
sound objects based on a direct one-to-one relation between the image and the sound.
A 5.1, (surround sound) sequencer rotates sound patterns through the speakers,
simultaneously controlling the image objects in 3D space. The final chapter deals with
the relationship between the texture of the image and that of the sound, where the image
texture is the ruling factor. This creates an outcome in which the connection between
image and sound is the least direct and visible.
a
AA: En el momento de crear un capítulo, ¿cuándo decís: ‘esto funciona’, ‘está bien’ o
‘esto es lo que buscamos’? ¿Cuándo es lo suficientemente bueno para ser expuesto?
LvdV: Antes de empezar con un nuevo capítulo exponemos algunas directrices generales,
pero no definimos un tema de investigación en un sentido absoluto. El resultado final no está
predeterminado por el tema de investigación. Empezamos a trabajar según directrices
generales, pero mientras diseñamos el software nos encontramos con todo tipo de sorpresas,
tanto técnicas como conceptuales. Esto nos conduce a vías alternativas y a resultados
imprevistos. De este modo, el propio proceso de elaboración se convierte en la verdadera
investigación. Puesto que todo lo que elaboramos tiene lugar en tiempo real, podemos ver
y oír instantáneamente el resultado y decidir si es lo que buscamos o no.
AA: Entonces, mientras estáis programando, ¿evaluáis en tiempo real, alteráis algo del
diseño del software para ver qué resulta...?
DK: Cuando trabajas con tu propio sofware, desarrollas una sensibilidad para ajustar los
parámetros de tal modo que éstos producen comportamientos que afectan a tus deseos
artísticos y que quieres explorar más.
LvdV: En programación, se empieza realmente desde cero sólo una vez. Todo aquello que
creamos nos sirve para elaborar y expandir nuestro vocabulario de reglas, de pequeños
sistemas y sub-rutinas. Algunas rutinas son descartadas de nuestro vocabulario, otras son
añadidas. Con el tiempo, nuestro vocabulario se va refinando y articulando. Así, nosotros no
trabajamos a partir de una idea predefinida acerca del resultado final, sino más bien a partir
de un conjunto de principios técnicos y conceptuales, a menudo muy simples. Desde este
punto de partida creamos, ajustamos y afinamos el tiempo que haga falta hasta que
encontramos algo interesante.
AA: ¿Cuándo algo es interesante?
LvdV: Ésta es una cuestión difícil. Es como preguntar: ‘¿Cuándo el arte es interesante?’ Tan
pronto como das con una definición de arte interesante, encuentras igualmente obras
interesantes que no se ajustan a la definición. Sin embargo, sí que existe una y otra vez un
momento en el que pensamos: ‘es esto, esto es interesante’. Normalmente, esto ocurre
durante sesiones de improvisación. En el proceso de elaborar y ajustar llegamos finalmente
a un punto en el que pensamos: ‘sí, esto casi ya está’. Esto no sucede porque determinemos
por adelantado que vayamos a hacer tal cosa, ni tampoco porque estemos trabajando hacia
un resultado específico; sino porque confiamos en nuestras respectivas capacidades. Cada
uno de nosotros dedica sus propias habilidades, y al cabo de cierto tiempo nuestros esfuerzos
colectivos producen un resultado interesante.
GK: Para nosotros, una obra nunca está realmente terminada; muchas de nuestras obras
permanecen en constante desarrollo. Por esta razón, presentamos muchas versiones del
mismo proyecto. Versiones antiguas todavía tienen su valor, pero hemos avanzado. Nuestro
trabajo ahora es más preciso, está mejor articulado.
AA: En la instalación Meta_Epics II, cada capítulo empieza con la indicación de la fecha
y hora actuales. Si he comprendido bien, ¿cuando vuelva más tarde veré algo distinto,
aun cuando esté viendo efectivamente el mismo capítulo?
GK: Puesto que es una instalación generativa, por definición, cada vez que veas un capítulo
vas a ver diferentes versiones del mismo. Pero la diferencia no es tanta. Las variaciones
siempre se mantendrán dentro de un margen limitado, y los capítulos sin duda son reconocibles.
54¬55
AA: When you create such a chapter, how can you tell whether something 'works'?
When do you think 'this is looking good', 'this is what we'll pursue'? When is it good
enough to exhibit?
LvdV: Before we start with a new chapter we lay out some general directions, but we
don't define a research topic in an absolute sense. The end result is not predefined by
the research question. We start working based on the general directions, but while
designing the software, all kinds of surprises and problems occur, both technical and
conceptual. This takes us on alternative paths and to unforeseen endpoints. In this way
the building process itself becomes the actual research. Because everything we build
runs in real-time, we can instantaneously see and here hear the outcome and decide
whether or not it is what we are looking for.
AA: So while you are programming, you evaluate in real-time, you alter something
in the design of the software, and see how this works out...?
DK: When you’re working with your own software you develop sensitivity for tweaking
the parameters in such a way that they produce behavior that touches your artistic desires
and that you want to explore further.
LvdV: In programming you actually start from scratch only once. With everything we
create we build and expand our vocabulary of rules, of small systems and subroutines.
Some routines are scrapped from our vocabulary, others are added. Over time, our
vocabulary becomes more refined and articulated. So we don't work from a predefined
idea about the end result, but rather from a set of technical or conceptual principles,
often very simple. From that starting point we build, tune and tweak as long as it takes
until we find something interesting.
AA: When is it interesting?
LvdV: That is a hard question. It’s like asking: 'when is art interesting?'. As soon as you
come up with a definition for interesting art, you will find equally interesting works that
don’t fit the definition. Nevertheless, there is indeed again and again a moment where
we think 'this is it, this is interesting'. Usually this occurs during improvisational sessions.
In the process of building and tuning we eventually arrive at a point where we think 'yes,
this is about right'. This doesn't happen because we determine in advance what it is
we're going to do, nor because we are working towards a specific outcome; it happens
because we trust each other’s abilities. Each of us puts in his own skills and after a while
our collective efforts produce an interesting result.
GK: For us, a work is actually never really finished; most of our works remain in constant
development. That’s why we present so many versions of the same project. Older versions
still have their value, but we have moved on. Our work is more precise now, more
articulate.
AA: In the Meta_Epics II installation each chapter starts with the indication of the
current date and time. If I understand it correctly I'll see something else when I
come back at a later moment, even though I am effectively seeing the same chapter?
GK: Because it is a generative installation, by definition you'll get to see different versions
each time you watch a chapter. But the difference is not that huge. The variations will
always stay within a limited range and the chapters are definitely recognizable.
a
AA: ¿Estas variaciones se alcanzan trabajando con generadores numéricos
aleatorios?
GK: Empleamos una amplia variedad de generadores, incluyendo generadores numéricos
aleatorios, pero sólo cuando sirven a un propósito. La aplicación de valores aleatorios
no es una meta en sí misma. Nuestra meta es crear una obra interesante, algo con lo
que estemos satisfechos. Cuando utilizas generadores aleatorios, inevitablemente
obtienes mucho silencio, o una pantalla vacía, pero eso no es lo que queremos mostrar
a nuestra audiencia. Es interesante como concepto, pero no nesariamente como obra
de arte – a menos que tu trabajo verse sobre ello –. Nuestro trabajo no trata sobre la
aleatoriedad, sino que es un diálogo con las máquinas, por el que disponemos de una
gran cantidad de libertad para improvisar y reaccionar con respecto a las máquinas, y
por el que éstas disponen de una cantidad limitada de libertad para reaccionar unas
con otras y con respecto a nosotros. Así, sucede que nos sentemos mirando el monitor
o la proyección y nos digamos unos a otros: ‘ésta es una buena secuencia’, o ‘los
ordenadores han hecho un buen trabajo’. La cualidad de la improvisación del ordenador
varía dentro de ciertos límites dados. En este sentido, existe vida dentro de un ordenador
– al menos, creo que es posible calificarla como tal.
AA: ¿Te refieres entonces a la improvisación por ordenador basada en algoritmos
creados por vosotros y a los límites que habéis establecido, la extensión de libertad
que habéis definido para el ordenador?
GK: Me refiero al diálogo con las máquinas y a las sorpresas que nos dan. Creemos
firmemente que los ordenadores tienen sus propio dinamismo y que por eso intervienen
en el proceso creativo. En parte esto es así porque utilizamos los ordenadores para
tareas en tiempo real y también porque, mediante dichas tareas, los llevamos a sus
límites. El resultado es que el ordenador realizará ciertas tareas demasiado tarde, o que
se detendrá en mitad de su ejecución, a veces fallan por completo en la ejecución, o
la capacidad de respuesta del ordenador disminuye durante breves períodos de tiempo.
A menudo existen explicaciones lógicas para comportamientos particulares, pero debido
a la complejidad del sistema es difícil rastrearlas. Esto conduce a una sensación de
‘individualidad’ y de ‘estar conectado con las máquinas’, por encima de los comportamientos
programados. Así, los aspectos de improvisación de los ordenadores no dependen
únicamente de los algoritmos que hemos creado, sino también de la mencionada
‘individualidad’ del sistema. De ahí es de donde proviene la cualidad de la obra. Además,
el diálogo con la máquina sobreviene como algo muy natural, pues trabajamos con ellas
diariamente.
AA: ¿Diseñáis ese diálogo en código y luego tratáis de invitar o incluso de provocar
al ordenador para que haga algo con ello?
GK: Por lo general, los ordenadores están hechos para realizar tareas muy simples y
tontas. La mayoría de ordenadores están equipados con un monitor, dos pequeños
altavoces, un teclado y un ratón, todo dirigido a un uso muy restringido. En consecuencia,
se ha establecido una imagen más bien unidimensional de lo que es un ordenador. Sin
embargo, somos nosotros, los humanos, quienes hemos definido esa imagen limitada
y esa funcionalidad restringida del ordenador. Por lo tanto, lo cierto es que el hombre
impone firmes restricciones a la máquina. Existe una considerable libertad dentro de las
máquinas cuyo afloramiento debería potenciarse más. Esto también forma parte de
nuestro trabajo.
56¬57
AA: Are these variations achieved by working with random number generators?
GK: We use a wide variety of generators, including random number generators, but only
where they serve a purpose. The application of random values is not a goal in itself. Our
aim is to make interesting work, something that we are satisfied with ourselves. When
you use random generators, you inevitably get quite a lot of silence or an empty screen,
and that is not what we want to show our audience. It is interesting as a concept, but
not necessarily as a piece of art – unless if that is what your work is about. Our work
is not about randomness. Our work is about a dialogue with machines, where there is
a large amount of freedom for us to improvise and react to the machines, and a limited
amount of freedom for the machines to react to each other and to us. It does happen
that we sit and watch the monitor or projection and say to each other: ‘this is a good
run’, or ‘the machines were really doing their best’. The quality of the machine’s improvisation
varies within the given limits. In that sense there is life inside a computer – at least I
believe you can qualify it as such.
AA: Are you talking then about the computer improvising based on the algorithms
you have created and the boundaries you have set, the extend of freedom you have
defined for the computer?
GK: I’m talking about the dialogue with the machines and the surprises they give back.
We strongly believe that the computers haves their own dynamics and therefore intervene
in the creative process. This is partially because we use the machines for real-time tasks
and also because we push them to their limits with these tasks. The result is that the
computer will execute certain tasks too late, or stop halfway through the execution,
sometimes completely fail to execute or the computer’s responsiveness decreases for
short periods of time. There are often logical explanations for particular behaviors, but
because of the system's complexity they are hard to trace. This results in a feeling of
'individuality' and of 'being connected’ to the machines, on top of the programmed
behaviors. So the improvisational qualities of the machines do not depend solely on the
algorithms we created, but also on the before mentioned 'individuality' of the system.
This is where the quality of the work comes from. Besides that, a dialogue with the
machine strikes us as something very natural since we work with them on a daily basis.
AA: You design that dialogue in code and then try to invite or even provoke the
computer to do something with it?
GK: In general, computers are made to execute very simple and dumb tasks. Most
computers are equipped with a monitor, two small speakers, a keyboard and a mouse,
all meant for very restricted use. As a result of this, a rather one-dimensional image of
the computer has been established. However, it was us humans who defined this limited
image and restricted functionality of the computer. So actually, man imposes firm
restrictions on the machine. There is a considerable freedom inside the machines that
should be allowed to come out more. That's also part of what our work is about.
a
AA: ¿Diríais que vuestro trabajo se caracteriza por la estética digital?
LvdV: No existe ninguna estética digital. Si se quisiera programar una obra del tipo
Monet, podría hacerse; lo mismo vale para una obra abstracta de Mondrian o de Sol
LeWitt. También se puede trabajar sin monitor y así no habría que hablar de píxeles.
Puedes también adjuntar cien altavoces o mil bombillas de luz, o lo que quieras. El
resultado, y con él la estética digital, no está realmente definido en absoluto. Un ordenador
con un teclado, ratón y monitor, como Gideon acaba de decir, están hechos para un
conjunto de tareas específicas, como la contabilidad, el correo electrónico y cosas por
el estilo. Nosotros, en cambio, empleamos el ordenador para crear experiencias-espacios
y experiencias-máquinas. Ahora mismo, esto es lo que determina para nosotros qué es
un ordenador. Quizás en nuestro próximo proyecto hagamos algo sólo con sonido o un
proyecto sólo con luces. El ordenador no define lo que el artista crea, sino que es el
artista quien lo hace. Resulta sorprendente cómo la gente normalmente tiene opiniones
muy claras sobre los ordenadores y la estética digital. Para mí, eso es como tener
opiniones muy claras sobre un bosque. Por supuesto, puedes tener las opiniones que
quieras sobre ello, pero la utilidad de un bosque no tiene nada que ver con ellas. Lo
mismo vale para un ordenador.
DK: La idea es utilizar el ordenador para convertir tus ideas en código, tras lo cual te
apartas un poco del resultado y piensas: ‘esto es hermoso’, o: ‘no me esperaba esto’.
La esencia de un ordenador es código. Tienes esa caja, introduces algunas reglas, éstas
son ejecutadas y producen cierto resultado, sea el que sea. Quizá podría decirse que
la ‘estética digital’ se encuentra principalmente en el aspecto procesual del trabajo.
GK: Yo, de algún modo, contemplo el trabajo que hacemos también como un álbum
privado de fotos vacacionales de ordenador. La razón por la que llamamos a una de
nuestras series performánticas ‘Postales desde el procesador’ es porque trata de la vida
que hay en su interior. Si quieres hablar de estética, entonces para mí se trataría de
aquello que sucede dentro del procesador; la conversión de unos y ceros en experiencias
que nos afectan.
LvdV: Con un ordenador eres libre de expresar la nada. No hay significante último. Quizás
ésta sea la esencia del arte por ordenador y de la codificación. Lo que lo hace realmente
interesante es la ausencia de norma. Trata sobre nada; el resultado no encuentra
referentes significantes fuera del ordenador.
AA: ¿Por eso termináis creando experiencias-máquinas?
[Meta_Epics II presenta un espacio a oscuras en el que, rodeado por el sonido,
uno es absorbido en la imagen y en otro mundo].
LvdV: Sí, nuestro trabajo trata del espacio, de la presencia física en una intensa
constelación de imagen y sonido. Hasta ahora hemos trabajado sobretodo con videoproyectores de alta resolución y con altavoces; ahora estamos trabajando en una
instalación realizada únicamente con luces y altavoces. Se puede definir un espacio de
tantas maneras distintas. Damos mucha importancia a la cualidad física de un espacio,
más que al empleo de cierto tipo de imagen y sonido. Se trata más del impacto físico
de la instalación que de cómo suena o qué se proyecta.
58¬59
AA: Would you say your work is characterized by computer aesthetics?
LvdV: There is actually no such thing as computer aesthetics. If you would want to
program a Monet-like work, it is possible; the same goes for an abstract Mondriaan or
Sol LeWitt. You can also work without a monitor and you wouldn't have to talk about
pixels. You can also attach a hundred speakers, or a thousand light bulbs, or whatever
you want. The output, and with that the aesthetic of the computer, is actually not defined
at all. A computer with a keyboard, mouse and monitor, as Gideon just said, was made
for a specific set of tasks, like bookkeeping, emailing and such. We, on the other hand,
use the computer to make experience-spaces and experience-machines. At the present
moment, this is what determines for us what a computer is. Perhaps for our next project
we'll make something only with sound or do a project with only lights. . The computer
doesn’t define what the artist makes, the artist does. It’s remarkable how people usually
have very strong opinions about computers and computer aesthetics. For me, that is
like having very strong opinions about a forest. Of course, you can have all kinds of
opinions about it, but that's not the purpose of a forest. The same goes for the computer.
DK: The idea with the computer is that you convert your ideas into code, after which you
take a step back and think, ‘that is beautiful’, or ‘I hadn't expected that’. The essence of
the computer is code. You have this box, you insert some rules, the rules are executed
and result in a certain output, whatever that output may be. Perhaps you could say that
the 'computer aesthetics' is mainly found in the processing aspect of the work.
GK: I also somehow see the work we make as a computer’s private holiday photo album.
There is a reason that we named one of our performance series ‘Postcards from the
Processor’: it's about the life inside. If you want to talk about aesthetics, then for me it
should be about what goes on inside the processor; the conversion from ones and zeros
into experiences that touch us.
LvdV: With a computer you are free to express nothing. There is no ultimate signifier.
Maybe that's the essence of computer art and code. What makes it really interesting is
the absence of a norm. It's about nothing; the output has no reference to significant
matters outside of the computer.
AA: Is that also why you end up making experience-machines?
[Meta_Epics II presents a dark space where, surrounded by sound, you are sucked
into the image and into another world.]
LvdV: Yes, our work is about the space, about the physical presence in an intense
constellation of image and sound. Until now we have worked mostly with high-resolution
video projectors and speakers; we are now working on an installation using only lights
and speakers. There are so many more ways in which you can define a space. We attach
great importance to the physicality of such a space, more than the usage of a certain
type of image or sound. It's more about the physical impact of the installation and less
about how it sounds or what the images looks like.
a
AA: ¿No determináis esto mediante la selección de un sonido específico y de una
específica imagen no-referencial?
LvdV: Lo no-referencial no es tanto objeto de elección nuestra como el resultado de
trabajar con ordenadores. Sobretodo porque dicho resultado carece de una forma fija
de identidad y porque hay algunas convenciones en cuanto a qué es lo que debería
parecer o cómo debería sonar. Tampoco hay nada establecido con respecto a la narrativa.
Mucha gente, cuando oye un instrumento clásico como un violín, automáticamente ve
un violín. En cambio, el sonido no-referencial de un ordenador está mucho menos
vinculado a un ordenador. Una persona oye un ordenador, otra un mono o un tren, y otra
incluso oye un ‘no-sonido’.
AA: ¿Pero no debe haber un vocabulario de música electrónica en el que encajéis?
¿No deben haber tradiciones con las que vuestro trabajo tenga relación?
GK: Por supuesto que nuestro trabajo tiene relación con el vocabulario de la música
electrónica y del cine experimental, del mismo modo que existen conexiones con el
computer art contemporáneo. Sin embargo, ello se debe a que nuestros actuales métodos
de expresión son similares a estas formas de arte. Yo diría más bien que nuestro trabajo
está estrechamente relacionado con la tradición del arte sonoro y visual, que tratan del
desarrollo de nuevos ‘lenguajes’ para la imagen y el sonido. Componemos mediante un
ordenador y el resultado se encuentra limitado sólo por la tecnología que empleamos
para la producción. Nuestro trabajo versa sobre la creación y la investigación dentro de
un nuevo vocabulario audiovisual y de un nuevo contexto. Con nuestro trabajo actual
nos hemos situado en la intersección del arte visual, cinematográfico y performántico.
Y hasta el día de hoy, en ninguno de estos mundos se encuentra plena y claramente
representado nuestro trabajo. Construimos una cabina de proyección en forma de caja
negra en una galería de blancas paredes y muy iluminada por la luz del sol, instalamos
sillas y un equipo de altavoces con sonido surround en un club, y en un cine creamos
una película en tiempo real. Por lo tanto, es parte de nuestro trabajo diario reorganizar
el mundo un poco y prepararlo para el futuro.
LvdV: Hasta cierto punto, también se trata de la liberación del ordenador. Dándole la
vuelta a todas estas convenciones relativas sobretodo al espacio, poco a poco estos
espacios se están haciendo más multidisciplinares. Pero todavía sólo existe un puñado
de lugares que sean realmente multidisciplinares, tanto espacial como ‘mentalmente’.
Pues todavía se hacen muchas suposiciones basadas en criterios que no pertenecen
a nuestra época actual.
AA: ¿Excepto quizás en arte sonoro?
LvdV: Apenas hay tampoco emplazamientos para el arte sonoro. En un sitio el personal
se vuelve loco cuando el sonido lleva sonando una hora, en otro sitio el falso techo vibra
o el vecino del piso de arriba baja a quejarse. Pero es reconfortante pensar que, cuando
se trabaja con ordenadores, al final lo cierto es que no necesitas hacer nada con ellos.
Incluso sin espacio o producción, ellos continúan trabajando. Puedes oír el suave sonido
de los discos duros, el zumbido de los ventiladores, y puedes ver las luces de la red
parpadeando. Los ordenadores no nos necesitan en absoluto para continuar trabajando.
-> www.telcosystems.net
60¬61
AA: Don't you determine that by selecting a specific sound and a specific non-referential
image?
LvdV: Not so much because we choose for non-referentiality; it's the result of working with
computers. Especially because the output lacks a fixed form identity and because there are few
conventions for the way it should look or sound. Also with regard to the narrative nothing is fixed.
Most people, when they hear a classical instrument like a violin, automatically see a violin. Nonreferential computer sound is far less connected to a computer. One person hears a computer,
the other a monkey or a train, and yet another hears a 'non-sound'.
AA: But there must be a vocabulary of electronic music that you match to closely? There
must be traditions that your work is related to?
GK: Of course our work is related to the vocabulary of electronic music and experimental cinema,
just as there are connections to contemporary computer art. However, this is mostly caused by
the fact that our present methods of expression are similar to those art forms. I would say our
work is closely related to the tradition of 'image and sound art', which deals with the development
of new 'languages' for image and sound. We compose using a computer and the result is only
limited by the technology we use for outputting. Our work deals with the creation of and research
into a new audiovisual vocabulary and context. With our current work we have positioned ourselves
on the intersection of visual arts, film and performing arts. And to this day, in none of these worlds
is the presentation of our work straightforward. In a gallery with white walls and a lot of daylight
we build a black box screening room, in a club we install chairs and a surround sound speaker
setup and in a movie theater we create a film in real time. So part of our daily job is also reorganizing
the world a bit and preparing it for the future.
LvdV: To a certain degree this is the liberation of the computer as well. By overturning all those
mostly space related - conventions, these places are slowly becoming a bit more multidisciplinary.
But still there exist only a handful of places that are truly multidisciplinary, meaning spatially as
well as 'mentally'. So many assumptions are still made based on standards that are not from the
present era.
AA: Except in sound art perhaps?
LvdV: There are hardly any suitable locations for sound art either. In the one place the staff goes
mad when the sound has been playing for an hour, in the other the loose ceiling throbs along or
the neighbor upstairs comes down to complain. But it is a comforting thought that when working
with computers, in the end you don't need to do anything with them really. Even without space
or output, they just keep on working. You can hear the hard disks rattling gently, you can hear
the ventilators rotating and see the network lights blinking. These computers don't need us at
all to continue working.
Lucas van der Velden (1976, Eindhoven) lives and works in Rotterdam. Gideon
Kiers (1975, Amsterdam) lives and works in Rotterdam and Reykjavik. Both
studied at the Interfaculty Image and Sound, a department at the Royal Conservatory
and the Royal Academy in The Hague. David Kiers (1977, Amsterdam) studied
Sonology at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He works and lives in The
Netherlands, Germany and Iceland.
a
things happen::
Si hablamos de Live Cinema, lo primero que nos viene a la cabeza es
que se trata de algo realmente nuevo para la mayoría, no porque no se
haya estado utilizando el montaje de video en directo, o porque no se
hayan planteado formatos de espectáculo audiovisual muy cercanos
a lo que hoy conocemos por live cinema, sino porque poco a poco
empieza a cobrar entidad como medio autónomo. Y empieza a cobrar
entidad porque cada vez son más nítidos los canales de difusión de
este medio híbrido heredero de prácticamente todas las disciplinas
que engloban el registro de las prácticas artísticas contemporáneas.
Pero lo más importante y derivado de lo anterior: comienza a establecerse
un público para esta práctica; como asistente y como creador. Un
público que proviniendo de diferentes ámbitos y con una cultura visual
y una manera de entender la comunicación adaptadas a formatos como
Internet, los videojuegos o el cine, encuentra en el live cinema una
forma capaz de representar sus intereses creativos.
Grupo que trabaja en torno a nuevas estructuras visuales
de actuación en tiempo real. www.thingshappen.es
62 63
a
things happen::
Para nosotros, la entrada en el terreno de los visuales
en tiempo real fue debido al interés que nos produjo
un medio que por novedoso resultaba altamente
sensible a cambios, pudiendo modelarse según
necesidades específicas permitiendo el despliegue
de nuevas formas de representar y ofreciendo así
fuertes capacidades narrativas. Admitía la integración
tanto teórica como práctica de diversas disciplinas en
las que siempre habíamos estado interesados tales
como el arte plástico, el diseño, la arquitectura, la
música o también la magia, ya que la creación de
ilusión y los nuevos recursos expresivos que hay que
emplear para conseguirla formaba parte del atractivo.
Nos sedujo el potencial que ofrecen las nuevas
tecnologías y la combinación entre el poder
comunicativo de la imagen con la capacidad de crear
espectáculo que tiene la puesta en escena de los
visuales en directo.
64 65
En nuestro trabajo, la narratividad y el contenido son
el motor fundamental que genera toda la pieza y que
nos marca el patrón para construir los elementos
visuales que vamos a proyectar, generando un discurso
visual coherente. Desde un principio, no nos interesó
demasiado la mezcla fortuita de imágenes y la aplicación
únicamente técnica del material si no es para adecuarlo
al propósito de un guión. Así, nos referimos a una
narratividad aplicada a este campo, intentando contar
una historia con las condiciones intrínsecas de este
medio mientras vamos buscando las bases de su
propio lenguaje; al igual que un fotógrafo se adapta
al formato bidimensional y estático aunque hable sobre
algo que implique movimiento y tiempo.
Cuando intentamos explicar cómo funciona nuestro
trabajo, cosa que por cierto es bastante difícil ya que
nosotros mismos intentamos entenderlo cada día y
siempre va sufriendo modificaciones, decimos que se
trata de un relato que traducimos en imágenes a través
de una sucesión de escenas que permiten ser
modificadas al instante en función de las necesidades
narrativas.
Para establecer un símil, podríamos decir que se trata
de un fotograma de cine en el que te puedes detener
y modificar su composición según la expresión que
quieras adoptar en cada momento. Podrías eliminar
algún objeto que forma el decorado y quedarte con
uno en concreto si quieres remarcarlo, podríamos
acercarnos al personaje y juguetear con él, eliminar
todo de la escena y quedarnos con algo que pasó
desapercibido, o bien hacer volar todo lo que aparece
de forma desorbitada generando un desconcierto total.
Lo primero que hacemos es marcar un guión y realizar
una labor previa de diseño del material visual con el
que vamos a trabajar y probarlo con las herramientas
que utilizamos para ver como funciona. Una vez
contrastado el material con su ajuste en la escena, su
relación con los otros elementos y sus procesos con
los dispositivos que lo controlan, quizá haya que realizar
cambios tanto en el material como en las herramientas
para obtener una mejor adecuación en la composición.
a
things happen::
En nuestras sesiones, a pesar de trabajar sobre una
estructura con la que intentamos ordenar los elementos
narrativamente, contamos ahora mismo con un factor
aleatorio que puede generar de vez en cuando un caos
que nos obliga a reconducir toda la secuencia; es
decir, a veces nuestro trabajo, se parece al de un
músico que más que tocar notas, se afana en reducir
el desbarajuste de sonido ambiente en estructuras
que tengan sentido para el espectador. Con esta
función reductora vamos recolocando los elementos
para que vayan definiendo la historia.
Los elementos visuales que utilizamos, siempre flotan
en un espacio que se reconfigura continuamente en
función de la escena y nunca marcando el límite
rectangular de una pantalla, así se trata de personajes,
decorados, etc. que se extienden libremente en un
espacio pudiendo hacerlo a través de la pared, techo
o suelo.
No generamos la sesión haciéndola coincidir con el
ritmo de la música que normalmente acompaña los
visuales, ni siquiera tenemos en mente que tenga que
haber música en toda la sesión. Nuestra idea es crear
un diálogo con el sonido, y que el contenido sonoro
se genere a partir del guión y el material visual.
En directo los dos manejamos el mismo instrumento
cada uno en su función pero coordinados,
estableciendo continuamente relación entre las
acciones de uno y otro.
En general intentamos no enredarnos con la
complejidad que ofrece el ya de por sí complejo mundo
de la programación y herramientas digitales de
procesamiento de imagen. De tal manera que
ciñéndonos al contenido visual, podemos encontrar a
menudo soluciones sencillas que atajan directamente
nuestro objetivo.
Por todo esto, nos da la sensación de transitar en un
terreno que todavía no ha generado soluciones cerradas
permitiendo un grado de imaginación, libertad y
creatividad apasionantes. Esto nos da la oportunidad
de investigar mientras trabajamos intentando entender
66 67
a
things happen::
qué posibilidades ofrece este campo y qué significa
el tiempo real a la hora de relatar una historia. Para
nosotros es una incógnita que vamos despejando
según avanzamos en el desarrollo de cada proyecto.
En el contexto de la gente que se dedica al live cinema,
aparecen continuamente referencias a figuras de los
inicios del cine y no es de extrañar ya que en ciertos
aspectos da la sensación de encontrarse en el
comienzo de algo nuevo, y el juego experimental que
le sucede a todo esto es inevitable. Méliès, Griffith,
los cineastas rusos, Abel Gance, etc. son pioneros
que exprimieron la técnica y el lenguaje cinematográfico
a través de un largo proceso de experimentos. Ahora
vemos como cada vez parece haber mayor interés en
la edición de video en directo a la que se suma una
utilización del espacio, una integración del espectador
de forma interactiva por medio de sensores, múltiples
pantallas y un sinfín de experiencias que demuestran
ganas de trajinar en este panorama.
Quizá somos muy optimistas a la hora de pensar en
todo esto como un nuevo medio, pero en ningún caso
deja de ser un motor de creatividad e inquietud y de
búsqueda de una forma de relatar adaptada a sistemas
actuales de comunicación; a nuevos canales de
difusión.
Desde luego, por lo que hemos venido contando,
hablamos de un vasto terreno por explorar,
caracterizado por una potente capacidad creativa
derivada de su condición de libertad, es por ello que
la continuidad de esta forma de representación está
por un lado en manos de quienes se empeñen en
desarrollar algo que comience a tener una entidad
suficiente como para interesar a un público. Pero no
podemos dejar de lado la necesidad de crear el canal
necesario para su difusión, un mercado correspondiente
adaptado a los nuevos cauces comunicativos.
Aunque de manera personal, abogamos por un formato
que aparte de distribuirse por medios como Internet
llegando a usuarios de forma individual, tenga la
oportunidad de reunir a personas en un mismo espacio
produciendo el fenómeno de sinergia que se genera
cuando la gente participa físicamente de un evento;
en contacto unos con otros.
68 69
1. Lia
-------------Lia is an early pioneer of software art and internet art. Since 1995, her work is concerned with the artistic
possibilities of code, digital video, on-line methodology and user-specific applications - seemingly different
activities that she manages to bind together trough her unique approach to creativity and production. In a
painterly, conceptual manner, Lia creates live-performances, real time sceneries, projections and installations
in public spaces.
Lias works have been presented internationally in numerous festivals. She has received numerous awards
and honors, among others a distinction from Ars Electronica Festival for re-move.org, and she exhibited in
museums and galleries worldwide.
Over the last few years she has taught at the Fachhochschule Joanneum in Graz, Austria, the École Cantonalle
d'Art de Lausanne, Switzerland, and the University for Fine Arts, Oslo, Norway.
70
71
Lia lives and works primarily in Vienna.
www.strangethingshappen.org
www.re-move.org
www.turux.at
www.wofbot.org
http://flickr.com/photos/lia_lia
2. Lillevan (Rechenzentrum)
-------------Lillevan has been investigating the
moving image for 20 years, starting out
with Super-8 and 16mm, these days
with video and computers. The focus
on the image itself has always been
central, the technology must follow the
needs of the artist.
Lillevan collaborates with composers,
musicians, choreographers and
theoreticians from a broad spectrum;
from contemporary music to flamenco
via Shakespeare, from experimental
soundscape design to electronic dance
music via classical interpretations.
He is known for a radical reduction of
imagery to its essence, while aiming to
create streams of associative thinking
in the viewer, by creating new
relationships in juxtaposition and
overlay, thus turning the manipulated
image into a musical instrument.
Existing film material is dissected,
reworked and fused together,
sometimes in abstract directions,
sometimes in figurative-narrative forms.
www.rechenzentrum.org
72
73
3. Sue C.
-------------Sue Costabile aka SUE.C is a visual and performing
artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her
works challenge the norms of photography, video,
and technology by blending them all into an organic
and improvisational live performance setting.
Employing a variety of digital tools to create an
experimental animation "instrument," Costabile
synthesizes cinema from photographs, drawings,
watercolors, hand-made papers, fabrics and miniature
interactive lighting effects. Dark, moody, textural, and
physical, her live films inherit equally from the kinetic
languages of Stan Brakhage's abstract cinema and
Nicolas Schöffer's lumodynamic scuptures. She
employs the same techniques in her recorded work
to emphasize the beauty of the banal street corner,
public parking lot, forgotten winter beach, torn remnant
of a found photograph, cast-away super 8 vacation
footage, and other half-forgotten, often-unnoticed,
in-between spaces in her surroundings.
Costabile has collaborated with musicians such as
Morton Subotnick, Luc Ferrari, Laetitia Sonami, Antye
Greie (AGF) and Joshua Kit Clayton at a variety of
national and international venues including the San
Francisco International Film Festival, REDCAT (Los
Angeles), Ars Electronica (Linz), MUTEK (Montreal),
SONAR (Barcelona), the MonkeyTown (NYC), and
Activating the Medium (San Francisco). Her solo
performances combine live imagery with a live
soundtrack using her own voice, small sound effects
devices and assorted electronic instruments. She
currently teaches "Math & Media" at the California
College of Arts (CCA) in Oakland.
4. Pink Twins
-------------Pink Twins is a duo of musicians and
video artists, brothers Juha and Vesa
Vehviläinen from Helsinki, Finland.
Active since 1997, Pink Twins have
displayed their video works and played
their music to audiences in Europe and
Asia, in festivals, art spaces, clubs,
churches and outdoor events.
Mostly created with self-made software,
Pink Twins' video works are abstract and
painterly, from formal compositions to
extremely fast shapeless pixelstorms.
Music of Pink Twins, based on
improvisation and the brothers' symbiotic
collaboration, is a chaotic whole of
intense soundbursts, melodies and
infinitely detailed sounds. In their concerts
Pink Twins create a constantly changing
multilayered wall of sound and aim for a
physical, mental and spatial experience.
The live music is normally accompanied
by video projections.
http://pinktwins.com/
74
75
5. Transforma
-------------The Berlin video group Transforma was
founded in 2001. Since then they've
been exploring interferences between
music and image. They are now working
in the context of vjing, music videos and
live cinema.
Their visual language combines early
cinema approaches with current
computer based filmmaking techniques,
to create fragmented visions and micro
stories, which invite the viewer into a
world with its own internal logic.
They love to collaborate closely with
musicians and sound artists, to generate
a dense interplay and synergy of sound
and image.
6. Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto)
-------------Carsten Nicolai, born 1965 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, is part of an artist generation who works intensively
in the transitional area between art and science. As a visual artist Nicolai seeks to overcome the
separation of the sensual perceptions of man by making scientific phenomenons like sound and light
frequenzies perceivable for both eyes and ears. His installations have a minimalistic aestehtic that by
its elegance and consistency is highly intriguing.
Further aspects of his works consider the integration of chance as well as the inspection of the
interchanging relations of micro and macro structures. Special interest he also puts on so-called selforganizing processes, which for example occur when snow crystals develop.
For several years now Carsten Nicolai experiments with sound under the pseudonym noto to create
his own code of signs, acoustic and visual symbols. As alva noto he leads those experiments into the
field of electronic music.
Among others, Nicolai already performed as alva noto at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New
York, at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, at Centre Pompidou in Paris, at Kunsthaus Graz and
at Tate Modern in London. Additionally he has projects with diverse artists such as Ryoji Ikeda (cyclo.),
Mika Vainio or Thomas Knak (opto); recently he toured with Ryuichi Sakamoto through Europe, Australia
and Asia.
www.alvarnoto.com
76
77
7. Olga Mink (aka Oxygen)
-------------Video-artist and founder of
Videology.nOw! creates experimental
animation, interactive work, live
performance and multi-screen
installations.
Olga Mink's work relates to architectural
environments, public-spaces and
political engaged themes. With a strong
emphasis to conceptual approaches,
she aims to translate various crossoverfields in her work. The human body is
another main theme in her work. This
fascination was explored by re-arranging
and composing pieces of the human
body into new forms, to create another
experience of time and space. By use
of rectangular screens and a
threedimensional projection set-up, a
sophisticated visual environment is being
developed.
In 2003, Mink has been commissioned
to develope a permanent interactive
video-installation in a newly built cultural
center. During night the projection
becomes visible on a translucent
projection-surface integrated in the
building. Interactivity is accomplished
by use of a touch screen interface inside
the building and an online application
on the dedicated website video-matic.nl.
When performing live, she often
collaborates with composer Michel
Banabila. 'Urban Nature' is based on
electronic and abstract themes, with an
atmospheric and experimental flavour
to it.
www.videology.nu
8. Klaus Obermaier
-------------For almost two decades the
media-artist, director and
composer Klaus Obermaier
creates innovative works in the
area of dance, music, theatre and
new media, highly acclaimed by
critics and audience.
His performances are shown at
major festivals and theatres
throughout Europe, Asia, North
and South America and Australia.
He composed for ensembles like
Kronos Quartet, German Chamber
Philharmonics, Art Ensemble of
Chicago, Balanescu Quartet,
among others.
His numerous works also include
projects like interactive
installations, video art, web
projects, computer music, radio
plays as well as large intermedia
outdoor events for ten thousands
of people.
Since 2006 he is visiting professor
at the University IUAV of Venice
teaching 'new media in stage
performances' and gives lectures
at international universities and
institutions.
www.exile.at
78
79
9. Ilan Katin
-------------Ilan Katin is an artist specializing in drawings,
live video performance and animation. His work
has been published in a variety of print and online
publications. His video performances include
numerous collaborations and locations in the
United Sates and Europe.
Ilan's personal performance work tests the
boundaries of performing with a laptop in front
of an audience, engaging the ‘here’ and ‘now’
by interacting with inanimate objects or live
drawing as well as mixing and manipulating live
and pre-recorded imagery of these objects. The
first of these works called 'eggsounds' and has
been performed at 'mapping festival' in Geneva
Switzerland (2005) and Participant INC Gallery
in New York City as part of the Roberta Fleck
Memorial Cinema (2005). In 2007 Ilan performed
'decrepticon 0001', and eight hour performance
where he interacted with the audience through
projected live drawing.
Since 2005 Ilan has been developing
'decrepticon.' The project is executed through
a variety of mediums such as performance,
drawings, writings and videos. It is an exercise.
http://www.ilankatin.com/
http://www.decrepticon.us/
http://www.myspace.com/decrepticon
10. Philipp Geist
-------------Philipp Geist works internationally as a multimedia artist in the mediums of video,
performance, photography and painting.
For his video works, he only uses self-filmed
images and generated images which he
transforms, abstracts and densifies in order to
create a dialogue with the sound, the space
and the visitors. The images alternate between
colourful and monochrome compositions. For
his work he uses contemporary digital hardand software and also analog tools.
Music and sound play an important role in
Philipp Geist's live performance works. The
music influences the speed of the images, the
intensity of its effects, its colours and contents.
Geist selects the images live and as the music
is generally improvised, the images are found
and modified spontaneously.
His works also include video-room-installations
whose form and content are conditioned by
the place where the work is being presented.
In his video-installation “RIVERINE”, an ongoing
project, Geist shows video recordings of rivers
from different international locations, using
underwater-video-cameras.
Philipp Geist has also realized video
installations which covered the entire front of
large buildings. By using the architects' plans
of the building he is able to highlight or to hide
parts of the building. He manipulates its threedimensionality with his two-dimensional images.
http://videogeist.blogspot.com
http://riverinezones.blogspot.com
80
81
a
Space, Media and Real-Time in Media texture
by Susana Karrasch (soyous.org)
The symbiosis between media and architecture
during the last decade has generated a variety of
approaches within the via methods and results.
These contemporary attempts all have in common,
the goal to create responsiveness of the medium,
and its immediate changes by user inputs.
The production combining urban scene with
technologies in real time can give a new dimension
to space by the possibility of expressing public
opinion , or in a physical way by moving and
reconfigurate the space itself.
This paper shows up 4 different types of outputs
from the fusion between media & architecture,
visuals in the urban space, urban screens and
interior and architecture in real time.
1
VISUALS IN THE URBAN SPACE
Urban-Marketing vs. Guerilla content
In the last decade a rapid and explosive
development towards media facades has taken
place.
At the same time these steps opened the doors
to imagine an infinite repetition .
Narrowing down to the facade as a medium of
communication, representation of content and
social values,
I would like to focus on customized media facades
with critical argument to it's location and
environment, acting as mediators representing
public opinion / meaning or in a self-organized way
of the spontaneous character.
Unfortunately commercial interests - driven
implementation of modular led-systems rarely
include any relevant content, apart from marketing
interest.
These commercial media-facades provoke artistic
intervention, from a critical position, such as guerilla
and activism or artistic expression.
This concepts results can be seen largely in Jenny
Holzer’s text-based and socially oriented
art-form , which took place mainly in public spaces.
Her statements (original, on occasion, historic or
82 83
archival sources ) have appeared on billboards and
have been projected onto facades, walls and water
by laser or with xenon.
Not literally interactive but with a great impact and
strong relation to its genius logic its both
questioning and provocative.
The work of the "Graffiti Research Lab" is another
contemporary example.
With the help of a self-made mobile device
consisting of a bike, a projector, generator and
computer they artists are flexible to move to any
spot of the city to get in action. That way they are
spontaneous to react on occurring situations in
the urban environment: Big scale laser-tagging
facades or intervening advertisements with tags
and statements.
They as well invite graffiti artists and the general
public to participate in their artwork.
2
URBAN SCREEN
In 2000 the world's largest fully-functional Tetris
game took place at La Bastille, in Rhode Island,
converting a fourteen-story Sciences Library into
a giant video display which allows people to play
and be seen for miles. The art installation created
by Technology House at Brown University integrated
more than 10,000 LED lights, controlled by fourteen
custom-built circuit boards.
A similar project called "Blinkenlights" took place
in Berlin during 2001 within the annual "Chaos
Computer Club congress"
This Project's spectacularly simple idea works
without addition of any media facade, but make
the actual building lights of each room interact.
Another example of low resolution facade are the
award-winning installations by "Bix" and "Spot" by
"Realited united".
Both are exclusively designed, dynamic architectural
surfaces. Having in mind that the balance between
new technology and outdated technology, such as
the neon tubes from the 1960s kitchen serve as
a huge pixel within the facade.
The importance was also to create content and
build identity by including a series of curated
exhibitions involving visual artists.
The artists developed a specially created software,
which made it possible to submit videos or stream
messages .
3
INSIDE/OUT
Information Architecture is conquering open
space.
Both inside and outside, longing for the interactiveness with the user.
Smart environments
In these interiors, invisible computers are
embedded into walls and used as integrating
information & communication technology for
architectural spaces.
For example a research of the "Frauenhofer
Institute" called "Room ware/disappearing
computer". The goal is providing context-aware,
smart services by hiding the actual computers.
In order to rather interact with people and
information, than with computers, it tends to put
technology in the background to emphasize on
its functions.
This can happen in a physical and in a mental
way by minimizing and integrating the devices
into walls or fabrics and to not perceive those as
computers at anymore
Ambient intelligence includes sensing capabilities,
processing power, reasoning mechanism,
networking facilities and digital content to support
selected social processes (i.e. coordination of
teamwork , behavior analysis).
Bix. Realited United. Photo: Landesmuseum Joanneum. 2003
Spots. Realited United. Photo: Bernd Hiepe, Berlin. 2005-2006
a
Materializing the Visual
A totally different approach of media texture is
presented by the collective "Electronic shadow".
Their work can be described as an overlapping between
material space/visual representation and a virtual one.
Some of their interior projections of virtual 3D spaces,
are experimenting with different materials to project
on.
Some projects even invert the relation of inside / out
whilst creating surprising perception.
4
RESPONSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Here we move in the territory of responsive and
adaptable physical space.
The attempts focus on making the space interact in
real time, or on ambient changes or on users demand
& necessities.
For example, walls and windows protect us from
sunlight or provides cooling system, like a skin that
breathes.
New Walls shall allow changes of their shape or
characteristics, responsive to human interaction or
through environmental inputs.
Based on reconfigurable geometry they can bend from
a flat condition to curved one, expand and contract.
This "kinetic revival" is based on totally new starting
point like Animation-tools, parametric derived from
Video-Games and mechanical engineering whilst being
linked with new technology, provides new possibilities
to develop spaces allowing them to react in real time.
An early example is Jean Nouvel`s "Institute du Monde
Arabe" in Paris France.
It is an amazing façade which not only represent the
ornamental design link to the buildings content, but
at the same time acts like thousands of lenses, closing
down and opening up according to the external light
conditions as the main constrain for their behavior.
Nowadays many Institutions run their own research
on computation and responsive architecture.
The "Hyperbodygroup" in Delft elaborated on a series
of interactive Projects called "MuscleBodys".
The "Emergent Design Group" in London even jump
in scale by re-interpreting natural systems and
biometrics in the study of form-adaptation made by
nature.
84 85
BOOKS & LINKS
///// links_ artists & collectives :
www.aether.hu
www.graffitiresearchlab.com
www.electronicshadow.com
www.haque.co.uk.
www.realu.de
www.realitylab.at
www.mediaarchitecture.org
www.interactivearchitecture.org
/////LAb´s
www.tudelft.nl
acg.media.mit.edu
www.smartlabcentre.com
www.imk.fraunhofer.de
////// MediaFacade:
www.culturebase.org/home/urb
anscreens/
www.mediafacade.net
www.mediafacade.com
www.ledlightray.com
www.blinkenlights.de
///// Information_Architecture
Ambient Intelligence ( AmI) &
Roomware (R). :
www.roomware.de
www.disappearing-computer.net
www.ambient-agoras.org
tochi.acm.org
LED display technology:
www.blipcreative.com
www.digitales-bauen.de
////// books:
* 4dspace: Interactive Architecture
/ (AD_Architectural Design)
by Lucy Bullivant
Publisher: WileyAcademy
* Designing Interactions
by Bill Moggridge
* Responsive Environments
by Lucy Bullivant
Publisher: V&A Contemporary
(Victoria & Albert Museum)
* GameSetAndMatch II. On
Computergames, Advanced
Geometries and Digital
Technologies
by Kas Oosterhuis and Lukas
Feireiss
Publisher: Episode Publishers,
Netherlands
* GameSetAndMatch II. On
Computergames, Advanced
Geometries and Digital
Technologies
by Kas Oosterhuis and Lukas
Feireiss
Publisher: Episode Publishers,
Netherlands
* Reflexive Architecture /
(AD_Architectural Design)
by Neil Spiller
Publisher: WileyAcademy
*Total Interaction, byGehrhard
M.Buurman
Publisher: Birkhäuser
* Performative Architecture,
by Branko Kolarevic and Ali
Malkawi
Publisher: Spon Press
Susana Karrasch
Susana Karrasch is a creative researcher (artist and architect)
based in Barcelona.
She studied Fine art and Architecture at the “Art academy of
Düsseldorf Germany” as well as generative architecture at
“EsarQ” in Barcelona Spain, supported by DaaD.
In 2005 she founded “Soyous” which serves as a platform for
her to explore a collaboration between media and architecture,
whilst holding a strong focus on interactive architecture.
Since 2006 she has been an assistant at the postgraduate
“Digital Tectonics” course of “IaaC” in Barcelona, which
involved collaborating in workshops of digital fabrication and
FabLab, MiT.
Interactive Architecture
Theo Wattson
> Laser Tag, Rotterdam
Graffiti Research Lab
a
ElectronicShadow
Electronic Shadow proposes a new type of space
that integrates a digital extension from the very
start, creating an entity that does not put the real
up against the virtual but combines them. Taken in
this sense, virtual reality is omnipresence,
encompassing everything that is possible, potential,
all that’s invisible. This new hybrid reality makes
invisible potential a visible reality, thereby creating
the conditions necessary for new types of
perception. Hybrid reality results from the coexistence of two perceived realities, one physical,
the other electronic, in a common space. These
types of spaces are built in a perceptible physical
dimension, yet in deploying new features force the
virtual dimension to take a certain number of limiting
factors into account. This double architecture, real
and virtual – an architecture of memory – enables
us to create feasible utopias, to quote Yona
Friedman.
In fact, there is a much shorter time lapse today
between a utopia and the opportunities to create
it. This is due in part to technology that, contrary
to what one might think, significantly simplifies the
technical aspects of project development by
enabling quick, true-to-life simulations. At the same
time, the distance between fiction and reality is
being whittled down; fiction is a reality in progress
and reality a fiction in the process of being achieved.
It is essential to think now about the potential
tomorrow may offer.
Since architecture and space are physical, as are
images and digital networks, the actual merging
of the real and the virtual occurs in a place situated
mid-point between space and image. We are
currently developing a patent-pending system at
the intersection of geometry, perspective and digital
technology that allows us to process a moving and
interactive image according to a given space or
physical volume. The space becomes an image
and the image, freed from its frame, becomes
habitable.
86 87
The idea of a living space is critical to our thinking
because a proposition of this type involves an
extension of the imaginary into the physical
environment, and is translated by architecture. Our
3minutes2 project “manifesto” is presented in the
form of a 5 x 4 meter stage scene that comes to
life as the image is projected. The piece, part
artistic installation and part design proposal, shows
a world that is possible. Set between reality and
science-fiction, it represents a single room whose
space keeps changing as two silhouetted figures,
a man and a woman, go about their everyday life,
both in the close and distant future.
Our approach opens up multiple prospects for the
future. By perceiving space through images and
the immaterial, you enhance its value and merge
two opposites. On the one hand, physical space
allows you to appropriate it through your body and
all your senses but, by definition, remains static for
many. On the other, images gives free rein to the
imagination, liberating it from the laws of physics,
but are often assigned to a flat frame where you
remain but a spectator. Demultiplying space by
images means that the space keeps changing,
becoming a true media. Demultiplying an image
by space means the image is no longer an object
that you look at but an environment you can live in
and observe in harmony with reality. Demultiplication
replaces the traditional accumulation process. In
addition, as the technology is entirely hidden from
view, what the public sees appears magical, a
“supernatural” vision of reality. The interface rids
itself of digital metaphors and becomes natural
once again; people can use the ir senses without
having to be taught to do so.
3minutes_
3 minutes_ is a system that displays an extremely
compact living unit. The particularity of the space
lies in its ability to extend far beyond its physical
boundaries through the image screened on it. In
consequence, its volume can expand to fit the
various functions scripted for it as a living space.
The space, in fact, is perpetually reconfigured
according to the activities of its inhabitants and as
time goes by. The script compresses the home’s
main activities and functions: eating, sleeping,
working, etc., into a very short timeframe. The space
is an empty shell that comes alive when in contact
with an image. The image does not serve as a
simple illustration, but as a critical element of the
space, outlining its contours as well as its content.
The objects are dematerialized into pixels, and
virtual interfaces coexist along with representations
of the objects and the “real” functions they provide.
The inhabitant of the space becomes content in
the image, shown in the form of a silhouette. The
shadow representing the projection of a neutral
individual is the nerve center of the system; the
space is built around him or her like a cocoon. The
home thus becomes a full-fledged person, a twin,
a jewel case. The average living space today keeps
getting smaller, while screens continue growing in
size (home cinema). The Western practice of carving
out rooms according to function and of
accumulating consumer goods is replaced in 3
minutes_ by the superimposing of different functions
within the same space, a philosophy closer in spirit
to that of Japanese homes, and a multiplication of
the same physical object through successive
transformations. It’s time and not the surface that
gives the space its varied existences. 3 minutes_
outlines the contours of an everyday life as it would
were the virtual were to materialize.
a
Beyond the traditional functions of the home,
appropriately adapted, there are certain activities
suited to this particular concept of space that will
inevitably result in radical changes in our political,
economic and social system. In addition, the status
of the image in relation to space continues to
remain highly ambiguous. Is it the imprint of the
individual’s memory on his/her home, the virtual
reflection of a real life, or the life size model of a
future space prefiguring the use of developing
technologies, such as home automation,
nanotechnologies…?
3 minutes _ does not try to answer these questions
but rather to shift the focus of the classic argument
pitting the virtual vs. reality. The hybridization of
the two is firmly established in one’s mind and
serves as the foundation for a proposed living
space that anticipates the technological and social
changes that will make it feasible.
As the building of virtual worlds is often founded
on metaphors of reality, the system aims to offer
a virtual version of feasible utopian models.
88 89
Description:
A 15 sq. meter apartment is transformed by images,
assuming different domestic functions according to the
activities of its inhabitants.
Equipment:
Space built in whitewood, 1 video projector, 1 computer,
a patented space-image system.
Exhibitions:
Paris, Nuit Blanche 2003 with the musée d’Art moderne
of the city of Paris, Villette Numérique 2004,
Laval (Laval Virtual) 2004, Linz (Ars Electronica) 2004,
Tokyo (Japan Media Art Festival) 2005,
Aix-en-Provence (Fondation Vasarely) 2005.
Awards:
Grand Prix Japan Media Art Festival 2004 section Art.
Honorary Mention Ars Electronica 2004 Interactive Art.
Electronic Shadow
Created in 2000 by Naziha MESTAOUI, architect and artist, and
Yacine AIT KACI, director and artist, Electronic Shadow focuses
its research in the physical relations between space and image.
Using its patented space/image projection system, Electronic
Shadow has many exhibits to its credit (e.g. at MOMA in NewYork, Museum of Photography in Tokyo, the Centre Georges
Pompidou and La Villette in Paris, the French cultural center in
Milan, the Moca Shangai,…). It won the Grand Prize at the 2004
Japan Media Art Festival. Electronic Shadow took part in the Year
of Cezanne celebrations in Aix-en-Provence, with an image projection
project at the painter’s house, open to the public for the very first
time. One of Electronic Shadow’s latest accomplishments is the
Double Vision video-choreography show created with star
choreographer Carolyn Carlson. Electronic Shadow works also as
light artist for architectural projects, such as Frac Centre with
architects Jakob and Mac Farlane (opening 2009).
www.electronicshadow.com
Aether
Aleph Reorganizing Vision
www.aether.hu/aleph
(2005-2007)
Concept
Aleph is an experimental public display, using the
spaces, people and objects it faces as a palette
to display messages from hidden viewpoints. When
looking at a small mirror, it reflects a fraction of the
space around us, when looking at a mirror façade,
it reflects most things around us, containing
segments that are dark or bright, red or green. But
if we build a matrix of small mirrors, which can
adjust their tilt according to the site they are facing,
we can create a display that uses the ever changing
flux of the place to show images from certain points
in space.
It will not be comprehendible from all viewpoints,
just from specific ones, asking visitors to explore
the space, or providing surprising flashes in a public
setup that can stay around the edge of
comprehension. We can for example limit this point
to the height of a child, so whenever she or he
looks at the mirror, drawings emerge from the
reflections of the clouds, drawings that appear only
for them, that adults will not be able to see.
The project, as an installation, got commissioned
for the Belsay hall contemporary arts program in
the UK, to be shown between March 2007 to
September 2007. This event supported by English
Heritage and DOTT uk, curated by Judith King,
and Juha Huuskonen. We joined up with artists
Tamás Szakál, Péter Szakál, Andrea Bernscherer
(nextlab.hu) who helped to make the installation
happen.
Car mirrors
After visiting the site, we decided to install it in the
garden, outdoors. To reach the required level of
stability within the budget we are using power side
mirrors from cars. The installation is experienced
as a large matrix of reflections of the actual
environment on mirrors that can be electronically
tilted,_ _so reflections are changing and eventually
building up images and other visual information._
_This is perceived fully from one specific viewpoint
at a time,_ _while getting fragmented by moving
away from it._ _The installation produces its content
in response to the presence,_ _position and
behavior of visitors.
The mirrors,_ '_pixels_' _of the installation are made
from power side mirrors of cars_ (_Spansih remakes
of Citroen ZX_ _mirrors_) _that have a sufficient
angle to reach our goal and are built very robust
and weather proof._ _Movement is achieved by_
_2_ _small electric motors within the casing,_
_which we control with our own technology. _Each
mirror is equipped with a small circuit board with
a microcontroller,_ _a motor driver and an angle
sensor, and all communicate via radio._
Cameras are used for analyzing the environment
seen through the mirrors and the programs running
on the server uses this information to position the
mirrors and thereby controls what the visitors see._
Belsay Hall
Our site is a very unique place, with a magical
quarry garden with huge plants. Aleph is
constructing stories from fragments it finds around
itself. By reflecting what is there now, it shuffles
the present, and shows images that are not really
there. This can be experienced as shift in space
just as well a shift in time. The name we chose,
Aleph, from Borges talks about a point in space,
that contains all other points, where time falls into
a singularity.
a
This experience is like where the actual environment
starts to carry something fictional. It is where the
stains on the walls can become a medium, they
mediate the space, and this is exactly how we felt
about Belsay Hall. For us, Belsay Hall has a very
unique duality. Every little corner feels loaded with
hidden stories, with the histories of the place, but
at the same time, as the buildings are emptied out,
the place acts as a framework, that is waiting for
new interpretations to happen, new uses to emerge.
Perhaps Aleph is revealing something from this.
Perhaps this will only be our personal relation to
this connection, and not really visible for other.
Either way, the very strong atmosphere of Belsay
has influenced our work, as we have been working
with these images in our minds for many months.
Related projects and concepts
There have been quite a few people and projects
creating alternative displays, from room lights, to
water drops, even we have been experimenting
with rotating pixels before. Using reflections from
tilting mirrors to create images is a technology
used in most projectors, called DLP, that is very
similar, of course on a much smaller scale. Building
displays from kinetically moving objects was
researched by Daniel Rozin a decade ago, who
created many beautiful projects, we especially like
the trash mirror. Also, we need to mention photo
mosaic, the process of creating large images from
many smaller ones in software. Given all the above,
once we had the idea in 2005 to use the colors
reflected on moving mirrors from the environment
to shuffle new information into the same data, we
thought that we really would like build it. Not for
technological innovation, nor for artistic novelty,
but simply out of curiosity.
Facade system
As we see the concept as a great architectural
element, we are continously in discussion with
possible partners and architectural projects for
this. Have a look at this large rendering to see
how we image aleph large scale. By tilting tiles of
glass one could play with natural reflection and
truly transparent areas, something regular glass
facades can't achieve.
90 91
Project Crediting
Aleph Reorganizing Vision
Bengt Sjölén (Autmata AB) and Adam Somlai-Fischer
(Aether Architecture)
---------------Aether Architecture methodologies - Adam Somlai-Fischer
Our projects: cultural technologies
Our main focus is to develop systems, technologies,
spaces that carry cultural qualities and are exploring the
possibilities in today's networked societies. Borrowing
concepts from electronic art, computer science and
interaction design, we create spaces that somehow
embody media, are responsive to people and are open
for changing. This involves the development and software
and hardware systems that allow communal and intuitive
interactions and the building of malleable but tangible
structures. This work today is mainly carried out through
public installations (most shown at electronic art and
architecture exhibitions, examples are the Venice
Architecture Biennale 2004, 2006, ISEA 2004, 2006,
Pixelache 2004, NTT ICC 2007) and research projects.
Not buildings, thought we believe they show possibilities
for future architectural uses.
Our team: a loose network
Together with Anita Pozna and Peter Hudini when we
started our first projects in around 2002. We have been
working as most other young offices, a team of former
classmates forming a studio, working as consultants and
investing time and webdesign-earned money to develop
own content, experiments. Over the years we realized
that working with professionals from other disciplines has
a great advantage, projects are formed in collaboration,
and we constantly learn from new people. This resulted
that all projects we create have been produced in
collaboration with others. For example Aleph, published
in this issue, is a recent collaboration between Bengt
Sjölén and myself.
Sharing projects: Peer production
This model is referred to in social science as Peer
production, where individuals form horizontal networks
per project basis. Today we consciously choose to work
this way. Even thought we get many request we refuse
to grow and employ people, rather continue to look for
interesting professionals to create joint projects with. As
peer production creates peer property, cultural content
that is created in collaboration, we extensively use a
licensing that allows further remixing and sharing: Creative
Commons. While copyrighting prohibits reuses of cultural
products, sharing it via a CC license allows derivative
works, remixes, etc.
Belsay 03
Concept
collage
a
Realited United
In 2000 the brothers Tim Edler and Jan Edler
founded realities:united (realU), a studio for
art, architecture and technology. realities:united
develops and supports architectural
solutions, usually incorporating new media and
information technologies. The office
provides consulting, planning, and research, also
undertaking projects for clients such as
museums, businesses, and other architectural firms.
One major focus of realities: united is architecture’s
outward communicative capacity.
Another is the quality of the user experience inside
spaces, which in function and
appearance is essentially augmented and changed
by additional layers carrying information,
media content and communication. Some of the
studio’s projects resemble classical
architectural work, but venture regularly into art,
design, or technology research. Most
projects are intended to serve as a catalyst in a
given situation, and are therefore strongly
determined by identifying, transforming, amplifying,
and combining various existing
potentials. In that sense the approach centers on
taking advantage of available
opportunities, rather than specific skills, procedures,
or tasks. Although the majority of the
projects incorporate new technologies or
experimental approaches in one way or the other,
the work always aims to affect actuality, not virtuality.
Strategic initiative and a high proportion of
communication and mediation in work processes
mark many of the firm’s innovative projects. This
approach creates the bridge between utopian ideas, abstract conceptions and realizations
and has been recognized internationally.
Currently realities:united is working on new projects
in Europe, Asia and the USA.
92 93
SPOTS Light- and Media Installation at
Potsdamer Platz, Berlin__
Brief Description
Buildings communicate: through their architecture
and – as part of the architectonic concept – via
their facades. In an age defined by high-tech,
architects also are increasingly making use of the
latest communications technology in order to
present their buildings on the public stage.
Whereas a glass facade merely makes a building
more transparent, the media facade goes a step
further. The dynamic surfaces – presentation areas
for designs, animations or film sequences – turn
the exterior shell of a building into a communication
medium, an intermediary between structure and
outdoor space. SPOTS, a temporary installation
which has been on show at Potsdamer Platz in
Berlin, has been one of the world’s largest media
facades. From November 2005 till March 2007,
the eleven-storey glazed main facade of an office
building hosted the light and media art installation
SPOTS._
Continuation of architecture by other means
SPOTS comprises a light matrix of some 1,800
ordinary fluorescent lamps that is integrated into
the ventilated glass facade of the building at
Potsdamer Platz 10. A central computer linked to
a bus system can control all of the lamps
individually, adjusting their brightness or switching
them on and off. As a result, designs, graphics
and animation sequences can be recreated on the
facade as moving luminous images. The external
shell of the building is transformed into a
communicative membrane, which will be used
primarily for displaying artistic material. With its
large grid pattern and low resolution, the matrix of
fluorescent tubes harmonises with the architectural
scales of the building and of Potsdamer Platz as
a whole. The aim is not to conceal the architecture
with a media installation, but rather to implement
its logical continuation. Jan Edler: ‘Our work begins
in the transitional zones between architecture,
design, art and marketing. What we are doing is
the continuation of architecture by other means.’
©2005-06 Bernd Hiepe, Berlin
Multiple levels of communication
SPOTS has developed on from the multiple
award-winning BIX media facade, and yet
in many respects it has no precedent. The
overall concept is based on the
superposition and simultaneous utilisation
of multiple levels of communication: these
consist in the existing spatial structure of
the building and facade, the multi-layered
graphical structure of the light installation
and the dynamic level of the moving images.
The level of the lamps themselves operates
with different types of lamps grouped into
gigantic hexagonal patterns. A translucent
coloured film on the external shell acts as
a light filter for the lamps behind and is
visible even during the day as an
independent graphical extension of the
architecture. ‘The SPOTS light installation
has a unique format. Compared to the
mainstream in media facades on city-centre
buildings it defines other priorities. It is not
a neutral screen, but rather a specific
addition to the architecture of the building
and to the urban environment. It is a place
as well as being a building and medium at
the same time,’ says Tim Edler.
Culture and commerce in tense
opposition?
Just like the Potsdamer Platz 10 building
itself, the facade installation and the
presentation concept that was specially
developed for this purpose are subject to
the tension that typically exists between the
commercial interests of owners and
customers on the one hand and the cultural
or social desires of the public on the other.
With SPOTS, realities:united is seeking new
models for balance, constructive
engagement or possible synthesis between
the different spheres of reality. The project
as a whole aims to generate an artistically
loaded perception of the building complex,
thus contributing to the complete redefinition
of Potsdamer Platz and to a place of great
significance for Berlin and Germany.
94 95
©2005-06 Bernd Hiepe, Berlin
a
Conception, design & planning: realities:united, Berlin
Team: Jan Edler, Tim Edler, Malte Niedringhaus, Stefan
Tietke, Ulrike Brückner, Carla Eckhard, Erik Levander,
Chrsitoph Wagner, Jan-Philipp Wittrin
Software Development: John Dekron & Jeremy Rotsztain
Exhibition Catalogue Design: Ulrike Brückner
Curators: Andreas Broeckmann, Ingken Wagner, Winfried
Nussbaummüller, realities:united
Commissioned Artists: Jim Campbell, Nina Fischer and
Maroan El Sani, Terry Gilliam, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer,
Jonathan Monk, Frieder Nake and Hendrik Poppe, Carsten
Nicolai, Timm Ringewaldt, Ruth Schnell, realities:united
with John Dekron, and others...
Location: Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany
Year: 2005-2007
Client: HVB Immobilien AG
Surface Area: approx. 1.350 m2
Number of pixels/lamps: 1,774 (of which 1,014 ringshaped and 760 bar-shaped)
Jan Edler *1970 and Tim Edler *1965
// realities:united
Jan Edler studied architecture at the Technische Universität Aachen and at London’s
Bartlett School of Architecture. Tim Edler studied computer science and architecture
at Technische Universität Berlin.
The brothers work as architects, designer and artists. In 2000 they founded their
office “realities:united” in Berlin. All their projects deal with issues of space,
information, message and communication.
Their creative achievements have been prized with a number of architecture and
design awards, such as the Hans Schäfer Preis from the Association of German
Architects (BDA), the „Inspire!Award“ by Deutsche Telekom or the “Goldene Nagel”
(Golden Nail) which is the highest award given by the Art Directors Club, and has
been shown at numerous exhbitions in Europe including the Venice Biannual for
Architecture (2002 & 2006), the Vitra Design Museum and the new Kunstmuseum
Stuttgart. Their most recognised projects to date are BIX [1], a light- and media
facade at Kunsthaus Graz in 2003 that has hallmarked their international
breakthrough, and SPOTS [2], a urban media installation at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.
Aside from their project-related work both of them have taught at various institutions
such as the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, the Technische Universität Berlin or the
Pasadena Art Center College in Los Angeles. Since 2005 Tim Edler holds a visiting
professorship at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen.