30/1/2008
Optronica
Le Cube, Issy-les-moulineaux
The exhibition showcases a generation of innovative artists who explore the synergy between music and visuals, and who are also developing new techniques and new tools. From video scratching to audiovisual remixing, from generative art to interactive work, the programme of video installations show the diverse aesthetic trends in contemporary visual music and the current AV scene.
The Optronica exhibition showcases a generation of innovative artists who
explore the synergy between music and visuals, and who are also developing
new techniques and new tools. From video scratching to audiovisual remixing,
from generative art to interactive work, the programme of video
installations show the diverse aesthetic trends in contemporary visual music
and the current AV scene.
Many people feel and enjoy the naturally close relationship between image
and sound, particularly music, whose aesthetic purity has inspired some of
the most progressive art of our time. The desire to emulate musical forms
in visual art led to the development of what came to be known as visual
music. Although visual music was itself not a formalised movement it was,
and is, an important undercurrent and motive force in contemporary art. The
exhibition “Optronica” is not just modern visual music, it refects a wider
genre which continues the visual music tradition, but has grown to include
the wide range of styles and practices which audiovisual artists, animators,
experimental film-makers and collaborative multi-media groups employ today.
The work presented in this exhibition shows diverse trends of the genre.
With their multimedia project Naphtaline, EZ3kiel, the most adventurous band
of the French electro-dub scene, take us on an interactive journey full of
fantasy and poetry; Brian Kane, a founding member of pioneering American
video sampling group EBN (Emergency Broadcast Network), presents his new
interactive work HDADD; leading UK artists Addictive TV present their brand
new Sportive installation, created for an Adidas exhibition in China for the
2008 Beijing Olympics; the innovative project V-Scratch beautifully
transposes visually all the nuances of the DJ scratch; for Wingbeats, Thomas
Newton developed a system where all the music and sounds are generated by
birds’ positions in flight; Japanese trio d.v.d (drummers Itoken and
Jimanica plus video artist ymg) offer up a playful visual music animation
recorded live during their exhilarating drum-triggered-visuals show.
Plus work from audiovisual artists and VJs who have created and developed
their own performance software, including Onionlab, VideoJack, MiniVegas,
i2off+R3nder, SanchTV and Joshue Ott; generative animations by Dextro,
U-Sun, Alessandro Capozzo and David Muth; and last but not least a selection
of videos from Italian artists curated by Digicult and VJcentral.it.
OPTRONICA is a bi-annual festival in London founded by Anglo-French curators
Cinefeel and British artists/producers Addictive TV, which champions the
fusion and interaction between images and music through performances,
screenings, installations and talks. The festival is organised in
collaboration with the British Film Institute and the IMAX cinema. Before
its next edition in 2009, Optronica is on the road, presenting selections of
audio/visual delights around the world. http://www.optronica.org
CINEFEEL was founded in 1994 in London by French curator Françoise Lamy with
the aim to promote digital and electronic arts and new media culture.
Cinefeel curates for festivals and events worldwide and have been a curating
partner for Le Cube for 6 years. http://www.cinefeel.org
LE CUBE is located in Issy (in the Paris suburbs) and, since it opened in
2001, has gained a fantastic reputation throughout France as a leading venue
for new media arts. Its mission is to promote digital arts practitioners,
educate the public and support multimedia creations.
Opening: January 31st, 2008 at 7:30pm.
Le Cube
20, Cours Saint Vincent - Issy-les-moulineaux
Open from Tuesday til Saturday
Admission free