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30/4/2009

Elektra Festival

Different Venues, Montreal

Elektra was born in 1999 from the desire to fill up the divide between the various forms of art that leverage technologies as a vehicle. But also with the goal of presenting the latest creations that stem from the digital arts. For the past 10 years, Elektra has showcased avant-garde works in a plurality of forms by promoting artists from the local and international scenes, as well as up-and-coming talent. For this 10th Edition, from May 1st to 10, Elektra proposes an “enhanced” version of the Festival – 10 days worth of not-tobe- missed events in six partner locations, the 3rd Edition of the International Digital Arts Market, and five nights of performances, including our crowning, 10-year anniversary event.

>> The Elektra team is proud to announce the complete program for this 10th Edition, which promises to fulfil the expectations of digital culture lovers and other inquiring minds on the lookout for new A/V experiences.

>> Five nights of concerts and performances at Usine C and Conservatoire de musique de Montreal This year, Elektra once again boasts five nights of multi-screen A/V performances, immersive shows, as well as electronic music and electroacoustic concerts.

> On Tuesday, May 5, Francisco López*, a major player on the immersive audio scene, will perform alongside Louis Dufort and Félix-Antoine Morin, a young Montreal up-and-comer, for immer_son, a highly sensory immersive music concert. *Francisco López Conference on Monday, May 4th, salle Multi du Conservatoire de musique de Montreal. > On May 6, 7 and 8, Kurt Hentschläger (one half of former duo Granular Synthesis) will return to Montreal for the ultimate presentation of Feed (total immersive performance), to the delight of those who already know him, and also those who don’t yet know what they’ve missed out on. Warning: For inquisitive, bold viewers only – A liability waiver must be signed before entering the performance hall. All previous performances were shown in sold-out halls. Capacity is limited to 100 individuals.

> To celebrate the Tursday, May 7 opening night, Elektra has called on two legends of the current digital arts roster. the audience will discover Japan’s own Ryoichi Kurokawa, internationally recognized for the utmost aesthetic quality of his multi-screen A/V performances. This North American premiere of rheo will be performed in concert 5.1, in a triple-screen layout. From actual HD images and sound recordings, Kurokawa transforms and distorts the initial analog material through the latest digital processes. With a new take on the A/V language, rheo scrambles our senses, letting them float in a multidimensional entity where everything is evanescent. Indefinable, and an absolute must. On that same night, montrealer Defasten will unveil the grand North American premiere of the performance version of his first-ever “film,” Openland. Interspersed with documentary sequences and metaphorical digital landscapes, this hybrid cinematic and indefinable work proposes a critical perspective on the notions of conscience and micro-states.

> On the night of Friday, May 8, the best of the local scene will share the stage with lauded performers. Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda is among the greatest talents and composers of electronic music since the 1990s. That same night, he will present test pattern, in its performance version (produced by Forma). Animated by a powerful, sleek soundtrack perfectly synchronized to a flux of black-and-white images, test pattern will test the AV equipment as much as spectators’ reactions. Finally, that night will see the first ever Canadian visit of the Italian artist collective Otolab, who will offer an AV performance whose refined aesthetics are largely borrowed to the graphical and architectural universe. Through op7, Otolab develops multiple perspective and trompe-l’oeil shifts to prompt the audience to derive new sound and image perceptions. A not-to-be-missed performance for a glimpse of the new digital arts scene emerging in Europe.

But first of all, two short video exploring the perceptual and aesthetic relationships of sound and image in motion, 1_Orogénèse and 2_Éclat, that are part of the Simon-Pierre Gourd and Lise-Hélène Larin series, Collaborating By Numbers. Montreal video art group TIND will show off their new creation, trame00. Well known on the Montreal scene for their reappropriation of analog audio equipment (design of a distortion pedal for images), TIND will show the audience, in real time, their experimental laboratory where controlled improv, prepared interventions and mastered errors meet.

> Saturday, May 9, Usine C – 10 years. Isn’t that worth celebrating? Elektra special 10-year anniversary night, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. For this exceptional occasion, Elektra has gathered la crème de la crème of the electronic scene. Frenchman Arnaud Rebotini will present the live, Canadian premiere of his brand-new album, Music Components. The Black Strobe producer and singer will be back in Montreal for a live performance he’ll captain with his analog machines. But what can the audience expect? More organic techno that happily leverages dancing rock accents. Set aside your inhibitions, and let Rebotini drive. And on that same special 10th anniversary night, Black Strobe will join in at Elektra to enthral rock lovers and pure electronic music fans alike. The ANTIVJ label, alongside Principles of Geometry — a square fave of the popular Tigersushi label — will thread Canadian soil for the first time to introduce Stereoscopic show. Equipped with 3D glasses, the audience will attend a singular performance where live musicians and seasoned VJs will unite to breathe an entirely new dimension into A/V performance. Throughout the special 10 year anniversary night, the best names of the local scene will also be front and center, and will take turns for DJ and VJ sets: Baya & Cardell, Grispace + Poison Arrow, DelRay and Why Alex Why. > Series of interactive installations in four galleries and self-managed artist centers of the Montreal area. > This year, thanks to the active participation of articule, Centrale Galerie Power House, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain and Centre des arts actuels Skol, Elektra presents a generous selection of projects from Canadian artists.

Robotic, interactive, sound and video installations take flight May 1-10 – and for sometimes even longer. To showcase this initiative and officially mark the opening of the 10-year anniversary edition of Elektra, come discover artists and projects via two previewing circuits: First, on Friday, May 1st, starting at 6 p.m., at articule, discover the electromechanical sound installation titled Wind Coil Sound Flow. Winnipeg native Ken Gregory will present his work on the audio-poetic potential of the wind. Then, at 7:30 p.m., we will all head to Centrale Galerie Powerhouse in order to inaugurate the Power Cart project, a mobile energetic station by Montreal artist Mouna Andraos, whose artistic work stems from electronic craftsmanship and the DIY tradition. And the next day, on Saturday, May 2nd, at 4 p.m., at Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, in the Belgo building, we will all be privileged to set our eyes on the Inventions: Tafel, Reverse Engineered, EQ exhibit by Alexandre Castonguay (in collaboration with Mathieu Bouchard), were three installations interrogate the underlying shapes and discourses of the media arts. Finally, on Saturday, May 9, Centre des arts actuels Skol will host a sound performance by Alexis O’Hara, with is electroacoustic installation, SQUEEEEQUE!, a five-day work-in-progress during which sound material is celebrated – and heard!

>> Installations series at Usine C

Usine C will also set off a host of media arts installations. This year, the Usine C Studio will house Equivalents [Parallel Lines], a double screen video installation by Toronto artist Esther Choi. As for the Usine C hall, it will be taken over by Scribes, tiny robotic automatons by Eric Raymond, that map an imaginary landscape from radio wave captures. Jean Dubois, a Montreal artist widely known for his interactive projects, will present, in collaboration with Chloé Lefebvre, À portée de souffle, an in situ telematic installation where the breath of the audience constructs the video image, but only through their cellular phone. Finally, Émile Morin and Jocelyn Robert, from Québec City, will, as a duo, present Leçon de piano, an A/V installation for the DisKlavier piano that generates atmospheres where words meet colours, which in turn meet sound. >> Video projections, meetings among professionals, video installation and launch at Cinémathèque québécoise For the third consecutive year, Cinémathèque québécoise, the co-presenter of the festival, opens its space to many Elektra activities.

Boreales by Jean Piché is a first foray into the realm of hyperdefinition imagery. Reinterpreting the visual data of Eden (1998), Boreales is a contemplative, formal work for three high-definition video channels and stereo sound. This interactive installation will be viewable from May 1-31 at the Norman-McLaren Hall. The preview will be held May 7, at 5:30 p.m., and will also mark the launch of Angles_Arts numériques [Elektra10 Essais]. This first publication combines the texts of three authors who orbit around the media arts and new media spheres. Daniel Canty, Vincent Bonin and Grégory Chatonsky each address the digital arts under a very specific angle: the theoretical approach (Chatonsky), the historical perspective (Bonin) and the literary essay (Canty) represent the thinking poles. This contribution marks an important milestone for Elektra, thereby initiating the development of the complementary tier to that of digital arts promotion. In the wake of the success of the first two editions of the International Digital Arts Market, Elektra is now presenting the third edition of the professional tier of the festival. On May 7 and 8, the Fernand-Seguin hall at Cinémathèque québécoise will welcome some 40 Canadian artists and professionals from the field (producers, agents, broadcasters, commissioners, journalists and event organizers) from Europe, Asia, and the two Americas, to share and discuss in view of creating new collaborations and broadening promotion opportunities outside the country for local artists.

May 7, and 9: Panoramas I, II & III. This series of video projections invites the audience to discover three video programs approximately 65 minutes each, titled Panoramas internationaux, and prepared by Némo, a Parisian festival dedicated to new images. These three programs combine the best of the current visual experimentation, from 2D and 3D animation to animated graphic design, from video clip to hybrid cinema, by way of experimental and video art. New this year, a special panorama for children (4+ years) titled 3D kids: lots of computer graphics, a pinch of experimental and a dollop of fantasy and music.

>> Tickets for this 10-year anniversary edition are on sale now on the Admission Network (www.admission.com) as well as at the Usine C ticket office (514-521-4493, 1345 avenue Lalonde, Montreal, Metro Beaudry). >> Our new Elektra 10 special website will be online at April 17. As in the past, Provokat is in charge of driving a singular interactive experience thanks to our website, which is focused on Lucy and Elektra this year. >> Lucy and Elektra will make you experience the festival from the inside. All of the images will be there live on our site.

>> Lucy will be your guide and our lab rat. Elektra presented by l’ACREQ in collaboration with l’USINE C, Provokat et la Cinémathèque québécoise, would like to thank le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, le Conseil des Arts du Canada, le Conseil des arts de Montréal, Patrimoine canadien, le ministère des Affaires Municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire, le ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition Féminine au Québec, le ministère des Relations internatioanles, Bureau des festivals et des événements culturels, Ville de Montréal, l’Arrondissement de Ville-Marie, le Consulat général de France à Québec, Arcadi, le festival Némo, Hexagram, le Centre des arts actuels Skol, articule, La Centrale Galerie Power House, Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Cimatics, RIAM, Ici-Mirror, esse arts + opinions, MCD, Digicult, Convergence, Soundbeat mag, Qui Fait Quoi, CISM, Whatupp, Global Reservation, Mata-Hari, Nightlife Magazine, Moog, Motto, Greencode, Hyatt Regency, DX Arts, Univins, Guru, Flixwagon.

Media contact: Adrian Gonzalez
Tel.: 514-999-5272 adriangonzalez@sympatico.ca

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