Multisensorial inspirations for the VJ / Video Performer.
Friday, August 29, 2008
White Glove Tracking Project
[ English ] On May 4th, 2007, we asked internet users to help isolate Michael Jackson's white glove in all 10,060 frames of his nationally televised landmark performance of Billy Jean. 72 hours later 125,000 gloves had been located...
The video below, shows only 1 of the amazing experiments realized with the information collected for this project, some of the results are UNREAL, I am amazed.
[ Castellano ] El 4 de Mayo del 2007, convocamos a usuarios de internet para que nos ayuden a isolar el guante blanco de Michael Jackson durante 10.060 cuadros de la televisacion de su tema Billy Jean, 72hs mas tarde 125,000 guantes habian sido localizados...
El video de abajo muestra uno de los multiples resultados enviados al proyecto, algunos de los resultados son realmente increibles.. no puedo creerlo.
Formed in '97, producer Eduard Glukhov evisioned a single cell orchestra, creating off of hardware original basslines and drum patterns. With sounds ranging from trip-hop to jazz to ambient to jungle.
Fronted by songstress Kristen Muirhead, their sound is extremely haunting with hypnotically dark rhythms
Justin Stephenson aka Puppy Kicker*. Will cause you to have hearing loss. Children scream and women swoon when he drops filthy, disgusting, beats dripping of primordial ooze that take away your breath & melt your face.
Working primarily in multimedia & video art. Eric Medine has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago & Masters from The Otis School of Art and Design in L.A. where he now resides.
He has curated & contributed multiple exhibitions and his work was shown all over L.A. aswell as countries like France, Bulgaria, Netherlands and more.
SHIKAKU BROKENBEAT/ LA-VA/ D.T.C. Visual artist Miguel Vega, Originally from Argentina, has been doing visuals for various live performances and installations since 2002.
................................................................................................... BROKENBEAT ................................................................................................... [ FREE | NEVER A COVER ] KADAN in North Park, San Diego, CA 4696 30th street, (Corner of 30th & Adams Ave.) | 21 + 9PM - 2 AM
[ English ] Browsing on the amazing Vimeo, I found this project by Helsinki based Mr. Monkey Presso , from the information on his Vimeo page , it looks like the video was produced using Thrill 3L I have to say, I'm very impressed, really well produced, color scheme goes perfect with the elecktro clash feel of the track. Make sure you visit Monkey Presso's site, he has a nice work blog explaining some of his experiments with different applications.
[ Castellano ] Chusmeando en el increible site de Vimeo, encontre este proyecto realizado por Mr. Monkey Presso con base en Helsinki y por la informacion en su Vimeo page, pareciera ser que este video fue producido usando Thrill 3L, Debo decir que estoy mas que sorprendido, muy buena pieza, la escala de colores utilizada va muy bien con el feel electro clash que posee la pista de audio. Asegurate de visitar la pagina de Monkey Presso, tiene un buen blog de trabajos donde explica algunos de sus experimentos.
Vj Suryummy was kind enough to give me a few minutes of his time to answer some questions. Like many of you, I have seen his name on multiple events in the past, and I have also seen a lot of his work, but I wanted to know more about him and the thought process that goes behind his work. After seeing his "Interstellar Sugar" piece, see below, I though of starting a section featuring different video artists, get them out of the dark area for a bit, find out what inspires them, their influences and their different approaches to Vjing. So here it goes:
[ Tell me a little about yourself and your background ] My name is Emmett. I live in San Francisco with my wife, 4 cats and an adorable Juno 106. I've been working as both an artist and professional within the animation/live performance field for about 8 years. Right now I am the Design Director for a fun media/production company, Mekanism. Artistically I've been performing and producing audio visual content under the name Suryummy (Suryummy = Surreal Yummyness!! ). I'm also apart of Lightrhythm Visuals, and have had my work featured in: MOMA IdN™ REMIX D:Fuse VJ: AUDIO VISUAL ART + VJ CULTURE BOOK ‘vE-”jA: Art + Technology of Live Audio-Video
[ How did you got into Vjing? ] The first time i saw The Orb proved to be a very profound experience for me. They had this amazing stage presence, looked like they were piloting a pyramid satellite, complete with visuals that not only looked great but also embraced this deep soulful vibe about humanity. It was also the first time i had ever danced like a crazed rave warrior. Soon after I started playing around in maya and making my own content.
[ What's the best and worst thing of being a video performer? ] Best - would be those moments during mixing in which you feel completely in tune with the music. I'm not just talking about mixing to the beat but mixing to the emotional/viseral qualities of the music. Its this feeling of elevated mind in which your guiding these images through the air and displaying them through a space. Unfortunately this doen't happen very often, but when it does its wonderful.
Worst - is without a doubt strike down after a 10 hour marathon set, ouch, or watching smoke floating up above your macbook keyboard inside of the ultimate sauna icky house club.
[ How would you describe you ideal gig? ] Short and sweet. One thing that I've learned over the years, nothing can kill your artistic vibe more then 8 hours of continuous retinal mixing overload. That being said I enjoy the unexpected.
One of my favorite mixing experiences ever, took place in a tiny club in Shibuya Tokyo during a Lightrhythm Visuals tour. I had no idea what type of music I would be mixing too, was totally unprepared and had just managed to get unlost from the Tokyo jungle. The band turned out to be the most fierce live jazz group on the planet. I had never felt so thrilled and challenged as a live visualist.
[ Where do you think video performance is heading? ] Hopefully to higher levels of quality and meaning. Obviously technology will be as important as ever in defining the landscape of live visuals. The high end tools that are available today such as VDMX, Processing and Resolume 3 will hopefully give artists the freedom to focus more on the art form rather then the technical hurdles that have plagued the movement for such a long time.
[ Can you describe the concept behind Interstellar Sugar? ] Getting back to my roots. Animating/designing without clients and just having fun, that was the overall concept. I wanted to feel like I was playing legos with my brother back in the day :) So I guess the process was more important then the actual concept. If I had to attach some sort of concept to it I'd say "Interstellar Sugar=the romantic struggles of beautiful things boiling at extreme temps..." ya
[ How long did it take to produce? ] I was working on it off and on for about 2-3 months
[ Name five people or things that inspire you or your work ] 1- I absolutely love The Orb, at there best they embody the perfect combination of silliness and spiritual, awesomeness
2 - Sunlight ... there is pretty much nothing better then sunlight colliding with all known earth bound objects!
3 - My wife Crystal - she is a great source of good natured criticism, and inspiration.
4 - Radley Marx ( Eoptica, VJTV)- He was a great influence to me when I first started Vjing. He and I opened up one of the first Vj-centric stores in the US. That was back in 2000. We also threw some of the first parties in which VJ's were billed as the headliners. Yes that might not seem so special these days but back then it felt great to give visual artists the hard earned respect they deserved.
5 - Ben Sheppee/ VJon /VJ Culture- members of Lightrhythm Visuals, awesome talent, smarter then a networked field of 100 humans, and a pleasure to mix with in those early morning hours.
[ What advise would you give to those who want to get started doing live video? ] Try to find your own unique visual voice. Plus simplicity is key. Don't go overboard with tons of effects and layers. The visualists that stand out from the pack almost always have a zen like quality to there work. Restraint is important when your dealing with images that are presented on such a grand scale.
[ Name 3 things that a video performer should never forget to bring to a gig. ] 1. Flashlight 2. Leatherman tool 3. Water
Created with Admarket'sflickrSLiDR. [ English ] Here are some photos from last month's Brokenbeat Night, here in San Diego, California. The guest Vj for the night was Charley Ten showing some very nice works, Charley is also a House DJ, if you get a chance, download some of his mixes on his website, great music!.
On the Musical side we had a special night featuring live electronic music with Secuencia virtual, DJ The Messenger, Rise of the Speedmen, and Breakah.
[ Castellano ] Aca algunas fotos de lo que fue el ultimo Brokenbeat Night, aca en San Diego, California. El Vj invitado de la noche fue Charley Ten mostrando muy buenos trabajo, Charley es tambien un DJ, si les gusta el House, bajen algunos de sus sets en su pagina, muy bueno.
En la parte musical tuvimos musica electronica en vivo con Secuencia Virtual, DJ The Messenger, Rise of the Speedmen y Breakah.
[ English ] Erwin Blumenfeld, a renowned north american photographer whose work is situated between 1930 and 1969. Widely known for his fashion photography works, a true innovator. Above you can see some of his beautiful experiments on film that to this day, is really inspiring work.
[ Castellano ] Erwin Blumenfeld, un renombrado fotografo norteamericano cuyo trabajo fue desempenado entre 1930 y 1969. Mas conocido por su fotografia en la industria de modas, fue un gran innovador. Arriba se pueden ver algunos de sus trabajos en video, que aun hoy resultan mas que inspiradores.
[ English ]
