Interview: Ali Demirel (Turkey)

Although I've seen some of his earlier work before, It wasn't too long ago ( thanks to his Vimeo page), that I connected some of his pieces to the man behind the works, I find it fascinating that his approach to video art is minimal, (which makes sense considering some of his influences), yet has a big impact when connected with music. I've been wanting to do this interview with him for quite sometime now, since I can watch his work over and over and always find something interesting, I hope you find Ali and his work as inspiring as I did!


[ Tell me a little about yourself and your background ]
I was born in Turkey. I studied nuclear engineering and achitecture. then I decided to make videos because it was a very big potential medium for me to express myself and be independent at the same time. my background in architecture and nuclear physics have great impact on my work.



[ How did you got into Vjing? ]
I was making experimental music videos with Richie Hawtin and his Plastikman moniker. He offered me to design a live visual set for his performances and I decided to do it. I'm not actually a VJ, I don't perform with other people or at different type of events, I'm a visual designer who also designed a live visual performance with Hawtin and other Minus artists.

[ What's the best and worst thing of being a video performer? ]
Best thing is to have the chance to perform live and and do whatever you want to try in front of thousands of people, the energy of this live interaction.

The worst thing is to deal with technical problems in limited conditions.

[ How would you describe you ideal gig? ]
Having an amazing space and visual setup, and an audience which is open to unexpected things, my musical company performing amazing, and myself inspired by all those and getting into the mood and do things which even surprises me!

[ Where do you think video performance is heading? ]
There will be no separation of audio and video, everything will be integrated, and the material will be open source,
shared by everybody online.



[ Can you describe the concept behind CONTAKT? ]
The concept behind the CONTAKT shows is to advance the level of communication between music and visuals and also between audience and performers. it's very complicated to summarize here, you can find details on website but as an example, I receive midi signals from the main audio mixer and control some visual variables with that. Another example, if you are a member and not at the show, you can see what's going on at our website and even send messages which would be displayed on the visuals.



[ 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- Richie Hawtin
2- Andrei Tarkovski
3- Norman Mclaren
4 -Hiroshi Sugimoto
5- Brian Eno



[ What advise would you give to those who want to get started doing live video? ]
Try to forget everything you saw as a live visual show and imagine what you would see...

[ Name 3 things that a video performer should never forget to bring to a gig. ]
1. Computer
2. Banana
3. Good Vibes

......................................................................................................

Thank you Ali!
Don't forget to take a look at Ali Demirel's website, as some of the above examples show, Ali is definitely pushing the envelope and personally I can't wait to see more of his work.

Recap: Brokenbeat February '09

[ English ]
Here are some of the photos and video from the last Brokenbeat Night this time, with live visuals by Xarene Eskandar and Naute, where they experimented with a new project, called Andiamo that Andres (Naute) is developing in Processing, to incorporate live drawing, realtime video tracking, and is performed in "team mode" with Modul8.
For those interested on the technical side of his project, you can learn more about it here.

[ Castellano ]
Aca algunas de las fotos y video de lo que fue el ultimo Brokenbeat Night, esta vez con las visuales en vivo de Xarene Eskandar y Naute, quienes experimentaron con un nuevo proyecto llamado Andiamo, que Andres (Naute) esta construyendo en Processing, y que utiliza dibujo y tracking de video en timpo real y es actuado en "modo equipo" con Modul8. Para aquellos interesados en sabes mas sobre la parte tecnica de este proyecto, pueden ver mas aca.



You can download Tom Burbank's live set from the night here,
(link will expire in 1 week).

The Rundle Lantern

[ English ]
Consisting of 748 square panels illuminated by LED strips, running on solar power, this $2million installation covers 9 floors of a parking lot on the corner of Rundle Street and Pulteney Street in Adelaide, Australia, and will most likely become a recognizable landmark running from 8pm till midnight every day.
Designed by Fusion

[ Castellano ]
Con 784 paneles cuadrados iluminados por tiras de LED y energia solar, la instalacion de $2 millones de dolares, cubre 9 pisos de un estacionamiento en la esquina de las calles Rundle y Pulteney en Adelaide, Australia, convirtiendose en una atraccion turistica que funcionara todas las noches desde las 8pm hasta pasada la medianoche, todos los dias.
Disenado por Fusion

Via: VJ.TV

Bonaroo Promo | Jokelson

[ English ]
This is fantastic, I love it!
A motion promo for the Bonaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
Directed by Elliot Jockelson.
"We made this video using an experimental animation process that utilizes the principals of traditional cell animation (think of a flip book) in a very unique way. By removing the negative space of each cell or frame of animation you are able to see the history of frames before it. For our piece we designed an animation rig that was 19 frames deep, allowing us to see 19 frames of our animation at once."

[ Castellano]
Esto es increible, me encanto!
Una promo animada para el festival Bonaroo en Manchester, Tennessee. Dirigido por: Elliot Jockelson.
"Hicimos el video utilizando una tecnica experimental en el proceso de animacion, utilizando los principios tradicionales en una forma bastante unica. Removimos el espacio negativo de cada celula o cuadro para que se visualizaran los cuadros anteriores que la antecedieron. Por cada pieza de animacion se ven 19 cuadros anteriores, dejando ver 19 cuadros de animacion al mismo tiempo."

Watch the making of:

Keiichiro Shibuya @ CTM.09

[ English ]
Video documentation of Japanese artist Keiichiro Shibuya 's performance at Club Transmediale , Berlin 2009

[ Castellano ]
Fragmento de video documentando la presentacion del artista Japones of Keiichiro Shibuya 'en el Club Transmediale , Berlin 2009

Via: Mediateletipos

Forever | Universal Everything

[ English ]
The Victoria & Albert Museum presents Forever. Floating above the pond within the John Madejski Garden, a large videowall installation of endless animations responding to an ever changing soundtrack. The bespoke generative design system at the heart of Forever will spawn unique audio-visual films everyday, forever. By the always amazing Universal Everything.

[ Castellano ]
El museo Victoria & Albert Museum presenta: Forever. Flotando sobre un lago sobre el jardin, un gran videowall conforma esta instalacion de infinitas animaciones que responden a un sonido cambiante. El systema de diseno generativo en el corazon de "Forever" generara films audiovisuales unicos, todos los dias, para siempre. Realizado por los siempre asombrosos Universal Everything.