inSonic 2020
Syntheses
Fri, December 11 – Sun, December 13, 2020
- Location
- Online
The ZKM | Hertz-Lab will be hosting this year's edition of the »inSonic« Festival, examining the shifts, transitions and expansions which take place in the field of music and sound art.
The »inSonic« Festival will explore the new formats and artistic practices, including but not limited to the use of disruptive technologies, like »Machine Learning« or concepts such as »Extended Reality«, whose development gives rise to the shifts, transitions and expansions in in the field of music and sound art.
The festival will be held as a wide streaming-edition including lightning talks, panel discussions, artistic performances and live-concerts within which new pieces by, among others, Giulia Vismara, Aaron Einbond, Quadrature among others will premiere. The notion of Syntheses delineates the attempt to describe this diversity of heterogenous artistic and academic stances, which will not only be represented but also meaningfully connected with each other in the course of the festival. This productive way of merging international and interdisciplinary expertise takes place in cooperation with the European Art-Science-Technology Network for Digital Creativity (EASTN-DC).
By means of two panel discussions the Hertz-Lab puts a strong emphasis on the artistic use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the sphere of music and sound art. The conversation will focus on the comparison between innovative tools which shape the work of today’s sound artists and musicians and the creative practices used by early pioneers in the domain of computer music. The overarching question will be, whether and how the artistic desideratum and the particular (technological) challenges have changed over the years and how they will look like in the future.
Program
Friday, 11.12.2020
4 pm–7 pm Symposium Session I (Moderation: Yannick Hofmann)
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Lightning Talks
In this first session of the »inSonic« Festival, the ZKM | Hertz-Lab aims to provide a wide insight into the projects which have been and still are realized within the EASTN-DC network. The European Art-Science-Technology Network for Digital Creativity (EASTN-DC) emerged from several European institutions involved in research, technology development, creation and education in the field of technologies applied to artistic creation.
By means of this first Symposium, ZKM | Hertz-Lab wants to give all of the partner institutions a platform and present the diverse field of artistic developments in Europe. Short lightning talks of 10 to 15 minutes will serve to present the promising transitions and expansions currently taking place in the field of music and sound art.
Ludger Brümmer: Introduction
Ionian University, Corfu (GR)
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Iannis Zannos, Angelos Floros and Marianna Kaza »The Well Cradle«
We describe exploration of sound synthesis algorithms which employ feedback of audio signals in order to produce rich sounds with the use of motion sensors worn by dancers. The response of these algorithms to the changes of parameter values is impossible to predict in the course of work sessions with the two dancers, our objective was to adapt the algorithm as well as parameter mappings in order to permit the dancers to interact with these algorithms. We observed the interplay between movements and sounds, how that formed a continuous feedback loop between dance interpretation and creation of sound forms, and how two persons can collaborate to perform different parameters of one single sound producing algorithm.
Cardiff School of Art and Design, Cardiff (GB)
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Alexandros Kontogeorgakopoulos and Odysseas Klissouras »Light-Shadow-Sound: Experimenting with Simple Mathematical and Algorithmic Processes«
The talk presents two sound-light installations from an aesthetic, technical and art-science point of view. Both artistic works, »01101110« (2019) and »1/x« (2020), have been created during and with the support of the EASTN-DC project as a collaboration of Cardiff School of Art and Design & oneContinuousLab.
»1/x« is based on the singularity character of the 1/x function. A system of weighted reciprocal functions generates light flashes and sonic events, while establishes a second singularity point that reverses the system's causality time space.
»01101110« is composed from a series of snapshots of the evolution of the Cellular Automaton Rule 110, projected on white canvases, or directly on the wall, by custom designed and custom made projectors. The projected images, which the authors refer to as shadow paintings, are accompanied by an interactive artificial soundscape, also based on the same automaton.
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Jon Pigott »Resonant Forms«
This talk will describe the inspiration for Pigott’s sculptural speaker designs as emerging from an investigation into the physical and formal characteristics of objects such as organ pipes, sound systems and architectural environments where spaces, enclosures, ports and materials all serve to create unique sonic behaviour. The use of »cone-less« moving coil exciters to maximise the physical and material elements of the sculptural loudspeakers will be explained alongside a historical and cultural context for the custom and sculptural loudspeaker. The work will be discussed in the context of »Speaker Park«, a collaboration with other international artists which resulted in an immersive compositional assemblage premiered at Borealis international festival of Sound Art and Experimental Music in Bergen, Norway in 2019.
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Paul Granjon »Insect Buzz«
The »Insect Buzz« ar sonic hand-held placards developed by Paul Granjon during his EASTN-DC residency. Featuring a simple microcontroller and contact speaker, the »Insect Buzz« emit a variable square wave similar to an insect in flight. The placards are made to be used in environmental protests, making some noise for reminding people that insects are dying and for a more ecological lifestyle. The talk features details about concept, fabrication and deployment.
Ljudmila, Ljubljana (SI)
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Luka Frelih »How Do You Want to Do It? Experiences in Live Coding«
Laptops are the guitars of our time. Jacked into a beamer and sound system, this intimate supercomputing experience is amplified for an auditorium. The stage is set for the contemporary performance of Live Coding.
Making algorithmic and generative creativity live asks all of us some hard questions. How to input our mind and body on a keyboard using abstractions of mathematics and logic? What to expect and how to absorb it? What to prepare for and what to improvise? How deep do we go constructing, manipulating, modulating and reconfiguring the instrument on-the-fly?
We do not want to repeat the past. We do not know all the answers. But we know the first step: Show us your screens!
How to perform or dance, how to watch or listen, that choice we leave to you. -
Tadej Droljc »BEAMBREAKER – Aesthetic Research of Light-Based Audiovisual Objects«
»Beambreaker«, a work for laser, light, bent mirrors and sound, is Tadej Droljc's latest performance. It deals with volumetric audiovisual objects emerging from the tight synchronisation between broken light beams and broken sounds waves. These objects are multistable – as we observe them, we are not sure if we are listening to the sound of moving light structures, looking at a visual embodiment of sound, or maybe something in-between? In this talk, Tadej will present the creative process and discuss the aesthetics behind »Beambreaker«.
University of Manchester, Manchester (GB)
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Ricardo Climent, Alena Mesarosova and Manuel Ferrer Hernandez (Manusamo&Bzika) »Timbila Live Aid – Play for Fun. Share the Reward«, multiplayer game
»Timbila Live Aid – Play for Fun. Share the Reward« is a free-to-play multiplayer videogame celebrating the music and culture from the Chopi Timbila (Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity). It was commissioned by SoundCampus-Ars Electronica and released in Sept 2020. It was conceived as a fundraising tool for Maputo Skate – a non-profit organization in Mozambique focusing on edu-skating, to keep young people away from gang culture, drugs, alcohol and crime in Mozambique. It hosts regular in-game events with live musicians streaming from their living rooms, being the first »Thought Universe« playing a live VCS3 and synthesizers. The game is a collaboration between Keep•It•Human and Manusamo&Bzika. It has been shortlisted for best Video Game Award by AVAV.
Download the game here: https://bit.ly/38kp27Y.
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Vicky Clarke »Sleepstates_Machine Learning & Musique Concrete«
How can concrete materials and neural networks project future sonic realities? Currently artist in residence with NOVARS, University of Manchester and PRISM, Royal Northern College of Music, Vicky is exploring systems for machine learning, sound sculpture, musique concrete and live electronics, part of the EASTN-DC (European Art-Science-technology Network for Digital Creativity). In this talk Vicky will set out her framework for the residency and share her on-going ML research project »SleepStatesdotnet«, including her »AURAMACHINE« research trip, part of »UK-RUSSIA Year of Music« with British Council, and audio-visual piece »SleepStates« exploring machine addiction, sleep territories and sonic algorithmic control which premiered at »Distant Arcades« MUTEK’s hybrid exhibition 2020.
Cuneo Conservatorio, Cuneo (IT)
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Giuseppe Gavazza »Lost in Modelling 1996-2020: My First Twenty-Four Years with GENESIS«
»A video-tale in sounds, images and a few words about my work as composer and researcher with ACROE GENESIS.
1995: at IRCAM I followed the presentation, by Claude Cadoz, of GENESIS, physical modelling synthesis software of ACROE, Grenoble.
1996: I attended the first international GENESIS workshop at ZKM, Karlsruhe.
1997 (October 8, my birthday) I became Composer in residence at ACROE.
2018, I discussed my PhD thesis: 'De Rerum Natura: Physical modelling as a tool for musical composition'.
2020: in these 24 years I have created 38 works using GENESIS: electronic and electroacoustic compositions, standalone and collaborative art installations, music for video, film and dance.In this video I intend to narrate, with sounds, images and a few written words, this adventure.«
– Giuseppe Gavazza
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Davide Ficco »Asymmetric Thought. Italian Music for Guitar and Electronics«
Produced in the framework of the EASTN-DC project by the Japanese label Da Vinci Classics, the double CD/DVD »Asymmetric Thought« concerns the fusion of classical guitar with electronic music. The recording project includes 18 original works by Italian composers of different age and style composed between 1973 and 2020, mostly dedicated to guitarist Davide Ficco. The works are presented both in a stereo version on the 2 CDs and in a multichannel 5.1 surround format on the DVD. The technical realization of the project took place in the METS-Conservatorio di Cuneo recording studios, with the contribution of faculty members and graduate students as a part of their pedagogical activities.
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Cuneo METS students »METS-Generation, From Here to Elsewhere«
METS-Cuneo graduate students tell about their participation at the EASTN-DC network activities towards Europe, with interviews and original audio/video/photo documentation. De-localization of digital creativity makes possible to be »here and elsewhere« besides your geographical position: nowadays you don’t measure distances in kilometres but in shared ideas and creative relationships. Thanks to that, Cuneo – an Italian border city surrounded by mountains that separates it from the Mediterranean and from France – became a node of a hi-level digital creativity international network. Art and science make possible to unlock geographical borders also in the middle of a pandemic lockdown.
8 pm Concert I
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All first performances live on site.
The ZKM | Hertz-Lab proudly presents two world premieres in this first concert of the »inSonic« 2020 festival. The project »C.R.E.D.O. Fantasie#3« by Quadrature with Christian Losert will be broadcast to your living rooms in real-time and an extended version of Julia Jasmin Rommel’s audiovisual piece »Zwischenraum – Akustische Kartographie« also premieres in this context. Furthermore, we want to present »Trio No. 1« for three Intonarumori by the Opening Performance Orchestra which premiered 2019 on the occasion of the celebrations in context of the 30th anniversary at the ZKM.
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Quadrature with Christian Losert »C.R.E.D.O. Fantasie#3«
Audiovisual performance for radio-astronomical data, artificial intelligence and self-playing piano.
The audiovisual performance is part of a series using artificial intelligence trained on human communication to search for patterns and rhythms in data from outer space.
Electromagnetic radio waves from the universe serve as input data for several neural networks, which have been trained on human communications and ideas of extraterrestrial life. Now the networks are desperately trying to discover hidden messages of distant civilizations in the murmur of space. As the artificial intelligences reach deeper and deeper into the alien data mysterious noises evolve, composing a non-worldy triad of human, extraterrestrial and artificial sounds.»Fantasie#3« is a part of the #bebeethoven fellowship program, a project by PODIUM Esslingen on the occasion of the Beethoven anniversary 2020, funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.
Supported by a NEUSTART KULTUR scholarship for visual artists with children under the age of 7 from Stiftung Kunstfonds. -
Julia Jasmin Rommel »Zwischenraum – Akustische Kartographie«
(engl. »Interspace – Acoustic Cartography«)
Pandemic version of an 8-channel audiovisual installation for the ZKM Sound Dome.
Bridge and tunnel map 3'20''
Flight booking map 3'36''
Curve map 2'50''
Oncoming traffic map 2'
Frequency map 2'This audiovisual installation is based on several cartographic documents which visualize different aspects of the interspace – defined as a mental state of mind we access when travelling frequently. They address, among other things, transitions, restlessness and continuity, sense of orientation and change of direction, and are each documented by experimental but context-related criteria and methods. Space structuring elements such as tunnel and bridge crossings, counter-trains, flight booking data, curve angles of certain railway lines form the parameters of these movement protocols. Using the Graphic Sequencer »IanniX« these protocols are translated into sound. In a sort of sonification the attempt is made to do justice both to the linearity of documented paths and to the map as a medium of overview.
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Opening Performance Orchestra »Trio No. 1«
The composition »Trio No. 1« for three Intonarumori (Ululatore, Stropicciatore, and Crepitatore), whose premiere took place during the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the ZKM Karlsruhe in 2019, was composed by the »Opening Performance Orchestra« in 2018.
Saturday, 12.12.2020
4 pm–6 pm Symposium Session II (Moderation: Cecilia Preiß)
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EASTN-DC Residencies at ZKM
On the occasion of the artistic research and development project EASTN-DC, the ZKM | Hertz-Lab has developed an artist-in-residence program that offers artists the opportunity to realize innovative project proposals at the interface of art, science and technology. The projects which have been selected in an elaborate procedure are realized at the ZKM | Hertz-Lab. All of them deal with innovative artistic practices reaching from sound spatialization to the artistic application of the three-dimensional scanning procedure Volumetric Capturing. Session II of this year’s »inSonic« Symposium presents these visionary, heterogenous projects and accompanies our artists-in-residence during the creative process at the ZKM.
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Silvia Rosani »Artist Talk«
In this Artist Talk, the composer, sound artist and researcher Silvia Rosani presents her interactive piece »Feels like home«, which acoustically reflects the relationship between Smart Homes and their inhabitants.
On the occasion of the artistic research and development project EASTN-DC, ZKM | Hertz-Lab developed an artist-in-residence program that offers artists the opportunity to realize innovative project proposals at the interface of art, science and technology. Rosani’s project was selected and the Italian artist spent several weeks in Karlsruhe working it.
Today, Silvia Rosani gives some insights into the artistic process, talks about her intentions and discusses the theoretical background of the interactive installation, which will premiere soon at the ZKM. The audience takes a look behind the scenes and catches a glimpse of Rosani’s studio at the ZKM | Hertz-Lab. -
Justine Emard »Supraorganism«
»Supraorganism« is a reactive installation composed of robotic glass sculptures, animated by a machine learning system and elaborated from datas collected in a community of bees. Those organisms have always been a source of inspiration for thinkers. Today, the deduction techniques of machines allow us to interpret a large amount of data to observe the world differently. A network of artificial neurons has been trained during the residence with the complicity of Martial Geoffre Rouland, on signals captured by the artist. The system generates predictions of possible futures. Twenty robotic glass sculptures come to life through lights and motors. The unpredictable nature of this artificial intelligence leads us to live a singular experience. This new being reacts in symbiosis while colliding in a floating constellation. From this ensemble emanates a form of collective intelligence, a »Supraorganism« comes to life, generating new images from the shadows and reflections projected in the space.
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Giulia Vismara »Dust Variations«
»Dust Variations« incorporates Ambisonics 3D, stereo and various multi-channel formats tocreate a more complete spatial experience, the space modeling approach is based on bothcollected data and personal imagination. The composition explores interstellar dust's life and death cycle passing through the different phases of grains aggregation, expansion and extinction. Interstellar dust grains originate from the material expelled by stars explosion and, at the same time, are the basic material for new stars formation. The properties and relationship between the different elements that aggregate to form the dust determine their spatial behaviour: how they produce, expand, activate and occupy space. Textures and sounds materials are built from human voice, recordings and synthetic sounds.
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Aaron Einbond »The Secret Inner Life of the Piano: Cosmologies III«
Duration: 15'
Medium: stereo binaural version of 4th-order ambisonic fixed electronics.
Material: Audio recordings of Hamburg Steinway D piano (IRCAM Studio 5) and field recordings (Place Igor Stravinsky Paris) produced using the EM32 Eigenmike 32-channel microphone array. Synthesized sound composed using original Cat-Spat software based on packages Spat5 and MuBu for Max and librairies OM-Spat5, OM-IAE, and OMAI for OpenMusic#.
Acknowledgements: Produced thanks to an EASTN-DC residency at ZKM Hertz Lab, and based on Cosmologies for piano and 3D electronics, an IRCAM STARTS Residency collaboration with Jean Bresson, Diemo Schwarz, and Thibaut Carpentier, premiered at Centre Pompidou, Paris, March 5th, 2020 by pianist Alvise Sinivia.
»Cosmologies III« situates the listener inside a virtual grand piano to experience its secret inner life. The piano interior, recorded with a 32-channel microphone array, is complemented by 3D field recordings of Paris’s Place Igor Stravinsky. These recordings are highlighted and underlined with computer synthesis using artificial intelligence to reproduce the spatial presence of acoustic instruments, while the microcosm of the piano’s inner space expands larger-than-life. The binaural version presented at »inSonic 2020« in turn brings the grand piano into the listener’s home and headphones as intimate virtual chamber music. Along with »Cosmologies II«, an interactive 3D sound installation, we hope to present both parts of the modular work live in the future in the ZKM Kubus.
6 pm–8 pm Panel-Discussion I: Good Old Fashioned Artificial Intelligence
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Ludger Brümmer (Mod.), Scot Gresham-Lancaster, George Lewis, Palle Dahlstedt
During the first panel discussion, US-American experts in computer music will meet the director of the ZKM | Hertz Lab, Ludger Brümmer, to discuss historical AI approaches in areas such as computer-aided algorithmic composition.
8 pm Concert II
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Binaural
The second concert consists of pieces in binaural mode. This results in the spatialization of sound and an expansive three-dimensional acoustic experience – on conditions that the audience wears headphones.
Concert II includes compositions of Giulia Vismara and Aaron Einbond, two of our artists-in-residence, who gave deeper insights into their pieces earlier that day, on Saturday 12, 2020 during Symposium II.Headphones are recommended for full enjoyment, as all pieces will be streamed binaurally.
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Giuseppe Gavazza »Foresta 4, Tissardmine«
Duration: 10’
Audio fixed media for binaural listening.
»Conceived for a 24 channels sound-dome, 'Foresta 1' has been recomposed for 8 channels and further in stereo for the COVID-19 online edition of SMC 17th Sound and Music Computing Conference, Turin, June 2020.
This latest version uses the same 24 GENESIS models. Each model has its own voice: as if I were in a forest, these uncommon sound objects appear to me as strange animals, cryptic signals coming from the outer world, unusual musical instruments.
I mixed in a binaural track this outlandish choir with 10 unmodified minutes of a 4-channel field-recording, taken on January 29th at 4 p.m. in the Sahara desert (31°17'21.9 "N 3°58'44.1 "W) during an artist's residency at Café Tissardmine. The next day, I recorded, at a local radio, information about a new flu virus in Wuhan, China.«– Giuseppe Gavazza
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Aaron Einbond »Cosmologies III«
Duration: 15'
Medium: stereo binaural version of 4th-order ambisonic fixed electronics.
Material: Audio recordings of Hamburg Steinway D piano (IRCAM Studio 5) and field recordings (Place Igor Stravinsky Paris) produced using the EM32 Eigenmike 32-channel microphone array. Synthesized sound composed using original Cat-Spat software based on packages Spat5 and MuBu for Max and librairies OM-Spat5, OM-IAE, and OMAI for OpenMusic#.
Acknowledgements: Produced thanks to an EASTN-DC residency at ZKM Hertz Lab, and based on Cosmologies for piano and 3D electronics, an IRCAM STARTS Residency collaboration with Jean Bresson, Diemo Schwarz, and Thibaut Carpentier, premiered at Centre Pompidou, Paris, March 5th, 2020 by pianist Alvise Sinivia.
»Cosmologies III« situates the listener inside a virtual grand piano to experience its secret inner life. The piano interior, recorded with a 32-channel microphone array, is complemented by 3D field recordings of Paris’s Place Igor Stravinsky. These recordings are highlighted and underlined with computer synthesis using artificial intelligence to reproduce the spatial presence of acoustic instruments, while the microcosm of the piano’s inner space expands larger-than-life. The binaural version presented at »inSonic 2020« in turn brings the grand piano into the listener’s home and headphones as intimate virtual chamber music. Along with »Cosmologies II«, an interactive 3D sound installation, we hope to present both parts of the modular work live in the future in the ZKM Kubus.
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Giulia Vismara »Dust Variations«
»Dust Variations« incorporates Ambisonics 3D, stereo and various multi-channel formats tocreate a more complete spatial experience, the space modeling approach is based on bothcollected data and personal imagination. The composition explores interstellar dust's life and death cycle passing through the different phases of grains aggregation, expansion and extinction. Interstellar dust grains originate from the material expelled by stars explosion and, at the same time, are the basic material for new stars formation. The properties and relationship between the different elements that aggregate to form the dust determine their spatial behaviour: how they produce, expand, activate and occupy space. Textures and sounds materials are built from human voice, recordings and synthetic sounds.
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Gianluca Verlingieri »Dante's Songs«
For fixed media (with EMS Synthi100, contrabass flute and acting-voice samples).
Songs: 1) Demons (3’40”), 2) Dark words (4’50”)
In 2015 Verlingieri’s multimedia opera »Tre Movimenti di Luce«, commissioned by the 78th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival for the 750th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s birth, was staged at the newly opened Florence Opera House. In order to create the fixed media part of the opera, many vocal samples based on »Divine Comedy« lines were recorded with singer-actress Chiara De Palo, but not all of them found a place in the final tapes. Years later Verlingieri managed to use these interesting »leftovers« in a new acousmatic work, »Dante’s Songs«, combining them with Antonella Bini’s contrabass flute »breathing« samples and the vintage synthetic soundscape of an EMS Synthi100, performed by the composer during a residency at the Institute of Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music at Ghent University.
Sunday, 13.12.2020
4 pm–6 pm Symposium Session III (Moderation: Yannick Hofmann)
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Disruptive Future Technologies
The third Symposium represents those artistic projects which are directly associated with the ZKM | Hertz-Lab and which artistically deal with disruptive future technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Stephan Henrich and Hasan Mashni will present their recent artistic experiments which explore counter-intuitive applications of robots and the prolific artist duo Quadrature will give insights into their latest artistic developments in the field of AI-supported sonification of stellar data. We are happy to include a presentation of the latest version of »Zirkonium« by Ludger Brümmer and Dan Wilcox, a software consisting of a set of free macOS tools which aid in the composition of spatial music. Finally, the artist and researcher Iannis Zannos will conduct an interactive real-time sonic walk through Tokyo together with the virtual participants. All in all, session III describes what the ZKM | Hertz-Lab currently deals with and is working on. -
Ludger Brümmer, Dan Wilcox and Pierre Ritt (Hertz-Labor) »Zirkonium«
This talk provides an overview of »Zirkonium 3.7«, the upcoming version of ZKM | Hertz-Lab‘s sound spatialization software environment. A sound server, trajectory editor, and sequencer rolled into one, »Zirkonium« abstracts physical speaker layouts and automatically pans sound sources based on their position which can be moved over time, either through interpolation or direct control over a network connection.
As part of the talk, technical aspects and usability of the software as well as spatial audio as a compositional tool are addressed by Ludger Brümmer and Dan Wilcox. In addition, important changes from previous versions and future plans for the project are discussed. -
Stephan Henrich, Hasan Mashni »Okkulte Robotique – Séance AI«
With »Occulte Robotique – Séance AI« the EASTN-DC-Fellows Stephan Henrich and Hasan Mashni (Software and AI) show an AI-controlled table-turning-robot.
In a conversation with and about the robot, Stephan and Hasan trace the project's development and explore for us how AI can give answers to non-deterministic questions in decision-making-processes. The talk will also touch on aspects like the robot´s mechanical design, AI-functionality and the possible impact of »psycho-furnitures« to our lifes.
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Quadrature »So Far the Skies Are Silent – Artistic Installations and Performances with Radio Telescopes and Neural Networks«
So far the skies are silent.
But what happens if multiple artificial intelligences try to find an answer to one of the oldest mysteries of mankind? Combining data from (self-built) radio telescopes with multiple artificial intelligences trained on human communication and aesthetics, a series of audiovisual performances and installations emerged, revolving around the ultimate question: Are we alone in the universe?
Quadrature and their collaborators Christian Losert and Sebastian Müllauer will speak about the basic ideas and concepts behind their latest artworks. Details about the analog and digital obstacles on the way will be shared and the systems and technologies used will be discussed – like the marvellous MelGAN-VC method by Marco Pasini. -
Alexander Schubert »Parallel Networks of Altered Truths«
Lies, false reports and deception have always existed in society. And in the same way they have always existed in the arts. Perhaps they are even a significant part of it: For isn't every work of art in itself an illusion, a projection, a fiction? There is something deceptive about art per se.
In the digital age, the tools of communication, representation and manipulation have changed – and allow for new deceptions in terms of quality and quantity. This is already a social consensus – and permeates political and social life – but also artistic life.
Artworks can work as a tool to constitute practices of manipulation and information politics. They can exemplify and criticize data practices and narratives: Forcing us to reflect and reconsider digitally mediated truths. -
Iannis Zannos »Contrasts-Tokyo Walks: Machines, People, Insects« (interactive)
»Contrasts-Tokyo Walks« piece is s sonic walk – a novel type of composition based environmental sounds recorded in several locations and at different times of day during exploratory walks in the center of Tokyo. The piece is composed by placing the sound on an online map at the approximate locations where they were recorded, using the »Sonicwalks« software provided by Furukawa Labs of the Tokyo University of the Arts. The listener is invited to experience the piece by navigating through these locations using the software on a mobile device, either by actually going to these locations in real space tracked by the GPS of the mobile device, or by navigating through the map using the mobile device itself.
6 pm–8 pm Panel-Discussion II: Artificial Neural Networks
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Palle Dahlstedt (Mod.), Philippe Esling, Rebecca Fiebrink, Artemi-Maria Gioti
Moderated by composer and AI expert Palle Dahlstedt, the second panel discussion will examine current approaches to machine learning in relation to music and sound art and will discuss them with composers, artists and scientists.
8 pm Concert III
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Stereo
With this third concert »inSonic 2020: Syntheses« comes to a glorious end. Several compositions of important European artists which are part of the EASTN-DC network will be presented and premiere. Again, the wide range of innovative and experimental acoustic projects reveals and the audience is able to catch a glimpse into the production sites of Stockholm, Ljubljana, Corfu or Cuneo.
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Kim Hedås »Stills«
As part of an ongoing composition project with solo works for acoustic intruments, sometimes combined with electronics, the latest piece composed is »Stills« for bass clarinet, electronics and visuals. The music originates from rhythmical transformations and harmonic shatterings, combined in various patterns to make a series of different tempi audible by stretching and distorting the time. Stills is performed by swedish clarinetist Robert Ek, and will exist in different formats: as a concert piece with the bass clarinet, the electronics and the visuals in a spatialized multichannel setup and also as a filmed version in stereo.
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Apostolos Loufopoulos (Sound) and Thomas Valianatos (Video) »Bee1 (Be One)«
12'35''
Audiovisual Work.»Bee1 (Be One)« is based on the multichannel composition »Bee«, inspired by the microcosmos of insects, a world of intense/energetic flying behaviour, and could be described as a journey on the back of a bee, by metaphorically placing the listener on the back of the travelling insect. The audiovisual work adds another perceptional dimension, where human society is connected with that of bees, in an attempt to initiate or emulate the political animal that Human is, according to Aristotle, in an archetypal society like the one of bees.
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Giuseppe Gavazza »25_Ambiances_du_confinement_ 4’33«
»Between March and May 2020 I spent the COVID-19 lockdown in my house in the centre of Turin. During that period I had the opportunity to see many online performances of instrumental and vocal groups of all genres and styles. I thought, as a tribute to John Cage's '4'33"', I would also do an ensemble performance recording myself in 25 videos at different times and days, in my apartment and on my terrace.«
– Giuseppe Gavazza
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Henrik Frisk »Image Schema«
»'Image Schema' is music to a video created by pianist Johan Fröst. The visual material is a processed video recording of himself playing a short piano piece by Debussy. Fröst has used unusual angles and extreme close-ups as a technique for shooting the film and the video has been edited from the point of view of the structure of the music primarily. I approached the video only, not knowing what the underlying piano music was, in an attempt to test the hypothesis that aspects of the structure of the original music can be communicated through the visuals in the way the video was edited. The material for the music are piano samples that have been gathered in a way that is similar to how the video is created: putting microphones at strange and unusual places and at odd angles. 'Image Schema' premiered in Engelbrektskyrkan in Stockholm on November 24, 2019.«
– Henrik Frisk
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Ljudmila and Lighting Guerilla »Plato's Bodies«
Audio-visual performance.
The audio-visual performance in the industrial setting of the Old Power Station in Ljubljana is centred around an icosahedral object that summarises the shape and symbolism of the five Platonic solids representing the five elements. It was developed as an interactive AV installation for the Lighting Guerrilla festival.
»Plato’s Bodies« has now been remade as a performance. The entire surface of the object becomes a continuous whole – the audio-reactive and mapped projections of three visual artists are united; at the same time, their driving force is the sound of the performing musicians. The lighting elements forming the junctions of the projection surfaces are used both for dictating the colour of the projections with visual triggers and for illustrating the musical tempo.Concept, installation development and artistic direction: Stella Ivšek, Anja Romih
LED electronics development and programming: Aleš Zupanc
Visual artists: Mark Caserman, Bernarda Conič (Nibera), Stella Ivšek (BEAM TEAM), Neža Knez (knnz), Anja Romih (BEAM TEAM), Taja Štembergar (cute agression), Tina Šulc Resnik (TinyarVisuals)
Musicians: Jure Anžiček (08080), Miro Križman (MIROKI’I), Črt Trkman (Terranigma), Tine Vrabič (NiTZ)
Video production: Adam Mulalić, Tadej Bavdek
Video edit: Anja Romih, Stella Ivšek
Audio technician & audio post production: Črt Trkman, Luka Seliškar
Acknowledgements: Luka Frelih, MB Grip
Production: Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory & Strip Core / Forum Ljubljana
Co-production: Bunker Institute, The Old Power Station – Elektro LjubljanaSupported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Municipality of Ljubljana – Department for Culture and Public Fund for Cultural Activities (JSKD) and the Ministry of Public Administration.
The project is part of the EASTN-DC Network, which is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
Event Website
Project Team
ZKM | Hertz-Lab
Ludger Brümmer, Yannick Hofmann
Curation & Moderation
Cecilia Preiß
Event Organisation, Editing & Moderation
Dominik Kautz
Event Organisation & Production
Benjamin Miller
Sound Direction
Hans Gass
Light & Event Technician
ZKM | Video Studio
Peter Müller
Visual Director & Live Editing
Tim Wenz
Live Editing & Additional Footage Editing
Xenia Leidig
Graphic Art
Christina Zartmann, Andy Koch, Jule Heinzmann
Additional Footage Editing
ZKM | Communication & Marketing
Dominika Szope
Head of ZKM | Communication & Marketing
Lena Becker, Sabine Jäger, Lena Schneider
Website and Communication
Adrian Koop
Marketing
Organizing Organization / Institution
Partners
The »inSonic 2020: Syntheses« festival takes place within the frame of the project EASTN-DC, co-funded by the »Creative Europe Programme« of the European Union.