Spread Art has officially launched its 2012/13 Detroit Artistic Residency Experience, hosting international artistic platform and performance group Konic Thtr (Barcelona, Spain) for a two week artistic development residency. Kònic thtr is an artistic platform based in Barcelona dedicated to contemporary creation at the confluence between arts, new technologies and science. The main activity being focused on the application of interactive technologies to artistic projects. Konic Thtr will be in residence at Spread Art from September 28th through October 14th to develop their new multidisciplinary interactive project, Cuerpo_SMS.
Konic Thtr's Rosa Sanchez
As part of the residency activities:
Konic Thtr will present two excerpted performances of Cuerpo_SMS:
Friday Oct 6th at Whitdel Arts during the opening of “Engage – An Interactive Exhibition”
Friday October 12th at Tank Gallery in Hazel Park.
Both performances at 8:30pm.
There will also be a technology demonstration and Artist Q&A:
Friday October 12th at Tank Gallery at 6:30pm before the performance.
About Cuerpo_SMS:
Performances will invite audience interaction through a variety of technologies, such as cell phones, tablets, live video feeds, and/or light sensors. Prior to the performance at Tank Gallery the artists will present a demonstration of the platforms and interactive tools they have developed, while placing Cuerpo_SMS in context as related to their previous work in performance and installation and within the greater art & technology genre.
Cuerpo_SMS is a multidisciplinary project that brings together live performance, audiovisual creation, and interactive technology. Cuerpo_SMS refers to the changes of perception in interpersonal communication mediated by new technologies, and to the spaces that this mediation generates, a recurrent theme in Kònic Thtr’s work, and that we have explored more recently in our performance “Before the Beep.” The piece confronts the body with these same communication technologies, and explores how these re-write the body and change our understanding of place and the idea of presence. In Cuerpo_SMS several technological devices, such as cameras, tablets, light and movement sensors, are controlled by the audience to affect the visuals and create part of the music used in the dance.
Cuerpo_SMS is a space to collaborate with local artists, presenting a site-specific event every time it is performed. Building from the initial materials brought by the company, the background and knowledge from collaborators expand the possibilities of the initial proposal.
Kònic Thtr is collaborating with Detroit artists, Christina deRoos and Thomas Bell to enhance the visuals and sound elements of the piece.
The full performance of Cuerpo_SMS will be shown October 26, 27 and 28th at the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, NY.
ARTISTIC TEAM:
Kònic Thtr www.koniclab.info
is an artistic
platform based in Barcelona (Spain) dedicated to contemporary creation at the
confluence of art, science and new technologies. Kònic Thtr’s work has been
presented, among other places, in: MACBA, Mercat de les flors, Medialab Madrid
(Spain), Institute of Contemporary Arts, Ikon Gallery, Tramway (UK), V2
(Netherlands), ZKM, Podewill (Germany), Centre Pompidou / IRCAM (France),
Centro de la imagen, CCE, (Mexico), SESC Pompeia & File Fest (Brazil),
Tsekh, Proekt Fabrika Moscow (Russia), 3-Legged Dog Art & Technology
Center, EMPAC, New York (USA), Fringe
& DanStorm Int. Fest., Shanghai
& Beijing (China). In their last projects Kònic thtr have been exploring
the possibilities of the Internet as a platform for distributed creation and
with audience participation. The projects e_pormundos (Kònic
thtr_Catalunya/Spain - GTMDA_Brasil / 2009-2010) and Dance-Net (Kònic thtr +
Digitalent / 2010-2011) allowed us to develop languages and
tools for creating distributed in distributed locations (physical or Internet). In 2011 we
presented our work ‘Before the Beep’ in Brazil, China and the US, each time
with different artistic collaborators.
COLLABORATORS’ BIOGRAPHIES
Rosa Sánchez and Alain
Baumann
lead the conceptual, creative and technological lines of Kònic Thtr. They both have long
professional trajectories related to new technologies applied to installation,
interactive stage projects, dance and theater. Rosa Sánchez. Multidisciplinary
and multimedia artist, performer & choreographer. Artistic director and co
founder of Konic thtr. Alain
Baumann. Musician, multimedia artist and researcher of new systems
for producing sound. He is in charge of the interactive systems used by Konic
thtr. www.koniclab.info
Christina
deRoos: Christina
deRoos is a visual artist whose work is at the intersection of photo/video,
installation, and mixed-media. Most recently she has focused on real-time video
mixing, collaborating with experimental musicians in improvised group
collaborations to present integrated sound and visual landscapes. Her work has
been presented recently at Whitdel Arts (Detroit), 555 Gallery (Detroit), Grace
Exhibition Space (NY), The Tank (NY), Center for Performance Research (NY),
Bronx Art Space (NY), Arts@Renaissance (NY), Art Gotham (NY), Samson Projects
(Boston), and in a variety of festivals including Electro Music Festival (NY)
and Bent Festival (NYC), and online platforms, such as Dimanche Rouge. www.christinaderoos.com
Thomas Bell: Thomas began studying music
at age seven receiving instruction on guitar, electric bass, piano, flute,
trumpet, percussion, trombone, music theory, composition, and vocal studies
through high school and continued his instruction while studying jazz performance
at Berklee College of Music and ethnomusicology at Florida State
University. He has been primarily involved with improvised music,
electronic music and computer music for the last decade, and founded the Oxygen
Music Collective in Seattle in 1999 and has since produced numerous music
environments and events in Seattle and New York, bringing together hundreds of
musicians from around the world to collaborate in improvised settings.
Currently, his main focus is on collective improvisation, multi-media
integration and collaboration between artistic disciplines. www.thomasbellart.com
Paul (Magic)
DiStefano (NY Performances Only):
Magic Distefano is a highly diverse performance
artist, who was trained in Modern, contemporary and classical dance at the
Joffrey Ballet school of New York. He has acted across from Toni Colette
and Jon Corbit in The United States Of Tara, and has performed in Gelsey
Kirkland's rendition of the Nut Cracker. Magic has street performed
throughout Europe, Australia and the United States. His travels through
Europe allowed him to delve into other crafts like physical comedy, the
corporal mime, and juggling. Among other artists of note Magic has worked with
Alexandre Proia, Stephan James Back, and Stephan Haves. For the past year
Magic has been dancing for Pilobolus dance theater. You can read
more about magic at Magicdistefano.com
CREDITS CUERPO
SMS_Detroit / NY / US
Artistic and
Stage direction:
Rosa Sánchez
Technological
direction:
Alain Baumann
Performers :
Dance (NY Performances Only): Paul (Magic) DiStefano
live
AV-performance: Rosa Sánchez,
Alain Baunmann,
(Detroit Performances only): Thomas Bell & Christina de Roos
Sound
Composition :
Alain Baunmann & Thomas Bell
Video and
Computer Graphics:
Adolf Alcañiz, Rosa Sánchez & Christina de Roos
Software: Alain Baumann,
audio and interaction development Miroslava Moreno & Eduard Gomez, Internet interactions
Costumes: Carme
Puigdevall
PRODUCTION: Kònic
thtr/Koniclab
CO-PRODUCTION: Chez Bushwick,
NY & Spread Art, Detroit
Special
thanks to Living Arts,
Detroit
With the support
of: Spain Culture New York- Consulate
General of Spain- & Spain Arts & Culture. ICUB, Ajuntament de
Barcelona(SP), Ramon Llull Institute (SP),
Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat
de Catalunya (SP)
