Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation

Tomorrow now - Engage the code
The artistic potential of software

13th November 2007, 6.00 p.m.
Palazzetto Tito
Dorsoduro, 2826

Junghans Theatre, 9.30 p.m.
Campo Junghans
Giudecca 494
http://www.teatrojunghans.it

Waiting for the new program of conferences of Tomorrow now – Contemporary Artistic Practices in Digital Culture - which will start in February - the BLM Foundation offers a further meeting to reflect on artistic creativity in new media.

The event, which will be introduced by a short lecture on the last advancements in the field of generative arts, proposes some performances by four artists working on international grounds: Marius Watz + Alexander Rishaug, Transphormetic (Paul Prudence) and TeZ (Maurizio Martinucci).
Their work, based on the use of computational processes and generative systems, will be presented through live exhibitions where the performance consists in the process of engagement of the code: the free deployment of scripts, personally programmed, which produce an audio-visual stream in real time.

Two members of the cultural Association NADA will be lecturing as well at the seminar: Fabio Franchino and Andrea Clemente. NADA, the first association in Italy dealing specifically with software art, is the developer of the project Code_in_motion, a section of the “Club to Club” Festival in Turin dedicated to electronic visual arts. The project, which gathers artists, designers and programmers from different cultural and professional backgrounds, explores the potentialities of programming as a means of generating new graphics and its possible interactions with electronic sounds.

This meeting is first of all an occasion to cope with a question: is it possible to define a boundary inside whose limits digital practices may be valued as “artistic”? Considering the field of action of such experimentations - ranging from the elaboration of new softwares as virtuous exercises to the programming of multilevel languages for communication to the performative activity in clubs, the question is whether an interval exists in which these products may be eligible to an artistic value.

Marius Watz (NO) is an artist working with visual abstraction
through Science studies to pursue visual work through programming. His work is known for its bold colors and strong geometric composition.
Watz is the founder of Generator.x, a blog and series of events
related to generative art and design. He is currently teaching
at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Faculty of Design) and the Oslo
School of Architecture and Design. He lectures and gives
workshops on computational strategies for artists and designers.
http://www.unlekker.net/
http://www.generatorx.no/
http://flickr.com/photos/watz/

Alexander Rishaug (NO) is a sound artist, producer and musician. His
sound is melodic, melancholic and quiet. With minimalistic electronics,
abstract beats, glitches and digital noise, he explores tones and
textures creating a detailed, rich and subtle sound, always with a sharp
focus on structure, rythm and melodies.
http://www.myspace.com/alexanderrishaug

Transphormetic (Paul Prudence) is an artist and real-time visual performer working with computational and visual feedback systems and video. He uses VVVV, Flash & processed Digital Video. He’s engaged in researching and writing about other peoples work at Dataisnature. He’s a freelance Interaction Designer and Actionscript Developer and collaborates for chapters in books relating to computational design with Actionscript.
http://www.transphormetic.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/transphormetic/
http://www.dataisnature.com/

Maurizio Martinucci (aka TeZ) is an italian multimedia artist and producer, living and working in Amsterdam (NL) since January 2002. In 1995 he established the multimedia research laboratory "SUb" in Rome involved in audio-visual experimentations with digital media for interactive applications and artworks. He has always been interested in using technology as a means for exploring synesthesia and, in particular, the relationship between sound and images. TeZ has several releases with various projects (M.S.B., DoseZero, Nukleus, TeZ) on different labels. His live-electronics performances have always included visual support realized with different original digital techniques. His work is now focusing on generative compositions and various experimental audiovisual projects, including Generative Live Cinema, FilmWare, video-scenographies and spatialized sound performances and installations.
With PHILIPS ReSearch and SUbMultimedia Lab TeZ is now conducting a research project for an interactive generative painting as a follow-up to the "PROTOQUADRO". Tez's most recent works include collaborations with international artists Scanner, Kim Cascone, Taylor Deupree, Luca Spagnoletti, Ivan Pavlov and Francisco Lopez. TeZ is the ideator and artistic director of the OPTOFONICA project.
http://www.tez.it/
http://www.optofonica.com/

Fabio Franchino, president of NADA, is concerned in computational design in the commercial and artistic field. Founder and curator of C.Stem Festival in Turin, first italian cultural event dedicated to electronic systems and generative art, collaborates with several magazines specialized in art and design. Founder of TODO, interaction & media design.
www.abusedmedia.it
http://www.todo.to.it
http://www.associazione-nada.org