TITLE: Optofonica
FORMAT: DVD (DIGIPAK + 52 PAGE COLOR BOOK IN EMBOSSED SLIPCASE)
LABEL: LINE [US] (LINE_041)
RELEASE: NOVEMBER 2, 2009
LIMITED EDITION: 1000
Instead of creating mere objects of aesthetic seduction, a new form of art is surfacing that invites audiences to transcend the limits of habitual perception. It seeks to shift the observer's attention from the physical objects that stimulate perception to the act of perception itself.
"Concurrent with the cognitive space of apprehended sounds, a separate view can be opened onto the physical life of waves."
(R. Ganchrow, Hear and There: Notes on the Materiality of Sound)
The immersive environments presented here by 42 artists from 13 different countries incite a unique multi-sensory awareness of both physical and mental (imagined) space. Some works directly examine the slipping contours of kinetic phenomena, involving magnetism (Kanta Horio), fluid dynamics (Skoltz Kolgen), or acoustic levitation (Domnitch/Gelfand/Chartier). Others have invented an impossible phantom spatiality, stemming, for example, from brain wave interference (Ulf Langheinrich) or stereoscopically rendered interferential video signals (Bas van Koolwijk). All the pieces entail a search for hidden, transitory spaces that crosswire the perceptual spectrum. After being presented worldwide (Sonic Acts, Elektra, Sonar, Nemo...) in the form of Surround Cinema as well as in the Optofonica Capsule (a tactile audio installation), this body of work, spanning 3 years, has been painstakingly archived, preserving as much as possible the intricacies of each composition.
EVELINA DOMNITCH + DMITRY GELFAND + RICHARD CHARTIER / sonolevitation / 6.28
TELCOSYSTEMS / scapetime / 7:57
RYAN JEFFERY + SCANNER / waterfall / 6:53
RYOICHI KUROKAWA / vento ignis / 4:07
KANTA HORIO / em#3 / 7:51
JASON GRAHAM + KIM CASCONE + TEZ / raindrops #7 / 6:01
SKOLTZ_KOLGEN / ether / 3:51
KAFFE MATTHEWS / mount magnet / 6:37
MARCEL WIERCKX / black noise white silence / 3:00
MARTIJN VAN BOVEN / a thousand scapes / 10:01
OTOLAB / animula / 8:00
RAYXXXX / pulse / 7:20
LIA + @C / study #40 / 9:47
BAS VAN KOOLWIJK / fdbck/av 3d / 6:02
FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER / rhythm exp. / 5:14
DOMENICO SCIAJNO / sgf / 7:02
PE LANG + ZIMOUN / untitled sound objects / 0:47
ULF LANGHEINRICH / it would have been fantastic / 5:05
QUAYOLA + MIRA CALIX + AUTOBAM / strata #2 / 7:12
SKIF++ / skif++ / 4:52
DAVID MUTH & HIAZ / counterclockwise / 2:04
KURT HENTSCHLAGER / xscape / 7:01
NATALIE BEWERNITZ + MAREK GOLDOWSKI / life at the witch trails / 10:06
total time: 2:23:18
Instead of creating mere objects of aesthetic seduction, a new form of art is surfacing that invites audiences to transcend the limits of habitual perception. It seeks to shift the observer’s attention from the physical objects that stimulate perception to the act of perception itself. Immersivity awakens a multi-sensory awareness of both physical and mental space.
Founded in 2006 by artist and producer TeZ, Optofonica is a platform for immersive art-science situated in Amsterdam (NL). The works presented on this DVD (in 5.1 surround and stereo sound options) were commissioned by Optofonica to stimulate the combined research of sound spatialization and synesthetic immersion.
Optofonica #1 was assembled by curator, TeZ and is produced by Optofonica in collaboration with LINE and with the support of ARCADI (Action régionale pour la création artistique et la diffusion en Île-de-France) and FONDS BKVB.
REVIEWS:
Optofonica: A new and impressive DVD/Book combo has just been released by 12K/Line and it is an essential for anyone out there following contemporary sonic cinema art. With videos by several artists I’ve worked with including Portland’s own Ryan Jeffery (in his second collaboration with Scanner), Frank Bretschneider, Richard Chartier, Pe Lang + Zimoun and Skoltz_Kolgen among others. One of those others is Kanta Horio who was featured in PICA’s TBA Festival a few years back, it’s great to see his em#3 once again! Inside the full color book is an essay by Cretien van Campen who also wrote The Hidden Sense, Synethesia in Art and Science (MIT Press, 2007). Black Noise White Silence by Marcel Wierckx alone is brilliant. Get your copy of this limited edition before it vanishes into the thin air we have left…
(TJ Norris, unBLOGGED)