SCOPE presents: Zan Lyons / Robert Seidel / Marcelina Wellmer #417
AV performance by Zan Lyons
fulcrum by Robert Seidel
In his work Seidel is interested in pushing the boundaries of abstracted beauty through cinematographic approaches, as well as ones drawn from science. By the organic interplay of various structural, spatial and temporal concepts, he creates a continuously evolving complexity. Out of these layers emerges a narrative skeleton, through which viewers connects to the work on an evolutionary-derived and phylogenetic-fixated symbolic level.
The live performance “fulcrum” is a multifaceted collage of references collected over the years, each iteration trying to find answers: How does it feel to enter an ever-expanding system whose complexity exceeds the personal imagination? How to capture the fluctuating state of non-processed perception and continuously overwritten memories? From the convolute of intertwining geographical impressions and musical clusters an ever-changing fractured perspective is reconstructed, making “fulcrum” an unpredictable exploration of different timelines connecting…
Besides the performance Robert Seidel will present some of his works in an accompanying screening.
Installation: Project +49 157 362 961 96 by Marcelina Wellmer in collaboration with Horia Andrei
The Project +49 157 362 961 96 (2017) by Marcelina Wellmer is an interactive installation operating within the complex environment of telematic and mobile communication, on the verge of generative art and e-literature, with some features of a kinetic sound-sculpture. Sending a text message to the provided phone number initiates data processing, while the customised software and plotter hardware turn each SMS into a line of a manuscript. The outcome of the plotter’s movement imitates a human handwriting, although the written contents is neither imitated, nor artificial. It is an upshot of participants’ voluntary contribution. While the collaboratively created text as a whole, is an outcome of a random flow of messages, the process reveals the hidden curriculum of turning a raw thought into a coherent verbal statement. During the writing process, the plotter emits sound, reminding of the computer-mediated communication (CMC) taking place.
Operating within the given affordances, it evokes not an artificial, but rather a collective intelligence contributed by both human and software-based actants. Although the idea may seem to reach back to the pioneering experiments in cyberarts, there is a contemporary approach of critical engineering and analysis of a creative process. While it examines the human-computer interactivity (HCI) paradigm, the project is focused on re-inventing rudiments of communication process through reinterpreting technology by questioning its primary characteristics.
Artist biographies
One of the most distinctive audio/visual performers to date, violinist, producer and film-maker Zan Lyons’ stunning shows have received critical acclaim across the globe. explosive beats collide with melancholic concertos. using his laptop and custom foot pedals, zan loops his violin, voice and sounds while manipulating his haunting visuals – to incredible effect.
zan’s film making process retains the organic approach established by his music. a one man army, zan directs, shoots, edits, and lights all of his films himself as well as doing all of the complex animation and visual effects work. The result is hypnotic and otherworldly, bringing a truly cinematic vision to the audio/visual world. his films have quickly earned zan high profile recognition with nominations from lux and the london short film festival and screenings on mtv2 as well as the cannes, onedotzero and raindance film festivals.
Recently, zan has performed with the likes of battles and chris clark as well as collaborating with warp records’ leila and nicolette. impressed by lyons’ unique audio/visual outlook, the UK’s latitude festival invited zan to remix ridley scott’s blade runner. this ever-evolving live re- imagining of scott’s classic sees lyons cut up scenes from the film-splicing in his own work in the process and replacing the soundtrack with his own score.
zan is currently working on a new under-wraps audio visual project that will soon be revealed.
Robert Seidel began his studies in biology before transferring to the Bauhaus University Weimar to complete his degree in media design. His projections, installations and experimental films have been shown in numerous international festivals, as well as at galleries and museums such as the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, ZKM Karlsruhe, Art Center Nabi Seoul, Museum of Image and Sound São Paulo and MOCA Taipei. Besides working as an artist he also curated exhibitions and screenings like “Penetrating Surfaces” (Austrian Filmmuseum, Vienna), “Afterimages” (Kunstsammlung Jena), “Fractured Gestures” (House of Electronic Arts Basel) and “Phantom Horizons” (Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin).
http://www.robertseidel.com
http://vimeo.com/robertseidel
http://facebook.com/studiorobertseidel
http://instagram.com/studiorobertseidel
Marcelina Wellmer was born in Poland, since 2006 lives and works in Berlin. She graduate in video and drawing on Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan / Poland. Her works were showed in several exhibitions and festivals in Europa, Australia, Canada, USA and Japan. Some of her most important exhibitions include: Museum of Modern Art / Vancouver / Canada, Institut for Cultural Inquiry / Berlin / Germany, Science Gallery Dublin&Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig / Germany, Transmediale 2012 / Berlin / Germany, Queensland University of Technology / Australia. She realised also stage design projects for Polish Dance Theater in Poznan / Poland, and Communal Theater ”Wybrzeze” in Gdansk / Poland. She is working on the edge of video, installation and painting. The works plays with the sensibility of machines, the fragility of digital memory and the interaction between human body and artificial objects. The visual message is often enhanced by a generative factor and connected with electronic devices. The artist programs initial parameters, leaving most of the work to be processed out by a computer. From those translations and hybrid of media new aesthetics and perspectives get revealed.
Horia Andrei is a physicist with understanding of large scale manufacturing FAI, technical monitoring of suppliers, technical assistance of the MFG and of the QA divisions. He has an direct experience with various manufacturing environments - Germany, UK, China, and USA. His major drive is the enjoyment coming from product development, efficiently solving problems, sharing knowledge, and learning.