MUTEK celebrates the union of art and technology from its inception, serving as a showcase for the most avant-garde creativity. Enthusiasts of immersive, sensory, and grandiose experiences will discover their new obsession at the upcoming edition of MUTEK Barcelona, which aims to immerse the Catalan capital in a hypnotic state to celebrate its 15 years and once again push the limits of digital art.
How? On one hand, through the festival's heart program, A/Visions, which on Thursday, April 11th, at Paral·lel 62, will once again bring the audience the best large-scale audiovisual proposals, merging reflective images and sounds with the latest technological advances. And on the other hand, on Saturday, April 13th, the Play program at the Antigua Fábrica Estrella Damm will delve into the festival's core, offering various visually stunning performances in an intimate format.
Here's a closer look at six audiovisual projects you can't miss!
The SPIME.IM collective presents Grey Line, a compelling live show that will leave its mark on the audience with powerful sound components and strobe effects (attention all photosensitive people out there!). They reflect on climate change and our impact on Earth with their raw imagery, aiming to shake things up and imprint moving images on our retinas: one of the most anticipated performances of the festival.
Here's a brief teaser:
Japanese innovator Daito Manabe turns AI and neural processes—his own, through magnetic resonance—into pure poetry. Despite being accustomed to his powerful high-definition realism, he will once again surprise us with a hybrid of brain activity and dancer motion data. Here's a reference with Multiplex, another of his previous productions.
Swiss-French composer and sound artist Noémi Büchi will sweep us away with her electronic and symphonic maximalism, creating an expansive experience with a powerful visual component that will elevate the spectacle from a collision between growth and decay to a sweet and aggressive catharsis. As a reference, watch her clip of Elemental Fear:
The exploration between the living and the inanimate will be led by Quebecois artist Martin Messier, acclaimed for turning ordinary objects into pure magic, giving them a soul whose life synchronizes sound and image. This time, he'll mesmerize us with water. Here's a teaser of what he brings with his impactful show 1 drop 1000 years:
Multidisciplinary artist Efe Ce Ele will make the stage vibrate by combining different media in an audiovisual performance so experimental that no one has managed to label it to date. Here's a fragment of their presentation at the hybrid festival MUTEK ES+AR 2021:
And finally, an installation. Sian Fan brings us Deity: a sanctuary of the virtual self that questions the existence between worlds and shows the disconnection between the digital and physical reality. "While the digital avatar tries to follow the rhythm of the complex and unpredictable movements of its human audience, the imprecision of its movements demonstrates the fragmented relationship between the digital and physical, separating them to expose the disconnect between both realities." An immersive experience that challenges the romantic ideas of East Asian culture and femininity standards present in video games and anime.
Visual power will be a recurring theme in this special installment of MUTEK Barcelona, captivating the audience through a new sonic and visual language for the most curious to explore the limits of the visible.
Are you ready?
Enjoy Saturday April 13th to the fullest with the last remaining Saturday Passes, which guarantee access to the Play and Nocturne 2 programs with a saving of 10 euros.
Saturday Pass April 13th | LAST TICKETS
A/Visions April 11th | TICKETS
Come meet your new favorite artists!
Diversity in Scenic Experimentation
MUTEK Symposium returns from April 10 to 12
The A/Visions program presents three premieres in Barcelona
