New Music with “Nu Disco” Converges with New Media Art at New Forms Festival and CODE Live – by Liza J. Lee

On February 6, 2010, New Forms Festival and the Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition (CODE) Live promise a unique event combining a new generation of music, video manipulation, and interactive art. The evening features LA Riots, The Golden Filter, Junior Boys DJ Set, Konrad Black, VJ Electrabelle and an array of local musicians and artists at The Hangar in Great Northern Way Campus’ Centre for Digital Media – 577 Great Northern Way, Vancouver.

Audiences will discover new music, tinged with disco, dance-rock, techno and genres in between. Robert Willis, director of the News Forms Media Society and producer says the event is a new musical direction for New Forms Festival. He reveals that some of the music is “Nu Disco”, inter-generational in appeal as younger attendees will appreciate the latest trend from the blogosphere of renewed interest in 1970s and early 1980s, disco mid-1980s, Italo disco, and the synthesizer-heavy Eurodisco aesthetics, while older audiences will recognize the original 80s sounds, reflecting disco and new wave sources from Blondie to Soft Cell, such as with The Golden Filter.

Not surprisingly, The Golden Filter lists Saint Etienne, The Cure, Donna Summer, Pink Floyd and The Human League as significant influences on their musical style. The origins of the band’s name, The Golden Filter lie somewhere in the cosmic seas of darkness and desperation and the way in which the tides rise above that, with a reference about 70’s gauzy photography.

Willis anticipates, “This night is going to be quite the eye-opener for those from around the world and for Vancouverites as well”. He states, “The realization of our vision is about new media art, music, film, technology-based installation and performance accessible to a wider audience.” The event will also help local artists express and present their work on a platform that has international credentials as being at the forefront of emerging movements and modes.

James Daniels, curator for the visuals component of New Forms Festival and the Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition (CODE) hopes that audiences will also appreciate that a lot of talent goes into the interactive video projections. Daniels says:

All the VJs shoot their own footage that is mixed and manipulated live with the music, often eight or ten tracks at a time. At their best, the rhythms, colours, and textures of the visuals can affect the crowd in ways that positively affect the musical direction of the night. As the lines between sound and light can be blurred enough to have the audience question which one is affecting the other. Then local VJ artist, Electrabelle can start having fun.

Electrabelle is Suez Holland, who has been providing visuals for concerts, performances and live events for over 12 years, with a focus to create magical environments that enhance the audience’s connection to the music or performance. Electrabelle is designing a few surprises using sound-triggered LEDs and musically charmed video projections. A tiny spy-camera booth will be hiding somewhere in the wonderland of the Great Northern Way art installation space, inviting people to send a close-up image of their eyes to the big screen.

Additionally, New Forms Media is providing the visuals for the other CODE Live evenings for the Cultural Olympiad at the Hangar. Information on CODE Live events during Winter Games 2010 is at http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/cultural-festivals-and-events/code-connect-create-collaborate/code-live/.

For more information about New Forms Festival, visit http://code.newformsfestival.com/.

ENDNOTE:

For more information about CODE Live, see article on the Province:

http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/Creativity+tech+savvy/2520314/story.html

Excerpt: CODE is the Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition. And that is what exactly?

“At its heart, it’s a very simple idea,” says Rae Hull, director of media programming for VANOC’s Cultural Olympiad. “With all of the digital technology that shapes most of our everyday lives, how could we use it to connect even more people into the spirit of creativity around the Cultural Olympiad?

“Right now, can we extend all of what the Cultural Olympiad is to people who aren’t here. And get them involved, participating and developing their own unique works and exploring the extent to which digital technology releases creativity.”

Simple enough to say. But in order to maximize the potential of technology in inclusive and participatory ways, CODE became as far-reaching as the Internet and also as intimate as taking in an art show that reacts with your cellphone before groovin’ to some kickin’ DJs.

Liza J. Lee is the Co-founder and Blogger for Artistrun ArtConverge.