TeZ: the Synesthetic Dialogue

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TeZ in the optofonica capsule, 2008

Tez a.k.a. Maurizio Martinucci, is an Italian multimedia artist, living in Amsterdam. You might be able to place him in a genre of artistry called ArtScience; however, that might exclude him from many of  the activities that could label him as a musician, composer, producer, hacker, a maker-of-the-magical-and-mysterious. And, perhaps a few other things that we know nothing about. Above all, Tez is a prolific collaborator, working with many artists and organizations, notably the Optofonica Platform for Synesthetic ArtScience (facebook). 

Much to his credit, he is interested in the promotion of art, technology, and science: infused or separate, for the sake of education. At any given time, he may be approached in conversation regarding esoteric scientific theories of the 19th century, Italian art of the renaissance, or Iggy Pop at his most debauched... We catch up with him in Southeast Asia, or Singapore to be more precise, where he has taken time from his electronics' shopping to talk to us.

As an artist, how would describe your relationship to technology? Why are traditional "art" mediums not capable of producing the type of effect you envision or wish to communicate?  

I never think of art as means for communication. Art for me is the ability of evoking an experience that is intimate and personal, as such it transcends languages. Of course, there's a degree of communication happening inside the viewer.. I would call it a "synesthetic dialogue", a dialogue between sensations.

Technology is extraordinary in the fact that it enables us to follow the progression of time. Willing or not, the evolutionary pace of humanity is regulated by technology and in complete feedback with it. Meaning, the use and application of it (especially if creative) leads to new inventions and to the evolution of technology itself. In the future, what you call "traditional" will be tied to the medium of the time it refers to. Therefore, art made with computers and sensors will one day will obsolete too and somewhat traditional. Every age had its own technology and it produced ingenious creations with it. 

My focus is on the senses rather than the medium itself. It doesn't matter if I use a painting, a candle or a laser beam... My work aims at evoking a specific sensation related to the physical body and the space it interacts with, including other bodies and/or inanimate things.

"Technology is extraordinary...
it enables us to follow the progression of time...
the evolutionary pace of humanity"

What perceptions do you have of digital culture? If you heard in some context terminology like  "digital tribalism" or "digital imperialism" what association comes to mind? 

Non-Hertzian Wave Transmission

When I was younger, in the 90's, I had a great fascination for the "digital" and all the socio-cultural implications of it. It was the time of the Cyberpunk, and "hacker" truly meant something revolutionary. Today is so very different. On the one hand, mainstream culture has appropriated those ideas and stripped them of their activist and unconventional meanings. On the other, we're looking at a progressive embedding of technology in everyday life, both as commodity and tools for expression and, of course, communication.

Cultural prejudices can only belong to poorly educated people who are looking at things passively. Unfortunately, there's plenty of them. It's not the fault of any one particular, let me be clear on this; we are a product of a system. In one way or the other, the system has become what we know and it promotes horrible fallacies that only time may fix. We can help the debugging though! However, "digital culture" has no other meaning for me than "the culture of this time".

What creative work have you been engaged with recently, and may the public be able to experience anything in the near future?

Lots of different things really. Starting from electronic music for Clock DVA, and more articulated and spatial immersive sonic performances (TeZ / ambisonics), to audiovisual generative art (PLASM), and immersive multisensory installations (ILINX).

The works differ in nature and technique, but what they have in common is the passion for art and science as a holistic paradigm.

Urban Farmers - Singapore

I have an art-science residency in Singapore right now, until May 2015. It deals with underwater vehicles doing swarming actions for both scientific monitoring of the marine environment and orchestrated choreographies of sound and light to "communicate" their findings. Parallel to this activity, I'm working with students on biology and botany related experiments. I'm truly excited to learn more about robotics and acoustic (underwater) communication. Also, the chance to get students to experiment with unconventional ideas and hacking to make their own tools. It makes me really happy and it's lots of fun!  In two weeks time I've connected with all the mainstream and underground scene of Singapore, from the ArtScience Museum and the National University of Singapore, to the main "makers" group, the urban farmers and, of course, the local hackerspace.

Nikhil Joshi: the MultiModal Narrative

Nikhil on-location

There is not a form of media which can aptly describe a reality of difference. One of the qualities of being human is the assumption that we know much more than we do; that all things can somehow fit into the framework of our culturally-biased reasoning and imagination. Although, if you consistently draw comparisons between cultures in order to give meaning to an experience, you will likely miss the underlying condition and the essential communication. This experience can be a frustrating mastication of ineffective words, which circle meaning, and never arrive. However, from this ambiguity, unassuming is the palate which can distinguish these flavors of humanity. Language is much more than words. But, that is why we have art.

Presently, the term Post-Digital is floating around the air. The basic effect of this term, is that the novelty of technology is wearing off, leaving us to (re)define that which has meaning. So then, what is an effective means of  communication within this expansive domain of media and even greater domain of meaning? In this context, India is interesting because it is a culture that has transformed radically within the last thirty years. Because of this rapid change, you are able to find a range of technologies juxtaposed. Part of this transformation includes a flow of western media containing messages of morality, ethics, trash films and unchallenged ideology. However, another part brings innovation, media production, design, and aesthetics. Academic programs and interactive design and production in India are still infantile, without any hint of design epistemology.  But, perhaps starting with a 'clean slate' is a timely advantage in the post-digital era?

I recently spoke with Nikhil Joshi, who is an artist working with technology and founding partner of Digital Jalebi. As a designer he is progressive and questioning, as an artist, sensitive to the evolution technology presents to the broader spectrum of the mass of culture called India. I asked about how culture has influenced his education and development with technology. 

One can be overwhelmed by the brilliance and expertise available to an Indian design student. I studied at the National Institute of Design  for 3 years. NID is a mixed bag of crafts inspired by design practices and technological innovation. Most of the courses find their way in the crafts found all across India, from glass work and jewelry design to toy design.  Some famous crafts are the glass work of  Ferozabad, wooden toys of Chennapatna [e.g. Maya Organic, Kaveri Crafts], and braiding from Karanataka.  The education process starts with inspiration from these artists and craftsmen, then moves toward contemporary design practices. Including, considerations for mass production, usability, and brand reflection.

Another factor which has detracted from the emergence of a particular contemporary style, is the lack of documentation of regional arts and crafts. NID has been trying to document and share works from different parts of the country for last 50 years, to make them available to the next breed of designers.Otherwise, this lack of documentation, backed by a culture of not-documenting-things, makes it very difficult for a style to grow and develop, so it is a blow to the the entire idea of opensource, as well as, research practices.

Technology can't be separated from culture, anyone's culture, I think this is a pre-requisite for selling that technology to people. But, you have provided some examples of how technology is changing concepts in art and design, but do you perceive a dilemma or paradox at work? Between your reality and the ideals propagated by the media (foreign or domestic)? 

This contrast doesn't really effect most of us who have lived and studied in cities, with a  high western impact. Our schools and academics have had a heavy western influence, and like us, most of the post-80's artists from cities are a result of Indian acceptance of digitization and technological advancements. We have seen TV sets go from a single channel to 1000+ channels.

Although, there is a heavy conflict when it comes to accepting technology as an expressive medium. Particularly from more experienced artists from the more under-privileged parts of India. Someone has correctly said, "It is very hard to unlearn". With the opening of western markets for Indian artists and craftsmen, there is an exposure for them to understand uniqueness as a fundamental need, but the entire design world from India is so new to the western markets, that it will still take another 15-20 years for them to strive for competitive uniqueness among themselves.

"Humans want to judge everything in good or bad, pleasure or pain, profit and loss."

Cross-culturally, the narrative is essential to all. It seems that many artists (analog or digital) in India reference traditional art forms. Are culturally established forms of the narrative particularly relevant to evolving artistic disciplines which use technology? And, what, if any, consequence does this have on an individual's identity?

If you look at an art school in the U.S., uniqueness has a relation with being the best. If you want to be the best, you need to be unique and spectacular to that effect. That is, how people judge you and that is how you judge yourself. I think this is linked with a core belief that is on a basic level in western society; you have only one life. You you have only one life, so you have to be the best now!

By contrast, culture in India accepts the idea of many life's or Janams; you have seven lifetimes. This aspect is something which is deeply rooted in us, spiritually and/or culturally. It is reflected in the arts and crafts all across India. They make things that are relevant to their culture, and they are likely to produce the exact same work throughout their entire life.

Technology today does help a lot in exploring ways towards creating more multi-modal experiences. So, the potential is not being fully realized, yet. But, narratives are very important to India. I think they are important to everyone, everywhere because any piece of information is contextualized by events. The cultural context creates patterns people can recognize and learn from. For instance, I was reading Ramayan the other day, where the Ram says, "Humans want to judge everything in good or bad, pleasure or pain, profit and loss." People create meaning out of narratives to form culture, and that forms their perception of the world.

When considering contemporary design, the idea of interactivity or an 'experience' is superficial in India. When I say superficial, that actually is not a question about the skill or the output but their intention of how much they want you to be a participant in the system. Most of the artifacts coming out of the interactive design process access fewer human senses then they are possible. So the point I am try to make here, is art or design was never meant to be multimodal in nature. It is as if these designers never thought of the ways they would invite people to participate, as well as the ways in which they could broaden and enhance their experience. Technology has played a major role in empowering artists/designer with tools to achieve multimodality. I think multimodality would just allow you to experience objects or events in more ways then just one singular way.

I don't know if I would agree that art was never meant to be multi-modal, but by making a comparison of superficial work, you must know of examples in which the relationship is between viewer and artifact is multi-modal? Work which the designer or artist approached the viewer as a participant?

This is the biggest difference I see in our approach today as new media artists; looking back at what people have already done or have mastered. Different artists in different domains are now trying to experiment with media and attach more senses to their creations. I think one of the best examples is the work of Nina Sabnani. She presents a very interesting way of telling stories that includes different sensory input. She narrates stories using a tangible art form where you flip open a structure with various faces and use it to tell stories: Kawad Storytelling Tradition. So, when you start putting music, texture, visuals all together in an interactive format, you are really expanding the playground for your viewers.

Nikhil and Digital Jalebi have recently been working on a project for the Kathputli Colony in Shadipur, Delhi, which involves the relocation of a community of artists and artisans in the wake of gentrification, likely to disenfranchise families that have worked for generations as performers. The project gives expression to the residents' hopes in realizing the colony's potential by focusing the viewer's attention on what they have to offer now. 

In an optimistic world, the performers of Kathputli Colony would, someday, have a chance to develop technology for their own performances. Maybe they would realize an original re-appropriation for technology which even technologists or academics could not think of(?) Cultural diversity has much more to offer humanity. Diversity has only ever allowed for a greater range of possible outcomes. 

India's culture is comprised of diverse range of micro-cultures. If it becomes standard practice to disenfranchise these cultures, what remains?

@Resonate: Nomads and Coders

I have managed to find a few closing thoughts about the Resonate Festival, now that I found a moment, and some issues related to digital culture, the culture of technology, the culture of information and knowledge.

I would like to mention a man, an educator, who has figured out (or continues to figure [in process]) how to get his students to think and do code for a visually artistic result. Casey Raes is an artist. He is a programmer, perhaps even a crack programmer, but that doesn't really matter to him. In his presentation at Resonate, he made the distinction between be a painter, whose tools are brushes, paints, and canvas, and the artist whose studio is virtual. That is, the studio as a work-space for generating programs and software, or the software studio, the title of his talk. The end result of both of these types of artists, is more-or-less the same: an object with visual appeal that you can experience physically. It is certainly a nominal set of parameters by which to define art; and yes, I consider light pouring from a monitor to be a physical experience. However, programs that result in something physical, or embody a digital-to-analogue fabrication, are certainly nothing new to the art, or industrial production. The distinction is subtle, in lies in the tools' ability to reproduce work. Subtle, because a painting can be reproduced by someone else, or a production method could be designed digitally. My point being, I think is necessary for designers and artist to consider the act of coding. Coding is the tool, the means with which form, light and sound are shaped. I think this was implication from Resonate: you don't have to be a programmer to code.

I would go a step further to say, if you want to work effectively with media, how can you not be coding? All you need do, is look at the types and quality of work being produced today.

Let us take, for instance the great response of people who participated in the festival. At any given time, the Dom Omladine cultural space was buzzing with activity. If any complaint could be logged, it was that the space was not big enough. By my estimate, I would say that about half of the participants would not describe themselves programmers. Yet, you could say many of the presentations were about things that would appeal to the more technically inclined. Not to overly simplify the festival's intent, but the content, for the most part, embodied a culture that mostly programmers would consider interesting. It is hard to imagine coding could be considered such a spectacle, so then why such spectator interest? Are people programming passionate? syntax savvy? Or, just a little code curious?

Well, there is one thing we can assume, the community of coders continues to grow. And, even though the organizers from Magnetic Field B and the Creative Applications network do a fantastic job of lining up the guests, it still requires an active base of interest for people to attend an event. The overall size of such a community is perhaps be difficult to accurately gauge, by any account of numbers. In part, as Barry Threw mentioned previously (in a video tag for Latus Creativity), due to the shifting landscape of communities turning to, and cross-over from a large variety of tools. It is like taking the census for nomadic tribes, "Come back tomorrow, someone else will be living here." So we need to be unassuming about popularity; numeric data can be used in bad ways. (Anyway that is what Moritz Stefaner warned us about in his presentation.)  At any rate, the success of numerous open source initiatives from the past decade, is a testament to the waxing popularity of programming. And, that a culture which can be defined (almost entirely) by its will to self-organize around technological autodidacticism, is becoming something much more significant.

What that significance is, I don't think anyone is really sure. Though it is not a stretch of the imagination to see that the right of self-determination is implicit, and the necessity for sustainability latent. Or, it may be that the quality of creative output which is produced through programming tends to be new, fresh, and furthermore, effective at leaving a lasting impression. At any rate, how can young artists and designers not be inspired from so many interesting code-based projects out there? I am sure Resonate corrupted a few graphic designers into becoming self-deprecating hackers. From my perspective, I don't really understand this reluctance for designers-artists to be programming. Many disciplines require programming skills: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geology... They don't consider themselves programmers, they are just using the tools available. However, I also think there is a notion that this form of media creation is a bit subversive.

David Gauthier of CIID [Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design] made a reference to the established academic institutions not being able to fund CIID because of the obscure nature of a highly interdisciplinary and morphic curriculum. Of course, there some exceptions to this perception, however, few. Mr. Gauthier went on to explain that they are able to sustain operations through consulting and research initiatives. Perhaps this interdisciplinary ambiguity, and perceived incompatibility with the paradigm of academia is a good thing. For all the wonders of an education, remember that schools and related enterprises have gatekeepers, and are, by and large, restrictive with the access of knowledge. This was really the point Aaron Swartz was making by downloading JSTOR papers from MIT servers. This is what open source initiatives would like to avoid.

It goes without saying, that we should remember open-source is not free. There are certainly degrees of sacrifice, and large amounts of dedication behind the convenience of information culture. Many platforms have to allocate resources to plan and perform maintenance and upgrades to insure maximum accessibility  For example, development of the Processing IDE is funded by the sales of the books authored by Mr. Reas.

I don't mention this to paint any one's coat the color of valor, but just to point out the fact that I am sure he is well aware you can find a digital copy of it anywhere for free. That is not the point. It is basically the honors system in which knowledge attained is value acquired. It is a gamble, but if you think about it, it is really the only way *all* of this is going to work out.