ARTISTIC PRODUCTION

CURRENT PROJECTS :
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"Sonic beams / Acoustic shadows " (2010) - audio-visual performance - Project webpage: link

Nika Autor
Miha Ciglar

presentations:

IRCAM - Cantre Pompidou - Paris, France (2010)
La Generale - Paris, France (2010)
Serial Space - Sydney, Australia (2010)
Horse Bazar - Melbourne, Australia (2010)
Festival Visiones Sonoras - Morelia, Mexico (2010)
Favoriten Modern - Vienna, Austria (2010)
Super Deluxe Soundroom -Tokyo, Japan (2010)
Miraikan - National museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Tokyo, Japan (2010)

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"Postcards " (2010) - Experimental film - Project webpage: link

Nika Autor

presentations:

U3 - Triennial of contemoprary arts, Ljubljana (2010)
Retrovizor, Ljubljana (2010)
namaTRE Festival, Trebinja, Bosnia (2010)
Slovenian Film Festival - Portorose, Slovenia
Life Film Festival - Ljubljana Slovenia
OpenSpace - Vienna, Austria
Kino Udarnik - Maribor, Slovenia

co-producers:

KINO!

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"Report on the situation of asylum seekers in republic of Slovenia, Jan. 2008 – Aug. 2009" (2010) - Documentary film - Project webpage: link

Nika Autor
Maja Cimerman

presentations:

U3 - Triennial of contemoprary arts, Ljubljana (2010)
Retrovizor, Ljubljana (2010)
namaTRE Festival, Trebinja, Bosnia (2010)
OpenSpace - Vienna, Austria
Kino Udarnik - Maribor, Slovenia

co-producers:

KINO!

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"_treshold " (2010) - interactive sound installation - Project webpage: link

Vasja Progar

presentations:

Slovenia Music Days, Ljubljana (2010)
SKUC Gallery, Ljubljana (2010)

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"Who are the Artists? " (2009) - Intermedia Installation - Project webpage: link

Nika Autor
Miha Ciglar
Tjasa Pogacar-Podgornik
Vasja Progar
Anderj Skufca

presentations:

Gallery Media Nox - Maribor, Slovenia (2009)

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"Fictive Situations" (2009) - Intermedia Performance - Project webpage: link

Tina Valentan (Dance)
Miha Ciglar (Sound)
Nika Autor (Visuals)

presentations:

Mestna Galerija - Ljubljana, Slovenia (2009)
BJCEM Biennial 2009 - Skopje, Macedonia
Kiberpipa - Ljubljana, Slovenia (2010)
Festial Nagib - Maribor, Slovenia (2010)

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"sub/Consciousness" (2009) - Intermedia Performance - Project webpage: link

Vasja Progar (sound/video)

presentations:

Arzenal Depo 2K9 2009 - Ljubljana, Slovenia
BJCEM Biennial 2009 - Skopje, Macedonia
Slovenia Music Days, Ljubljana (2010)

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"A small contribution to the genesis of everyday life" (2008/2009) - inter-media performance -
- project webpage: link

Nika Autor (Visuals)
Miha Ciglar (Sound)

presentations:

Upgrade Paris 2010 - Ars longa - Paris, France
Arzenal Depo 2K9 2009 - Ljubljana, Slovenia

Terminal00 Festival 2009 - London, UK
Devica Art Festival 2009 - Zagreb, Croatia
LiWoLi Festival 2009 - Linz, Austria
Ars Elecronica festival 2008 - Linz, Austria
HAIP festival 2008 - Ljubljana, Slovenia

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OLDER PROJECTS :
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"3rd Pole" (2008) - inter-media performance - Project webpage: link

Maja Arzensek (Dance)
Miha Ciglar (Sound)
Nika Autor (Visuals)

co-producers:

Institute for Electronic music - Graz, Austria
STEIM - Amsterdam, Netherlands

presentations:

Festival Performa 2008 - Maribor, Slovenia
NIME Festival/conference 2008 - Genova, Itally
ICMC Conference 2008 Belfast, UK

Current

"Sonic beams / Acoustic shadows" is an improvised composition played on a non-contact haptic interface. The audio generation is based on a "no-input mixing board" concept. The primary feedback loops generated with the mixing board are projected through the PA system and at the same time they are used used to modulate the amplitude of a 40kHz ultrasonic sinus carrier signal. The amplitude-modulated carrier is driving an array of 97 ultrasonic transducers arranged on a spherically shaped surface, so that the acoustic radiation is focused at the sphere centre. The result is a relatively strong and spatio-temporally precise tactile reproduction of the projected audio signal. A simple ultrasonic receiver is used used to pick-up the sonic beam and is placed in front of the transducer array - 20cm behind the focal point. By moving his hand in the focal point region, the musician is acoustically shadowing the receiver. The signal which is picked up by the ultrasonic receiver is fed directly into the input of the same mixing board. When the musician is playing the instrument, i.e. moving his hand around the focal point of the ultrasonic beam, he is indirectly manipulating the intensity of the receivers output. This signal, or better to say, the derivative of its RMS value is generating turbulences in the primary oscillation circuit of the mixing board. As a result a wide variety of acoustic material can be generated, merely by positioning ones hand between the transducers and the receiver.

The project " Who are the Artists" discusses the organisation of the art system in the context of contemporary as well as historic art practices. The installation deals with paradigms of violence and its reproduction through art, where the regimes and power- relation schemes, which control our everyday lives are replicated. Throughout the history, images of violence have been used for the purpose of propaganda, which was motivated by concrete interests for positions of power in conjunction with interests of capital circulation. In the same way, also contemporary arts constitute the components of spectacle, embracing consumer oriented content, which is subordinated to corporate sponsorship. In this way, art accepts its own position, representing an important component within in the context of violence and its various manifestations. The installation "Who are the Artists?" reflects on the given parameters of artistic- as well as general socio-political system frameworks and opens a manifold question. How is it still possible to compose a critical artistic expression within a system that incorporated its own critique, up to the point, where the critique itself takes up a conformist position?

"Fictive Situations" is a performative work, questioning the role of the artist and the arts funding system in the European society. he performer on stage is a metaphor for its own kind. Originally an artist engaged in contemporary dance, she is sitting on a chair with a handicapped body, performing her choreography using merely her facial muscles. Her facial expressions are being monitored by a camera attached to her head, while the images are analysed and processed in real-time. By moving her mouth she is triggering pre-recorded speech - a call for artistic projects and its thematic guidelines, launched by a European foundation for supporting the arts. By moving her eyes she is able to distort and modulate the speech signal - expressing the tiny bit of creative freedom within the framework set by the funding institutions. It is interesting to see how the descriptions of best practice examples of successful (funded) artistic projects match the thematic directives of particular calls for proposals... . ...almost as if the practising artists are creatively handicapped - merely opening their mouths....