No Signal

NO SIGNAL, a video by Swiss artists Manuel Nicolas Schmalstieg, Boris Kish and Chloe Cramer as part of Video Wednesday at Gallery Espace. [dated February 2009]

Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council and Gallery Espace present NO SIGNAL a video by Swiss artists Manuel Nicolas Schmalstieg, Boris Kish and Chloe Cramer as part of Video Wednesday on 25 February at Gallery Espace16 Community Centre, New Friends Colony, New Delhi from 3:00pm - 7:00pm

NO SIGNAL is a series of short videos created for the electronic billboard of the main railway station in Geneva. The basic material was gathered from the surveillance cameras installed at various locations inside the station. This footage is mixed with short excerpts from fictional hollywood movies touching the subject of control through technology. The videos were screened inbetween the usual advertisements for more than a month, during July and August 2006, in the frame of the festival 50 JPG (50 jours pour la photographie).

Manuel Schmalstieg Born in 1976, Manuel Schmalstieg operates on the borderline between video, performance and software art. After experimentation in the fields of graphic novel, animation film and audio production that he carried out during his studies in Geneva (ESBA/atelier zero1) and Krakow (Academy of fine arts/animated film department), he turns at the end of the nineties towards realtime video. Through his performances and installations, he explores issues of surveillance, control and censorship, confronting the viewer with uncomfortable truths and concealed motivations. Since 2001, he operates as an undercover agent for the N3KROZOFT Ltd media group, an art collective mimicking the style and rhetorics of IT corporations and military think tanks.

Recent works: Aether9 (networked video performance, 2007-2009), BLACKBOX:GVA (video performance, Switzerland, 2006), BABEL PROJECT (new media workshop, in the frame of the 2nd Bucharest Biennale, Romania, 2006). NO SIGNAL (video surveillance piece for public screen, Geneva central station, 2006). LOL – laughing out loud (media performance, developed for the swiss digital arts foundation «sitemapping.ch». Presented in Paris (Galerie Les Voûtes), Belgrade (Galerie SKC), Basel (Plug.In), St-Gallen (Neue Kunst Halle). ).

N3krozoft Ltd N3krozoft is a collective of artists working in the field of electronic media and performance, in collaboration with researchers in cognitive sciences and artificial intelligences. The Geneva-based administrative headquarter links the autonomous cells which have been established in several emerging regions.
The website www.n3krozoft.com offers an overview of N3krozoft's activity in the domains of stage performance, artistic software, mixed media environments, film, video and audio production.

The 4th annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2009)

Swiss artist Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer, Boris Kish and Mark Lee to attend The 4th annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2009). [dated February 2009]

The 4th annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2009) is scheduled to be held from February 27 to March 1, 2009, in Sattal Estate, close to Bhimtal. The carnival is scheduled to have participation of e-Creative practitioners from around India and the world. Swiss artist Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer, Boris Kish and Mark Lee will be representing Switzerland at the CeC 2009.

Presentation details:

Marc Lee Upon creating network-oriented interactive installations; experimenting with information and communication technologies, and projects that locate and critically discuss economic, political, cultural and creative 'issue-clusters' that are essential for communication processes in digital networks. To also present works of recently realized interactive installations, including an overview of his current work on the Pro Helvetia Residency in Bengaluru, in which he will try to make visible the inspirations from his stay in India.

Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer & Boris Kish
On Aether9, a collaborative art project initiated during a workshop at the Mapping Festival (2007) in Geneva, Switzerland, to explore the field of realtime video transmission. Developed by an international group of visual artists and collectives working in about a dozen different locations (disseminated throughout Europe, North and South America, the Middle East) and communicating primarily through the Internet, Æther9 intends to become a functional framework for collaborative video performance.

Performance details:
Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer & Boris Kish Saturday 28 February - N3krozoft Ltd featuring aether9 Live audiovisual performance by Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer & Boris Kish. Realtime interaction with the global aether9 collective.

For more information on CeC 2009 click here

Compagnie Philippe Saire to perform in India

Compagnie Philippe Saire to present - Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life? in Bangalore and Delhi. [dated February 2009]

 Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council presents a contemporary dance performance by Compagnie Philippe Saire Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life? Choreography Philippe Saire

Bangalore: (as part of the Attakkalari Biennial) Thursday 12 February at 7:30 pm and Friday 13 February at 4:30 pm at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore

Delhi:
Monday 16 February at 7:00 pm at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi
For the Delhi performance entry passes will be available at - Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council ( tel: 41825812 ) - Embassy of Switzerland, Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri - The Full Circle Book Shop, 5 B, Khan Market - The Full Circle Book Shop, N Block Market, Greater Kailash I - Café Turtle, 8 Nizamuddin East Market

Dancers: Philippe Chosson, Anne Delahaye, Pablo Esbert Lilienfeld, Sun - Hye Hur, Gilles Viandier and David Zagari Philippe Saire, one of the most significant Swiss choreographers brings Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life? – a piece choreographed for six dancers in 2006 to audiences in Delhi and Bangalore.

Philippe Saire’s choreography has earned him prestigious awards like the Young Creator Prize from the Vaud Foundation for Artistic Promotion and Creation in 1988 and the Grand Prize from the same foundation in 1998 and the Swiss Prize for Dance and Choreography in 2004. He is credited with more than forty choreography projects, including Cartographies, a continually renewed initiative combining dance, architecture and video. The Philippe Saire Company has given almost 1000 performances in more than 160 cities across Europe, Africa, Asia and America.

The piece: In contrast to previous Philippe Saire creations, Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life? performs a delicate upheaval of the normal conventions of entertainment and plays on them in a light yet precise way. Using festive imagery, accessible and colourful, this new creation has been conceived as a shrewd review of our thirst for distraction that reveals itself in layers in order to reach and unravel the mechanisms of that fascinating driving and universal force of our lives. And in answer to the question posed in the title, a surprise finale, a sort of reminder of the fragility of this universe. A free piece, as free as it can be.

Credits
Light Laurent Junod
Sound Christophe Bollondi
Artistic Advisor Massimo Furlan
Costumes Isa Boucharlat
Production Assistant Muriel Imbach
Stage Manager Yann Serez
Tour Manager Sonia Blot
Photographer Mario del Curto

Feedback:
Astad Deboo: Philippe Saire showed the Indian audiences through his excellent company, not only impeccable dancers but also with a whole new insight to lighting wizardry.
Astaad Deboo a noted Indian choreographer has been conferred with the Padma Shri for his contribution to Modern Dance in India.