Kinetica on board the Stubnitz

Saturday 4th May: 2pm-11pm

MS Stubnitz, Wood Wharf, E14 9SB

On 4th May 2013, Kinetica climbed aboard the MS Stubnitz for a captivating day / night of artist performances, film screenings, sound art and music, featuring an exhibition of innovative artworks by Kinetica artists, and a series of ground-breaking audiovisual performances using the latest interactive technologies.

It was a unique event aboard an 80 metre long former East German fishing vessel transformed in 1992 into a moving platform for cultural exchange. Originally built in 1964 the ship travels from its homeport Rostock around the Baltic and North Sea, physically networking with cities such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Newcastle, Hamburg, St. Petersburg and now, since July 2012, in London. It was one of the last chances to see the Stubnitz before it sets sail again in mid-May.

On board there were four event spaces including 2 outside decks and 2 areas below deck that were transformed into exhibition and performance spaces.

Kinetica presented two ground-breaking performances by Kimatica, (http://kimatica.net), a London-based multidisciplinary artistic duo whose works explores the intersection between the human body, outer dimensions and technology. Their combination of reactive visuals, surreal costumes, sound and movement results in an intensely powerful and engaging performance that tricks the viewer’s perception with the overlapping of two different realities (the physical and the virtual).

London based musician Bishi (www.bishi.co.uk) has a reputation for unique and ambitious work and has performed across Europe, Asia and the US. She explores new media approaches to her music and performance in collaboration with AV artist Matthew Hardern. Originally commissioned by the ENO, this piece for Kinetica uses the simplest techniques to create a mesmeric immersive environment.

EYESONTHEWALL (http://eyesonthewall.net/)combine artistic and technical expertise across a number of styles, platforms and themes, including the generation of moving image, photography and projected media for live performance. They will perform using the live mixing of microscopic imagery, shifting the focus toward microcosmic levels and substances, which are normally unreachable by the human eye.

PRICKIMAGE (http://walkaboutprojection.co.uk/) created a maritime-inspired pop-up performance using their unique Walkabout HD mobile projection system in collaboration with software artist SAPOLAB. This unique performance will allow the public to interact & change the atmosphere of a porthole scene.

Joseph Young (http://artofnoises.com), is an artist working in sound, performance and installation. His work has been performed at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Whitechapel Gallery and internationally. The Sonic Baton uses an accelerometer connected to an arduino board to control sets of sounds in Ableton Live. Joseph will present an afternoon workshop and performance using sounds recorded from this year’s Kinetica Art Fair, as well as an evening performance entitled This Is Where The Money Is using sounds recorded from Wall Street in New York at the time of the collapse of Lehmann Brothers.

Sound & performance artist Sometimes Jasmine (http://rottenbliss.com) chops and twists layers of electric cello and live vocals over a mutated soundscape of cultural transmissions, combining the harmonious with the discordant. In this new project for Kinetica she will attach light sensors to her body to trigger and control sounds and visuals, creating a sonic dance between performer and projections.

Deep and cosmic sounds and visuals were provided by Ben Osborne from Noise of Art and Kinetica’s Tony Langford.

A special subterranean session of short films and screenings took place presented by the East End Film Festival who had just launched Emerge (http://www.eastendfilmfestival.com/emerge), a new strand exploring the creative potential of new technology and the future of filmmaking, including 3D, 4K, 48FPS and beyond.

In the bow of the ship, a site-specific laser projection piece by Balint Bolygo played out a sequence that alluded to natural phenomena such as the aurora borealis where the viewer is kept in suspense not knowing where, when and what is about to happen. Projected forms become reminiscent of very distant cosmic bodies that encapsulate the viewer before disappearing and morphing into another shape.

Alexander Wendt presented a multi-channel system consisting of a micro-speaker-field projecting sounds created for random playback by nine devices interacting and investigating the sonic properties of the Stubnitz ship.

Further artists included Tom Wilkinson, Ivan Black, Chris Levine, Dianne Harris, Eugenia Emets, Delfin Ortiz, Letizia Reuss.