Mutek Immersive collection will be at Sónar Barcelona in June 2023
Project Area – Realities+D (AR/VR)
Lost worlds, surreal environments and alternate realities
Immerse yourself in a showcase of the most creative augmented and virtual reality experiences around at Project Area this year. There’ll be downloadable apps for you to test on your mobile device throughout Sónar by Day, plus 14 different virtual reality projects to be experienced, covering lost worlds, surreal environments, and alternate realities.
Discover our first three XR artworks
As a festival presenting cutting-edge audiovisual performances — works that innovate to create a new language of sound and images — we have always strived to accompany artists across new boundaries of technology. 2022 opens up a new chapter for MUTEK, marking our first steps as an Extended Reality (XR) content producer. Five artists have stepped up to the challenge of reinventing a past festival performance into an XR artwork. The result is an eclectic yet coherent set of three different XR projects ranging from contemplative to surreal to dynamic: Entanglement XR by France Jobin & Markus Heckmann, House of Moiré by Chloe Alexandra Thompson & Matthew Edwards (aesthetic.stalemate), and Immortelle by Line Katcho
Published by MUTEK on several online content stores, starting with Steam, the Immersive Collection will also join the catalog ofAstrea,the largest international distributor of immersive productions, and be presented at select festivals and spaces worldwide.
See below for more information about the artists and their projects.
World premiere during the MUTEK Festival: August 23-28 2022 — esplanade Tranquille, Montréal Autumn 2022: Mexico city, Mexico: MUTEK Mexico | Tokyo, Japan: Beyond The Frame Festival | Rotterdam, Netherlands: Immersive Tech Week Rotterdam Winter 2022-2023: : Tokyo, Japan: MUTEK Tokyo | Rajasthan, India: Magnetic Fields Festival | Miami, USA: FilmGate Festival (Miami Art Week)
Download the Immersive Collection onto your VR headset Optimized for Quest 2, Quest + Link, Rift.
Immortelleavailable on Steam & Viveport (links below). House of Moiré and Entanglement XR can be wishlisted as of now (links below). Publication on further content stores in progress.
Immerse yourself in electronic-audiovisual soundscapes with the “Immersive Sound Night” during the inaugural evening on the 1st of June. In collaboration with MUTEK Montréal, a festival for the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts, NEW NOW presents international artists who will fill the Mixing Plant with experimental electronic sounds and visuals. Against a unique industrial backdrop, the result is an immersive audiovisual experience that was already very well received last year.
At the crossroads between scientific research and audiovisual art, “Entanglement”, developed by France Jobin and Markus Heckmann takes its inspiration from the physical phenomenon of quantum entanglement and quantum field theory. With this artistic project, the artists studied the two dominant theories of quantum entanglement: the Copenhagen interpretation and the concept of the multiverse. In addition to these two theories, Jobin and Heckmann also took a closer look at the fluidity of time. This intensive research resulted in an ambitious and immersive experience that premiered in 2021 at Montreal’s MUTEK festival (NEW NOW cooperation partner) and can now be experienced for the first time in Germany in the impressive rooms of the Mixing Plant.
The Mutek Immersive Collection was presented at printemps numérique Bruxelles in March 2023. 5000 people in two days were able to experience works by Line Katcho, Chloe Alexandra Thompson & Matthew Edwards, France Jobin & Markus Heckmann
As a festival presenting cutting-edge audiovisual performances — works that innovate to create a new language of sound and images — we have always strived to accompany artists across new boundaries of technology. 2022 opens up a new chapter for MUTEK, marking our first steps as an Extended Reality (XR) content producer. Five artists have stepped up to the challenge of reinventing a past festival performance into an XR artwork. The result is an eclectic yet coherent set of three different XR projects ranging from contemplative to surreal to dynamic: Entanglement XR by France Jobin & Markus Heckmann, House of Moiré by Chloe Alexandra Thompson & Matthew Edwards (aesthetic.stalemate), and Immortelle by Line Katcho
Published by MUTEK on several online content stores, starting with Steam, the Immersive Collection will also join the catalog ofAstrea,the largest international distributor of immersive productions, and be presented at select festivals and spaces worldwide.
See below for more information about the artists and their projects.
World premiere during the MUTEK Festival: August 23-28 2022 — esplanade Tranquille, Montréal Autumn 2022: Mexico city, Mexico: MUTEK Mexico | Tokyo, Japan: Beyond The Frame Festival | Rotterdam, Netherlands: Immersive Tech Week Rotterdam Winter 2022-2023: : Tokyo, Japan: MUTEK Tokyo | Rajasthan, India: Magnetic Fields Festival | Miami, USA: FilmGate Festival (Miami Art Week)
Download the Immersive Collection onto your VR headset Optimized for Quest 2, Quest + Link, Rift.
Immortelleavailable on Steam & Viveport (links below). House of Moiré and Entanglement XR can be wishlisted as of now (links below). Publication on further content stores in progress.
France Jobin and Markus Heckmann will present Entanglement AV and XR as well as take part in a panel about XR production during Mutek Japan which will take place between Dec 7 – 11th 2022.
France Jobin and Markus Heckmann will present Entanglement AV and XR at Mutek MX
IMPORTANT: doors open at 18:30 and access will be allowed until 03:00.
Nocturne 360 is the most intense and diverse program of the MUTEK MX experience. With infinite universes contained in a single venue, Nocturne 360s rooms, installations and passageways will be transformed through the visions and experiments from artists and creators from all over.
This mega convergence of up-and-coming and renowned artists will take us on an exciting 360 tour that will go from virtual reality and immersive experiences, to cathartic dance sessions with the most challenging producers. In addition to the artists who will take on the different stages, Nocturne 360 will showcase the globally distinctive ambience and light design of the MUTEK experience.
As a festival presenting cutting-edge audiovisual performances — works that innovate to create a new language of sound and images — we have always strived to accompany artists across new boundaries of technology. 2022 opens up a new chapter for MUTEK, marking our first steps as an Extended Reality (XR) content producer. Five artists have stepped up to the challenge of reinventing a past festival performance into an XR artwork. The result is an eclectic yet coherent set of three different XR projects ranging from contemplative to surreal to dynamic: Entanglement XR by France Jobin & Markus Heckmann, House of Moiré by Chloe Alexandra Thompson & Matthew Edwards (aesthetic.stalemate), and Immortelle by Line Katcho
Published by MUTEK on several online content stores, starting with Steam, the Immersive Collection will also join the catalog ofAstrea,the largest international distributor of immersive productions, and be presented at select festivals and spaces worldwide.
See below for more information about the artists and their projects.
Experience the Immersive Collection in Québec (free) World premiere during the MUTEK Festival: August 23-28 — esplanade Tranquille, Montréal VR Garden Newmont Éléonore at Festival de musique émergente (FME): September 1-4 — FME Hub, Rouyn-Noranda
Download the Immersive Collection onto your VR headset Optimized for Quest 2, Quest + Link, Rift. Publication on Steam coming up in October 2022, the three works can be wishlisted as of now (links below). Publication on further content stores to be announced.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Entanglement – France Jobin & Markus Heckmann
Entanglement is a dazzling work that distills quantum physics theories into a swooping sensorial experience. It interprets the concept of entanglement: when two or more particles link up, and no matter how far apart they are in space, their states remain linked. It is an uncanny phenomenon in quantum physics, one that defies explanations.
The piece oscillates between four theories: the fluidity of time, the multiverse, the Copenhagen interpretation and decoherence. These complex notions are translated into a visually and sonically stunning experience guided by science, technology, and the sensitivity needed to illustrate what cannot be visualized. The viewer contemplates these revolving realms, composed of intricate graphics and audio.
France JobinCA/QC is an audio and installation artist, as well as composer and curator. Markus HeckmannDE/CA is a visual artist and Technical Director at Derivative, the maker of TouchDesigner
“We started by asking artists to adapt their work for VR but in the end its not an adaptation, they are like new pieces that will have their own life, three parallel universes that we dive in.”
– Alain Mongeau, MUTEK artistic director
House of Moiré – Chloe Alexandra Thompson & Matthew Edwards
House of Moiré invites users into a void-like realm, where one’s experience is defined by the curiosity of their eyes and ears. In self-directed exploration, the viewer advances through a succession of rooms dressed in optical patterns, audio-visual programming, and minimalist spatial design. The result is an odd and inquisitive trip through transforming sonic and visual architecture. House of Moiré is the culmination of various iterations of Moiré, a series of A/V works which employ custom audio software, depth cameras, motion capture, and interactive design principles to investigate psycho-acoustics and sensory illusion.
Chloe Alexandra ThompsonCA/US and Matthew EdwardsUS(aka aesthetic.stalemate) are interdisciplinary artists and collaborators. Chloe is a composer and sound designer interested in the physicality of sound and mediation of technology in installation and performance, and Matthew blends installation art, performance and virtual reality.
“I had no idea what I was getting myself into, which is something I like. If I’m in the unknown, I’m happy.”
– France Jobin, artist
Immortelle – Line Katcho
Immortelle is an atmospheric and figurative work illustrating the flights and falls of psychological endurance. Featuring a cathartic flux of sonic and visual fragments, this unpredictable piece opens a door onto how a mind in internal turmoil redefines the outside world. The viewer travels through different scenes and seasons, paves through evocative empty structures, wades through waves and mountain peaks, encounters a presence in a vacuum.
Immortelle evokes how visceral perceptions of our environment mirror our own transformations, showing both the softer and fiery sides of a fighter spirit.
Line KatchoCA/QC is a composer and audiovisual artist primarily interested in sound and image as demonstrations of kinetic matter. Through motion and gestures, she aims at creating a provocative sensory experience, leaving the viewer charged yet liberated.
