Arshake has already announced the 2017 edition of Sónar and Sónar +D, the Electronic Music and Arts Festival that excites and inspires Barcelona every year, as do its sister festivals throughout the world. With the addition of the Sónar +D congress, artists and professionals from the technology industry as well as performers (some of whom are actively involved in the wider festival programme) get together and meet with the public to share ideas and bring depth to their projects.
Of the various events scheduled during Sónar +D, we will see the presentation of the Phosphere (‘sphere of light’) installation created by the Japanese Rhizomatiks Studio for SonarPLANTA. The studio has been under the management of Daito Manabe since 2006. Manabe is a key figure at Apple and collaborates with designer and engineer Motoi Ishibashi. The studio projects his research into the unexplored potential of technology at 360°.
Phosphere envelopes us in the geological dimension we walk upon every day. It is presented as robotized hybrid architecture in which synchronized mirrors, smoke machines, beams of light and over 24 video projectors create an experience that flickers between dance, music and video mapping. More specifically, Phosphere replicates the crystallization process of certain minerals in physical space, also using data extrapolated from the magnetic fields surrounding the Earth.
Once again this year, SonarPlanta, the joint initiative begun in 2014 between Sónar and Fundació Sorigué, is maintaining its commitment to promoting and celebrating research and experimentation in the fields of creative means of expression which revolve around technology and art and the way these two interact. The result is the promotion and support of works whose formats are not only grandiose and spectacular but are also the result of in-depth research and the constant exchange between art and science. The 2016 edition of SonarPlanta produced Earthworks by the English team Semiconductor (Arshake had the opportunity to interview them during their presentation at Sónar 2016). The installation, which is an audio-video visualization of scientific data tracing Earth’s formation and its evolution over time, has aroused remarkable interest and is now featured in Fundació Sorigué’s permanent Contemporary Art collection as part of the PLANTA project.
This year Phosphere is introducing a project that launches us into the depths of the Earth from still another perspective, a total immersion into a multidisciplinary project that is highly anticipated. We are looking very forward to sharing this direct experience.
Sónar Festival e Sónar + D, June 14-15-16-17, 2017, Barcellona, Spain
images (all): «Phosphere», Rhizomatiks studio, immersive environment created for SonarPLANTA
