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Attention to all fans of stroboscopically-inclined digital arts: ELEKTRA 12 is inviting spectators to take part in its electronically-savvy, audio-visual experiences so engaging they make the producer of The Matrix look like they’re from the Ice Age.
Visualizing Sound is the overriding theme to this 12th edition, where the audience is not only dancing, actively listening, on the lookout for visual effects but also part of the show. For four days, over 30 local and international artists perform in ultra sensorial and computerized environments that promise to be rather exhilarating, yet still a fair bit unsettling.
The festival kicked off last night at Usine C, where local performer Martin Messier invited fans into a parallel dimension in which sewing machines were not only useful for fashion, but also highly potent instruments in conducting an orchestra of sorts. If the moving needles aren’t your idea of a happy trip, however, you may try to imagine what it means to be immersed in a “structurally dislocated universe” that artists Abstract Birds & IRCAM have assembled for audiences.
Blue pills won’t be needed to cross over into this realm or, for that matter, for this festival: believe me, you’d be a little overwhelmed. Immersing yourself in neon guitars and translucent projections timed to the beat will be enough of a trip to keep your senses fully satisfied at the 1024 Architecture show.
As the festival progresses, the performances will become stranger and even more interactive. While Jane Tingley and Anouk Wiprecht present their juice-spilling robots that react to human movement and reward us with cocktails (!?), artist Kurt Hentschlager will compel you to join in his foggy, low-frequency modulation space meant to disorient spectators completely. Unless films start dispensing beverages and blurring your vision, chances are ELEKTRA 12 will offer the most creative conceptual environments with its top-notch string of installations.
Elektra 12 | Until May 8th | elektramontreal.ca
