Tuesday 6 May 2003

€ 150 Folsom, San Francisco, CA 2 Year Anniversary Celebration

/ Intro

Electronica-Optica is celebrating their 2nd anniversary by presenting their first annual VJ & Visual Artist Conference in San Francisco on May 17th, 2003 from 2pm - 4am. This conference will be one of the first in the US to highlight and showcase this growing visual culture.

VJs are similar to modern DJs in that they play out at concerts, nightclubs, and festival, except VJs play video content using traditional equipment such as VCRs, DVD players, laptops, and video mixers. Some may even mix digital video clips using VJ software such as Arkaos, MotionDive, and/or MaxMSP. (Over 2 dozen VJ software packages exist for PC and Macintosh computers.)

Visual Artists are creative individuals and studios that produce stunning imagery and visuals using a variety of media including shot video, film, CG animation, motion graphics, pattern generators, or any combination thereof. Content varies in length and may be non-linear, narrative, semi-narrative, abstract, or simply the equivalent of a painting in motion.

Visuals are different than music video in the sense that they aren't commissioned works to promote a particular music artist. Visuals are created to stand for themselves, work with a variety of musical formats, and even be mixed by VJs with other visual content to create an entirely new impression for the audience.

/ Workshops

The daytime conference will begin with a discussion panel featuring Radley Marx (Electronica-Optica), Jon Schwark (LightRhythm), and Grant Davis & Michael O'Rourke (Dimension 7). Each will be addressing different areas of this emerging culture and sharing experiences and expectations for the coming year. Topics will range from aesthetic and cultural expression to practical market projects and strategies.

The afternoon workshops will be filled with a fun assortment of software and hardware demonstrations for VJs, DJs, visual artists, and newcomers to this growing culture.

For DJs and new music producers, there will be a essential workshop for sequencing video clips along with your music, using Arkaos VJ together with Reason (the easy-to-use music production software that is quickly becoming more popular than DJs). Equipment demos include VJ turntable-tools for mixing and scratching video just like records.

For veterans, the Cycling '74 workshop will demonstrate the extreme high-end of what can be created and manipulated by digital video artists. Dimension 7 will also be showing showing a variety of highly-developed equipment by Edirol and M-Audio used in professional-level production.

Anyone is free to attend and take part. This will be an excellent opportunity for hands-on exploration and discovery.

/ Screenings

Running concurrent with the workshops will be a series of visual screenings. Just like a film festival, the screenings offer exclusive presentations of short works and full-length visual projects from the visuals community.

The day will kick off with episodes of Electronica-Optica's public access series: VJTV. The full-length features include Yeast Films' cultural music sequence "Prophesy" and a sneak-peak at the locally produced CG project, "I Am" by Dimension 7. The high point of the afternoon will be Bitz & Bytz, an amazing assortment of 5-10 minute submissions by visual artists from around the world including Addictive TV, D-Fuse, eMovie Collective, SquareSquare and many more.

/ Audiovisual Performances

The night celebration will feature performances by several outstanding artists from the Bay Area and the mid-west. Headlining the night will be VisualAudio, VJ Oz, and ESP - audiovisual performing artists that base their show on the video as much as the music (or more). Other performances will feature VJs and DJs playing together for exciting in-the-moment mixes that spawn a powerful experience for the eyes and ears.

/ Admission & Location Information

This conference is hosted at the Dimension 7 Studio, located at 150 Folsom Street, in downtown San Francisco.

The workshops and screenings are FREE and run from 2pm to 8pm.

The night celebration goes from 8pm to 4am in the same space. A small donation is requested for attending the night performances.

/ Detailed Information

http://www.electronica-optica.com/events/

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/ List of Activities and Events

* Workshops (2pm-8pm):

Andy W & Mike Migurski - Audio/video interaction and integration - using high-end technical products by Cycling '74 (including Jitter & Max MSP)

Steve Taormina (Robotspeak) - AV production using Reason 2 and Arkaos VJ - the next essential step for DJs and producers

Grant Davis (Dimension 7) - VJ equipment demos

Grant Davis and Andy W - EJ System & Ms Pinky - turntable tools for VJs

* Screenings (2pm-8pm):

Bitz & Bytz Screenings An assortment of 5-10 minutes work from visual artists and producers from around the world. Featuring visuals by Addictive TV, D-Fuse, Benton C, eMovie Collective, Mickey T, Epsilon Labs, SquareSquare, Mindcandy, and more!

Dimension 7 - I Am A pre-screening of this locally produced epic release, over 3 years in the making.

Yeast Films / Raya – Develop A visual commentary mixing shot footage and dialog from India and other countries, examining the economic and social impact of uni-culturalism. Music by Nitin Sawhney.

VJTV - Best of VJTV - Season One Featuring interviews and visuals by Arcane, Addictive TV, VJ Culture, Robotkid, VJ Luna, Suryummy, Absurde Collective, Jon DeKron, gMunk, Honeygun Labs, WDDG, and VJ Pixielight.

VJTV - Best of VJTV - Season Two Featuring Visualaudio, 47, Johnny Dekam, Imaginary Forces, Madame Chao, Blasthaus, Amoeba, Yeast, Tina Z, Speed

Tribe, C-TRL, Just-D Phantasmagoria Video, Swipe, VJ V2, and Overlay06/Alpha Channel.

* Performances (8pm-2am):

Audiovisual Artists

VisualAudio – Chicago

VJ Oz (Electronica-Optica)

ESP (Extra-Sensory Projection) featuring VJ Culture, Alaric, & Suryummy (Dimension 7, Insect Funeral, Electronica-Optica)

Mike Migurski & Andy W (Viberations)

VJ / DJ Mix Sessions

VideoJon & Ben Sheppee (Light Rhythms) w/ DJ Surge (Eyephunk)

Hardsync & Kai (Electroradio) w/ DJ Amy (Infinite Kaos)

and more to be announced...

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/ About

Dimension 7 (D7) was formed in 1993 as one of the original visual artist collectives and grew to become a full service production company. D7's live production team combines multiple video projections, special effects, live camera feeds, and laser animation to create what D7 calls "Immersive Environments."

Electronica-Optica was formed by Radley Marx and Emmett Feldman as a means to be creative visual artists and to help build a strong market infrastructure for the emerging VJ industry.

Electronica-Optica is partnered with Media Box to produce VJTV, a monthly one-hour television series that plays across North America and features guest artists and visual content.

Radley Marx has worked in the west coast rave scene as a DJ and designer under the alias Elemental and currently heads Electronica-Optica, co-produces VJTV, and is developing his own live show as VJ Oz.

Emmett Feldman is currently working on original audio and visual material as Suryummy, as well as working with a variety of audiovisual groups including ESP and LightRhythms.