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Neil Harbisson: the cyborg-artist who hears colors
Have you ever thought how would the world be like without its colors? Seeing black and white (and grey) is a disease known as “color blindness” and Neil Harbisson was born with this hereditary condition but managed to develop (and affirmed) his career thanks to a sensor called “eyeborg” who became the first cyborg known throughout the world. Harbisson was born in London in 1984 and raised in Barcelona (Mataro), where he originally studied a Bachelor of Arts at the High School Alexandre Satorras. Here, because of his particular visual condition he was allowed to use only white, black and grey in his works. At the age of 18 he moved to Dublin, where he continued his artistic studies in the musical industry, being accepted at Dartington College of Arts (in England) where he studied composition and piano. It was at this time when his life changed radically, thanks to an encounter with Adam Montandon, a cybernetics professor at the University of Plymouth expert in techniques to expand the senses through technology. The two worked together in creating a tool called “eyeborg” a cybernetic system capable of recognizing lighting impulses and converting colors into musical notes. The “eyeborg” was awarded the British prize for innovation awarded by the Submerge in Bristol in 2004 and in the same year, it took first prize in the Interface Design Europe Europrix Multimedia Top Talent Award in Vienna. Thanks to this device, Harbisson could begin to perceive their environment differently, combining his passion for music and visual arts, and creating a series of works that are pictorial representations of musical pieces and vice...
Virtual tourism has arrived.
Virtual Tourism is already well underway in the pretty medieval Swiss town of Basilea. It´s an interesting, and novel form of tourism which will no doubt revolutionize travel, and indeed life in general – like entering into a videogame, not just to play, but to live it in the flesh. On the banks of the River Rin, in the city´s medieval enclave neighbourhood of St. Alban, you can now take a half virtual, half real tour on horseback – where the tourist finds their way across the riverbank with the help of a backpack of electronic equipment, earphones, and a science-fiction style visor which contains a small camera and microphone. This futuristic get-up is called Life Clipper and is the brainchild of Swiss inventor Jan Torpus, who studied in Barcelona, and also German technology expert Nikolas Neecke. According to the press release instructions for the Life Clipper, once the tourist has been kitted out, they´ll need a guide to assist them as they adjust to seeing the world through the visor. Once on the Rin riverbank, the visitor starts starts their journey, accompanied by the sounds of the water, which are created by sensors in the feet. From here the tourist travels on foot on to the St Alban neighbourhood, feeling and sensing the landscape with his hands, nose and mouth – meanwhile, passing through his virtual vision are images from the medieval times; carriages, espadachines, princes etc. This project sounds like something from science fiction – the antithesis of rural tourism – and bystanders would probably laugh at the image of somebody in a visor trying to touch,...
Elegance and sirloin. Its relationship, if any
When we utter the word “elegance”, we think of great divas: Angela Molina, Luz Casal, Concha Piquer, Yma Zumaca or Eartha Kitt, to name a few. Never think to Belen Esteban, Fabio McNamara, Torrebruno or La Terremoto de Alcorcon as deserving of such distinction. I doubt whether one is born or made smart and, even more, after a phrase I heard in this post. Unfairly valuing the qualities of the characters that strut in front of our noses, someone said: “…don’t be wrong, the elegance is the result of several generations based on sirloin”. God, it left me speechless. Soon that horrible phrase came to mind: “the fruit never falls far from the tree”, which bring up the qualities of a person whose skills and credentials are printed as characteristic of their family lineage. Whether we like or not, the pharmacist´s son will inherit the pharmacy, the professor’s, the chair and the noble’s, these absurd monarchical regimes, their titles and wealth. Wealth and elegance should not come together, but it is true that in the biographies of many representatives of the “elegance” -as they appear in our cultural imagination- there are historical accounts that connect to past with little or no economic pain. The same Royal Academy, increasingly unrealistic and disappointing, defines the word “elegant” as endowed with grace, nobility -where most of us fail- and simplicity, where most of noble people fail. But the most revealing of the definitions which is provided for “elegance”, relates to how to express beautiful thoughts. And there is where elegance and sirloin have their run. Because, although it is also defined as...
Nacho Vegas gives up drugs and performs in Barcelona
The Zona Sucia is his fifth album, after three years of his brilliant Manifesto Disaster Nacho Vegas comes back and wins again. From his beginnings with Manta Ray I followed everything this Spaniard made, with almost religious conviction. Please note, the taste does not go indie, you know I am totally for blues, but it is precisely here where Nacho gets to sink his way to build characters in his subjects is of high quality, as well as with an endearing simplicity, as a friend says: “he embraces you and warms you”. La Zona Sucia is that side of the formula 1 highway where there is waste. What is this album about then? You guessed it! About loss, heartbreak, the end of romance, the one who leaves. But La Zona Sucia has few of dark, despite its shadow, it glows, gives hope, lightens. Album of just 44 minutes, ready for two sides of vinyl, La Zona Sucia meets a mature Nacho Vegas from a musical point of view, with more synthesis and a lot of energy. How standing the lack of love in good mood? Just listen to songs like “La gran broma final”, “Reloj sin manecillas”, “Perplejidad, and you’ll have the answer.”Lo que comen las brujas” will make you cry thinking of your mother just arrived from the store with candies. Trust me. Curiously this album came out February 14. Nacho says he tried to avoid it, but everything, sure, everything that is avoided is what pursues us most. As stated in the lyrics of “La Comedia Humana”: and if I look at you we don’t talk, although...
Hoptimum Festival: Hip hop in Paris
Between the 4th – 26th of March, the festival Hoptimum will be bringing to Paris its eclectic mix of dance, rap and graffiti. It´s a thirteen night long party, and takes place in east Paris, an area long associated with urban and hip hop cultures, and will this year be themed around music from South Africa and Vietnam. Other fresh new editions to the festival this year include the collaboration of Marie-Agnes Gillot, the Ópera de Paris’ prima ballerina, with the performance Les Rares Différences. Considered an innovator of contemporary dance, she was attracted to hip hop for its strong rhythmic harmony, as she has explained in interviews; “I’ve learnt a lot from hip hop, especially disassociation of movement.” In it’s mere 30 minutes, Les Rares Differences packs in classical dance, hip hop, along with extra atmosphere provided by music from Willie Bobo, Nunernik Otto, Bela Bartok and Gabriel Fauré. It will be on the 5th March, in Lagny-sur-Marne. The hip hop movement was born in the United States in the 70s, growing out of the Afro-American and Latino street cultures of New York’s poorer neighbourhoods. Hip hop culture is made up of four types of artistic expression – Mcing or rapping, Djing or turntable, breakdance or Bboying, and all types of graffiti. Those who were part of the original hip hop culture saw themselves as anti-establishment, and fighting against social and racial discrimination. The festival isn’t just political, but sensual too, as seen in Sébastien Ramirez and Hyun-Hung Wang´s Amor & Psyche, winner of the Special Prize in Osaka in 2009. Two choreographers, they have created a dance...
Ex-Oasis members Beady Eye come to Madrid
The name Oasis will make any music fan automatically think of the Gallagher brothers, and their battle with Blur for the Britpop topspot. Sadly, the band have finally parted ways – but on the plus side, we now have Beady Eye. Beady Eye are a British band formed after the separation of Oasis in 2009, and is made up of four original group members; Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock. The line up of the band is practically the same as Oasis, with one notable exception; the other founding member Noel Gallagher. Andy Bell played bass in Oasis, and has now switched to bass for Beady Eye, Chris Sharrock has taken over the drums, Gem Archer is on second guitar, with Liam Gallagher at the microphone. Jeff Wooton will be on bass, but only for the live shows. The first offering from the band was “Bring The Light”, which was released last November, and then later, in January of this year, they brought out their first single, “The Roller.” In November the band announced that they would be going on a small European tour, starting in March 2011, and stopping by Madrid´s La Rivera. So all fans and followers of Oasis mustn´t miss out on this chance to see some of their idols playing brand new songs on the 18th March. More information: http://www.salariviera.com/ La Rivera: Paseo Virgen del Puerto, 28005 Madrid, España MiLK Find Madrid accommodation and make the plan official. Translated...
Europunk: Punk in Europe 1976-1980.
At the Villa Medici until the 20th March is exhibition Europunk, organised by the Academy of France in Rome, and centered around the visual element of the punk movement of 1976-80. Punk represented the atmosphere of irreverance at the end of the 1970s, after severe economic crisis had given rise to a boom in artistic expression. The exhibition revisits the socio-political roots of the era, and how they affected the development of punk countercultures, through a collection of 500 pieces, including clothes, fanzines, posters, flyers, paintings, collages, CD covers and videos. Europunk opens with the Sex Pistols during their first TV appearance (1976), on the “So it goes” show – the moment which is considered the birth of the punk movement – and ends with Joy Division at the BBC in 1979, passing through New Wave along the way. One of the pieces on show is the infamous poster of Queen Elizabeth II – her eyes and mouth covered with the slogan “God save the Queen,” a British flag in the background – a true subversion of British tradition and authority. Also included is the publicity poster for Sex Pistols release “Anarchy in the UK,” designed by artist Jamie Reid, and a true emblem of punk. Alongside all this will be a selection of clothes designed by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, as well as posters designed by Jon Savage for Joy Division and The Pop Group gigs. Though the exhibition starts with the United Kingdom, it traces the punk movement’s journey out to other European countries such as France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Holland. We also learn about...
LP11 in Barcelona
The body as a center of expression, speech and action. Questions about current performances, the scene above rigorous aesthetic issues, how the viewer gets involved during the performance, which is the boundary between performer and audience, all these issues will be treated during the LP11. Rather than a festival for pure entertainment, LP11 offers a comprehensive dialogue from different corners of the performance through various actions at the CCCB (Contemporary Culture Centre of Barcelona), La Porta and the Mercat de les Flors. Among what is truly Tony Orricowork´s work, who with his piece Pennwald Part 2: 8 circles, explores concepts of movement and drawing, using his body as a measure of a series of circles and geometric shapes on the stage, referring to processes of physical and mechanical writing: the pictures are written by a body during the action itself, on stage. Beautiful! Another author you can’t miss is the brilliant Antoni Karkowski. He will be giving a talk in addition to the performance Horizon 2. This Polish, former member of Group A, painter and performer, carries out works that border on the poetic from archetypal and ritualistic figures, especially through materials that interact with the body, his performances are of a singular density. Perhaps my greatest interest to him is that his work goes beyond cultural contexts: in a world increasingly separated and generating multiple virtual spaces in cyberspace, identity is diluted. Thus, with materials ranging from water, paper, wax and others you can find on the shelves of any home in the universe, Karkowski draws attention to his particularities and our conditioning to use them, as well...
Gogol Bordello back in Lisbon
Listening to Gogol Bordello, without knowing about the true origin of the band, can easily lead us to imagine about what is the most radical Balkan rock (if there truly exists such a music style). A live show in Lisbon will be in March 7th. The truth is that the band finds a better resemblance with a style usually defined as “gypsy punk”, after all a simple fusion involving punk rock and inspirations arriving from gypsy traditional music. The main figure on Gogol Bordello is Eugene Hütz, lead vocals and guitar. Born in the Ukraine, Hütz ran away from his country right after the nuclear accident of Chernobyl. During the following years he travelled around Europe with a refugee status and finally managed to immigrate to the United States in 1991. The group (that got its name from the junction of the surname of Nikolai Gogol, the famous Russian writer, and the word “bordello”, which means brothel in Italian) began its musical journey in New York City, a few years after. In 1999 Gogol began to play and it was also on that year that they recorded their first album, “Voi-La Intruder”. The truth is that the great impulse to their career happened due to the deed of a pop star. Madonna was impressed by the band after getting to know them through British film director Guy Ritchie, her ex-husband. In 2007, the artist decided to invite Hütz do act on her first short film, titled “Filth and Wisdom”, and still on that same year Eugene Hütz and Sergey Ryabtsey played with her, live on stage, on the Live...
