SonarMàtica 2009: Mecànics :: June 18-20, 2009 :: Barcelona.

Mecànics (the exhibition): Over the past decade, the spread of new digital production tools has led to a democratisation of the artistic process, ranging from the music industry to multimedia art. Home-made recording studios, audiovisual editing programs and online record labels have made projects that used to require major investments easily accessible. Today, the spirit of punk is standard cultural currency.

Becoming the conductor of Roland Olbeter’s robot orchestra, or creating your own musical compositions - simply by moving counters on a board - with the famous interactive table Reactable (Rolling Stone magazine’s Instrument of the Year in 2007), discovering how Telenoika.net creates music by reusing all types of electrical household goods from the rubbish, having fun by inventing infinite sound possibilities on a single record using Yuri Suzuki’s five-armed turntable or being surprised at how Jay Barros converts movements of some micro-organisms into rhythmic patterns using his microscope are some of the opportunities for participation in Mecànics.

Mecànics (the journey): For the first time, a network of production and exhibition centres in the city, such as Hangar and Niu, university institutions such as the IED-Instituto Europeo di Design and UPF - Pompeu Fabra University and various independent artistic production groups such as Telenoika will form part of the Mecànics project, contributing their own content to the exhibition, as well as MediaLab Prado, from Madrid.

A bus will travel around this expanded SonarMàtica across Barcelona, showing all the aspects and viewpoints that make up the fascinating world of inventing contemporary sonic creation devices. It is a unique opportunity to discover the lively new media art scene in Barcelona on a pleasant journey around the city.

SonarMàtica 2009 Mecànics is the third and final installment in the exhibition trilogy revisiting the nineteenth century in the digital era, after the exhibitions focusing on magic and film.

Works and Venues

CCCB

Roland Olbeter (DE-ES) – Soundclusters 2
Yuri Suzuki (JP) – The Physical Value of Sound
Institut Fatima (ES) – The Reacball System
S. Jordà, G. Geiger, M. Alonso and M. Kaltenbrunner (ES) – Reactable (1)
D. García Rodríguez, I. Hernández and M. Ferreiro Novoa (ES) – Punk-o-Table (1)
R. Pujol, P. Molina, F. Font and F. García (ES) – Puckr (1)
Carles F. Julià (ES) – SongExplorer (1)
S. González and J. Chávarri (CO-ES) – WeAreWaves (1)
VV.AA. – Voice Constructer (2)
Jay Barros (CU-US) – The Sounds of Science (3)
Telenoika.net (ES) – L’Orquestra dels Luthiers Drapaires (4)

(1) Collaboration with IUA-UPF
(2) Collaboration with IED - Istituto Europeo di Design
(3) Collaboration with Medialab Prado
(4) Collaboration with Telenoika

HANGAR

Electronic Performers (ES) – Rehearsal open to the public: Oscillare
Alex Posada (ES) – Workshop: Arduino and free hardware tools
Lluis Gómez i Bigordà/Nico Baixas (ES) – Workshop: Hands-Computer-Music NIU
Julio Lucio (ES) – SoundWalk, Cymatics, i_man:es
microBCN (ES) – Workshop: Chiptune & GameBoy Art *Saturday 20th only
Ruin & Wesen (DE) – Workshop: MIDI hacking workshop *Friday 19th only

Bus SonarMàtica
Sónar by Day (CCCB)-Hangar-Niu

Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 12:30am and 04.00pm.
Approximate journey time: 2 hours 40 minutes.
All buses depart from the door Hotel Pulitzer (Bergara, 8, next to Plaza Catalunya).
Capacity: 20 places (strictly by order of arrival).

CCCB Floor -1 / Montalegre 5 / 12am-10pm.
HANGAR / Passatge Marquès De Santa Isabel 40 / 12am-9pm.
NIU / Almogàvers, 208 / 12am-9pm.