As of what I know there are no education packaged as a VJ- or live audio visual artist-education, although there are of course an unlimited amount of courses out there fitting our area of expression. (Me and Martin Söderblom have a workshop/lecture series coming up in Stockholm, and possibly other cities.)

What I want to tell you about today is the theory course I took at School of Visual Arts in New York City. A very good lecturer and artist, Ofri Cnaani, gives two interesting lecture series. The one I chose was The Fourth Dimension: Video, Space and The Broken Screen. Her own description:

“This course offers pathways through the visual language of nonlinear narratives, split screens, fragmentary visual planes and their relationships with space and spatial design. We will read, view and discuss contemporary examples from selected projects made by artists, filmmakers, designers and architects that speak to these issues. Through critical discussions students will gain a fresh look at new practices of art-making that make use of emerging technologies.

Topics include: object and projection, video and sound installation, multichannel video work, digital media and architectural space, non-traditional spaces, and video art in public spaces. The course is guided by the work of artists such as Bruce Nauman, Joan Jonas, Doug Aitken, Lars Von Trier, Jane and Louise Wilson, Olafur Eliasson, Pipilotti Rist, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Robert Wilson, Douglas Gordon, and Matthew Barney as well as by concepts and pronouncements by critics and visionaries such as Rosalind Krauss, Lev Manovich, Walter Benjamin, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Rem Koolhaas.”

The course is more focused on the aesthetics of film, and not so much motion graphics/what we usually see by “VJs”, but when it comes to theory the course is spot on for us working with visuals/VJ-ing. The reading and viewing really gave me new words on several things I have beeIn trying to discuss within both academics and practicing artists. That is sometimes complicated within a relatively new and emerging art form, not having a very developed set of definitions. In short, highly recommended!

Register for this class here.

Another interesting course by the same teacher is The Fourth Dimension: Between The Cinematic and The Theatrical

Ofri Cnaanis website.

Additionally, you can find VJ-related hands on courses in NYC at 3rd Ward.

http://www.vimeo.com/9696981

21st of february I joined in the Share jam to try out some new visual material from my visual culture+lifestyle design/art-project which I named Alter Modern Times. The title is inspired by Nicolas Bourriauds´s bookAltermodern (Tate Publishing, 2009) and by Charlie Chaplin´s film Modern Times (1937). It is a journal based art project (video /sound /graphics /photography), which sprung out of the idea of what energies displacement creates, thoughts on what´s next after postmodernism and a will to explore and invent alternatives to the 9-5-lifestyle

This citation from the foreword of Altermodern pretty much sums up the base of my project. ”Artists are looking for a new modernity that would be based on translation: What matters today is to translate the cultural values of cultural groups and to connect them to the world network. This ‘reloading process’ of modernism according to the twenty-first-century issues could be called altermodernism, a movement connected to the creolisation of cultures and the fight for autonomy, but also the possibility of producing singularities in a more and more standardized world.  /- - -/.

Under the threat from fundamentalism and consumer-driven uniformisation, menaced by massification and the enforced re-abandonment of individual identity, art today needs to reinvent itself, and on a planetary scale. /- - -/ It is neither a petrified kind of time advancing in loops (postmodernism) nor a linear vision of history (modernism), but a positive experience of disorientation through an art-form exploring all dimensions of the present, tracing lines in all directions of time and space. The artist turns cultural nomad: what remains of the Baudelarian model of modernism is no doubt this flânerie, transformed into a technique for generating creativeness and deriving knowledge.”

Alter Modern Times live audio visual performance:

#01 Share, Issue Project Room, New York City [US] 21 february
#02 O-Space, One Arm Red, New York City [US] 04 march
#03 Share, Issue Project Room, New York City [US] 16 march
#04 Hvorslev Kunstforening, Ulstrup Castle, Aarhus [DK] 16-17 april
#05 Volt Festival, Uppsala [SE] 5 june
#06 Norberg Festival [SE] 29 july
#07 Berlin [DE] TBA
#08 Paris [FR] TBA
#09 San Francisco [US] TBA

More posts on this soon!

Facebook invite here!

Photo: Ricardo Fernandez

More info:

http://www.share.dj - click New York

http:// …Alter Modern Times - project website up soon

It takes place in an old can factory in Brooklyn at a venue called The Issue Project Room - their mission is well described under Mission on their site: “ISSUE Project Room provides an open and versatile environment where both established and emerging artists can conduct, exhibit and perform new and site-specific work according to their respective visions. Through an evolving collaboration with curators, artists and educators, ISSUE Project Room fosters a wide-range of artistic projects that challenge and expand conventional practices in art.”

Video jam: multi-user live video synthesis. Generating an immersive visual environment, in the SHARE tradition, in which multiple participants are able to jointly compose the video output. Try out and learn about new VJ wetware. As with the audio, walk-in sets are encouraged. Bring your clips or camera or laptop/amiga and VGA, S-Video, or RCA cables to join.”

The idea of doing something like this in Stockholm is very appealing to me! Get in contact if you feel the same vibe!

I would like to recommend The Dreamfactory! This event takes place in Stockholm 23-25 of April and is organised by The Swedish Film Institute.

There is going to be for example film screenings by students at The Dramatiska Institutet and The University College for Film and Mattias Bergbom, working in Hollywood will tell us about his visual effects! And lots of other things! More information, click: http://www.sfi.se/dromfabriken

One of my absolute favourite festivals celebrates its 10 year anniversary this summer! I strongly recommend this one for people interested in electronic music and arts (sound and visual), club floors on techno, drum n´bass, jungle, mine buildings and a really good and friendly atmosphere! Two press releases below:

APR 2009: “Norbergfestival: ”From England with love.”

Scandinavia’s most underground electronic and alternative festival, Norbergfestival, is proud to present:

B12 (UK)  
MILANESE (UK) 
SYNTHEME (UK)  
POSTHUMAN (UK)  
THE TEKNOIST (UK)
CURSOR MINER (UK)
THE DJ PRODUCER (UK)
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARP (IT)
HILD SOFIE TAFJORD (NO) + KATHY HINDE GB (video)

Celebrating 10 years of providing our visitors with a festival experience that goes far beyond any expectations, we can promise that the last weekend of July 2009 will be something unforgettable. With groundbreaking visuals and mindblowing audios supporting the forefront of today’s electronic music, this festival located in the old mining area of Norberg,

Sweden, is bound to make your feet – and mind - move!

We have a great line up standing ready to spin their decks and guitar necks for your eyes and ears only. More names will be announced in the near future. In the meantime, be sure to check out www.norbergfestival.com for more details.”

Feb 2009: “NORBERGFESTIVAL CELEBRATES IT’S 10th ANNIVERSARY

The premier festival for alternative and electronic music in Scandinavia - Norbergfestival is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary. Book the 30th, 31th July and 1 of August for an unusual experience!

We hope for sunshine like we had during last years successful festival. The festival starts of with a massive pre party on Thursday on the two scenes Camp303 and Kraftwerk. The following two days will be stuffed with audiovisual experiences at the old mine area at Norberg in Sweden.

The performing artists will satisfy our visitors hunger for new musical expressions. Pack your bags, find your tents and get ready for some great music and dancing at the Norbergfestival 2009!

For more information please contact Simon Rue:PR[at]NORBERGFESTIVAL[dot]COM“