What is a photon? It is a tiny and invisible particle, seemingly insignificant and yet infinitely powerful: it gives life to every form of light. And it is precisely light and the photon that it has been dealing with for seven issues now Photonics festival, a Roman event dedicated to video mapping, visual and digital arts and audiovisual (A/V) performances. This year it will take place from December 1st to 10th in three locations – the Roman Aquarium, the Hungarian Academy in Rome and Cieloterra. 10 days in which the capital becomes the central meeting point and exchange point some of the most influential artists in audio-video and digital artincluding live shows, artistic residencies, lectures and conferences.
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5/5The 7th edition of the Fotonica Festival in Rome
It begins on December 1st at the Hungarian Academy in Rome, where the light installations by Victor Vasarely and Peter Botosco-curated by Light Art Museum (LAM) from Budapest. The light sculpture Virtual lighting by Victor Vasarely is based on an optical experiment that gives the viewer the illusion of movement through the contrast between black and white created by the lights and shadows falling through his Plexiglas sculptures. Homage to Eliasson by Botos is a baroque geometric sculpture made of optical glass, inspired by Minimal Art.
Further down the path is the A/V installation of Andrew Sztojanovits reflects on the nest as a symbol of the complexity of life using a 3D audiovisual composition that takes shape in augmented reality; while the modular audiovisual installation Cosmosonic From Electro Moon Vision (in collaboration with Iranian sound artist Ali Phi and always in AR) uses the scientific data provided by NASA to bring to life his images of space around the Earth, the Moon and the Sun.
The program of the Fotonica Festival 2023
However, the event comes to life on December 8th, when at the Roman Aquarium, whose facade will be redesigned through video mapping Kanaka and Dániel Besnyő Co-curated by the Inota Festival – the immersive installations by V3rbo; of the Canadian Sabrina Ratté which he presents inflorescences; and the artist Edward with HOUSING. Then there is still room for A/V performances: The Alias Sessionsfeaturing works by Mexican producer Murcof and visuals by Sergi Palau using footage of the dance company’s live performances Alias; but also Catherine Palacesinternationally known Roman bassist and undisputed jazz talent, who, together with the visual artist Kanaka the gifts Aneurysma surreal journey into the human brain.
On December 9th we continue with the big international names: the eight unreleased tracks from Boundary object From Gabor Lazar, hypnotic and almost symbolic; and again the Italian-Dutch sound designer Great Flow (née Aimée Portioli), who in Tune the wind It reworks the frequencies and the wind, making it a real instrument.
Workshops, A/V performances and international guests at the Fotonica Festival
It ends with a climax on December 10th, a day that begins with the workshop Andrea Sztojanovits to progressive audiovisual performance art; continues with the collective’s A/V performance Metahell which reworks the silent film The hell of 1911 through images generated in real time by AI; and finally ends with White balance von Schnitt, the project of the German experimental musician Amelia Duchow and the Italian media artist Marco Monfardini: Crossing the minimal art of the “white pictures” of Robert Ryman The duo investigates the possible effects of the reception and perception of the “not” color per se.
Laura Ciocciolillo