Press release: FIBER launches new audiovisual art, digital culture and electronic music event FIBER Weekends 2018
Alva Noto, Alan Warburton, NKISI, object blue, Rainer Kohlberger and more are confirmed for the first edition
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Friday, 2 November 2018
FIBER is proud to present the launch of FIBER Weekends 2018, a new, decentralized art event dedicated to emerging developments in audiovisual art, electronic music, creative coding, and advanced technologies. Taking place in Amsterdam on 23 November and 1 December, the inaugural edition of FIBER Weekends features an opening concert of mesmerizing live performances at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, an extended conference edition of the Coded Matter(s) series at Lab111 and a club and performance night at OT301. Artists and speakers confirmed for FIBER Weekends 2018 include, among others, Alva Noto, Alan Warburton, NKISI, Szare, object blue and Rainer Kohlberger. Performance Passes and Day Passes as well as individual event tickets are available now at fiberweekends.nl/tickets.
FIBER examines the 'act of art and performance' and how it can present alternative ways to make ‘sense’ of the complex, 21st century connections between humans, advanced technologies, and living and non-living entities. It begs the question: ‘should humans even strive to measure, model and know everything? And do our contemporary knowledge systems still reflect our radically changing reality? Spread across two weekends, FIBER Weekends 2018 invites audiences to experience the search for new ways of sensing, building and knowing the world through an expansive programme of audiovisual premieres, immersive installations, conference talks and lectures, and the club and performance night.
In addition to the aforementioned artists and speakers, FIBER Weekends 2018 also presents live audiovisual performances by CAO & Michael Tan, Whitespace & Zois and Vito Willems & Bin Koh, talks and presentations by The Rodina, Valery Vermeulen, Christian ‘Mio’ Loclair, Kévin Bray, NXS WORLD and Michelle Kasprzak, and installations by Mariska de Groot & Dieter Vandoren and Gabey Tjon A Tham. More artists and speakers will be added in the coming weeks.
Theme: Sensing Beyond | Beyond Sensing
Advanced simulation technologies, algorithms and AI systems propel human activity into alien terrain and dimensions. At the same time – in the midst of an impending climate crisis – we are slowly coming to terms with the need to fundamentally reconnect human activities with other living and nonliving beings. With the theme, ‘Sensing Beyond | Beyond Sensing’, FIBER examines the 'act of art and performance' and how it can present alternative ways to make ‘sense’ of our complex and often alienating world. FIBER Weekends 2018 invites you to experience the search for new ways of sensing, building and knowing the world through the lens of the arts.
Opening concert with Alva Noto
Presented in collaboration with The Rest Is Noise, the opening concert of FIBER Weekends 2018 takes place at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ on 23 November and sees pioneering German sound and visual artist Alva Noto unveil the Dutch premiere of his latest project, UNIEQAV, a dazzling audiovisual experience that strips scientific phenomena like sound and light frequencies to their core. Joining Alva Noto are Beijing-born DJ and producer object blue, who performs a live set of her experimental, techno-infused soundworlds, and Belgian electronic musician and mathematician Valery Vermeulen, who presents his lecture-performance 'Music/Math and Imagination'.
Coded Matter(s) Conference
On Saturday, 1 December, FIBER Weekends 2018 hosts an extended conference edition of Coded Matter(s). The final instalment of the series and the conclusion of the ongoing World Building trilogy, Coded Matter(s): Sensing Beyond | Beyond Sensing invites artists, designers, musicians, creative coders and researcher to question the design of contemporary world visions and technological narratives that contribute to greater socio-economic inequality and environmental destruction. Comprising four sessions, the conference will feature a keynote by British filmmaker and software artist Alan Warburton, and talks and performances by, among others, German media artist and choreographer Christian ‘Mio’ Loclair, Amsterdam-based performance designers The Rodina, French CGI artist and Rijksakademie resident Kévin Bray, and collaborative art studio NXS WORLD.
Sensory Shifts: Club & Performance Night
The inaugural edition of FIBER Weekends 2018 concludes with Sensory Shifts, a physical and audiovisual club and performance night at iconic Amsterdam venue OT301. Navigating disparate realms of electronic music amidst immersive sound worlds and flashing clouds of haze, the night features electrifying sets by NON Records co-founder NKISI and Manchester bass-techno veterans Szare as well as audiovisual performances by celebrated Berlin-based visual artist Rainer Kohlberger, Peruvian composer CAO and Australian artist Michael Tan, newly-formed electronic duo Whitespace and Greek lighting artist Zois, and Amsterdam-based duo Vito Willems & Bin Koh.
Special Events: Immersive Installations
FIBER Weekends 2018 also presents the openings of two new installations: LFS2 by Mariska de Groot & Dieter Vandoren and If/Then by Gabey Tjon a Tham. Presented in collaboration with KIKK Festival on Friday, 30 November, LFS2 is an environment formed by a network of elements scattered in space that interact with each other through light and sound signals. The Hague-based artist Gabey Tjon a Tham unveils If/Then at 4Bid Galleryon Saturday, 1 December. Commissioned by FIBER and created with the support of the Crossing Parallels programme (TodaysArt & TU Delft), the installation attempts to make sense of the non-human systems of time that we interact with daily.
Full FIBER Weekends 2018 programme
PART I:
The Rest Is Noise in collaboration with FIBER
Date: Friday 23/11 | 19:30 - 1:00
Location: Muziekgebouw aan ‘t Ij
Lineup: Alva Noto presents UNIEQAV (live a/v), object blue (live), Valery Vermeulen (lecture-performance)
PART II:
Coded Matter(s) Conference + Sensory Cinema
Date: Saturday 1/12 | 11:00 - 20:45
Location: Lab111
Lineup: Alan Warburton (keynote), Christian ‘Mio’ Loclair, Kevin Bray, Michelle Kasprzak, NXS WORLD, The Rodina + more to be announced
Sensing Shifts: Club + Performance Night
Date: Saturday 1/12 | 21:00 - 05:00
Location: OT301
Lineup: NKISI (live), Szare (DJ), Rainer Kohlberger (live AV), CAO & Michael Tan present The Burial Theme (live AV), Whitespace & Zois Loumakis (DJ & light installation), Vito Willems & Bin Koh (live & light installation)
SPECIAL EVENTS:
Opening LFS2 (2018) by Dieter Vandoren & Mariska De Groot
Date: Friday 30/11
Location: TBA
Opening If/Then (2018) by Gabey Tjon A Tham
Date: Saturday 1/12
Location: 4bid Gallery, OT301
Tickets
FIBER Weekends 2018 Performances Passes (€32) and Day Passes (€30), as well as individual event tickets are available at fiberweekends.nl/tickets
Confirmed Partners
Funding Partners:
FIBER is kindly sponsored by Stimuleringsfonds, Creatieve Industrie, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Fonds Podiumkunsten, and Goethe Institute
Creative Partners: Programme and Location partners
Waag, Crack Magazine, KIKK Festival, Lab111, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, and OT301
FIBER is an Amsterdam-based interdisciplinary organization that presents new developments in audiovisual art, digital culture and experimental electronic music. The team works year round with a vibrant network of artists, designers, researchers and developers to present mind-bending experiences to a broad audience. Special attention goes out to the support of up-and-coming talents across numerous creative disciplines.
In addition to FIBER Weekends 2018, the team organises the biennial FIBER Festival, Coded Matter(s) lecture series, recurring small-scale events and exhibitions, FIBER podcast and Studio Visits in Amsterdam, bringing together a diverse crowd of new talent, established artists and curious visitors. FIBER aims to explore hybrid forms of art, the power of media and network technology, and encourages an exchange of views between the makers and their audience.
