Optronica - An Immersive Dance Environment

Audiovisual artists and producers Addictive TV and new-media curators Cinefeel will present what promises to be a 2007 must-see spectacular celebration of visual music.

"Digital technologies have profoundly altered the way we produce and consume music and moving images. As the equipment becomes increasingly sophisticated and available, we are experiencing an explosion in personal expression." says film director Anthony Minghella "As part of the Sony PlayStation Season, Optronica is a colourful and vibrant celebration of this outpouring."

Optronica explores the fusion of music and visual poetry, and features live audiovisual performances, screenings, illustrated talks, workshops and related special presentations.

"Over the years we've witnessed the scene developing rapidly right across the world, with lots of artists from very different backgrounds all exploring the visual music genre. The global explosion of new visuals-oriented festivals also shows that there's a real appetite for this new art form. Optronica is the perfect and much needed platform in the UK." says Optronica founder Graham Daniels of Addictive TV, who has been at the forefront of visual-music and VJing for over a decade.

Optronica 2007 is the fifth collaboration in the PlayStation® Season, a six-month project that will see Sony PlayStation® collaborate with five leading cultural institutions including the newly renovated National Film Theatre, which will be re-launched, with Optronica, as BFI Southbank.

Joptronique

Japan has one of the most flourishing VJ and multi-media communities in the World and so it's no surprise that after the success of the sold-out Big in Japan programme at the last Optronica, that featured a stunning live performance by Takagi Masakatsu, Optronica presents another Big in Japan session with a screening programme followed by a performance by multi-media artist Ryoichi Kurukawa, who will be presenting the UK premiere of his Audio CrossMedia project.

Kurokawa explores digital realms with an audiovisual language characterised by precision and a contrast between minimalism and complexity. He composes time based sculpture with digitally generated materials and field-recorded sources, accepting sound and imagery as a single unit and not as separate entities.

Prior to the performance, Big in Japan will present a screening programme of eclectic Japanese animation and AV work featuring +Cruz, Enlightenment, Hideaki Motoki and many more. There will be leftfield music videos from the likes of Sketch Show, Hifana, DJ Uppercut, Coppe' and Ryukyudisko, quirky audiovisual work from Kensuke Amano, Manavu Muragichi, Ken Yokoi and 6nin, plus work from VJs Chikara Matsumoto, TomoGrapher & SanFrandisco.

Fast View Newcaster

Samurai FM - a new sound/vision concept station - previews one of the videos from the screening programme - PixMix09, which was created especially for Optronica by animators/VJs TomoGrapher & SanFrandisco who remixed visuals produced for their PixMix DVD series.