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ALMA & AXELLE MUNEZERO [QC-CA]
Restless, 2022
6th International Digital Art Biennial
Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal
12.01.2022 - 02.05.2023
BIO
ALMA (Alexandre Saunier & Marc-André Cossette) mixes cutting-edge AI & A-Life algorithms with drum machines, analog and virtual synthesizers, photogrammetry, procedural graphics, and videogame engines to invoke memories of inaccessible places, the sensations of the material world, and the feeling of being together.
Alexandre Saunier is an interdisciplinary multimedia artist. His practice lies at the intersection between artistic creation with light, sound, video, complex systems, and sensory perception. His work is regularly presented in international festivals such as Mutek, Bcn_Llum, Impakt, and Festival de la Imagen.
Marc-André Cossette is a transdisciplinary sound and video artist working on the relation between technology and performing arts using sound, visual, interaction design and Artificial Intelligence. His work has been presented both in Canada and internationally, notably at Tangente Danse (Canada), Ars Electronica Festival (Austria), El Matadero (Spain) and CMMAS (Mexico).
Axelle Munezero is a dancer, choreographer, and a leading model in the urban dance scene around the world. She is co-founder 100 Lux, an organism dedicated to supporting Montreal’s street dance community. Present on the urban dance scene for more than 10 years, she is regularly invited to create original choregraphies, dance, and give workshops, notably at Tangente Danse, Festival Accès Danse, and Beijing Olympic Games.
Restless, 2022 -
Virtual generative choreography by ALMA (Alexandre Saunier & Marc-André Cossette)
in collaboration with Axelle Munezero
Restless is a virtual generative choreography that displays bodies of different ages moving to the powerful rhythm of street dance and electronic music. The piece is inspired from Los Angeles-born krumping and waacking dances. Krumping is a raw and energetic style composed of aggressive movements and facial expressions. By contrast, waacking is a style seeking the grace of early century movie stars by playing with the performers’ femininity and the geometry of their bodies. The organic transmission of those dances from older to newer generations strikes a balance between the constant evolution of the dances and the respect of their specific origins. In this spirit, this video work emerges from the encounter between the styles of two krumping and waacking dancers, and the potential of motion capture, videogame technologies, and sound synthesizers to generate original machine-based choreographies.
Restless is the first piece of ALMA’s new series Granular Movement that explores the potential of digital technologies for capturing and synthesizing human motion. This series hybridizes the use of cutting-edge motion capture and videogame technologies, in particular the ultra-realist Metahuman avatars, with the well-established sound and video practices of granular synthesis. The Granular Movement series is developed in collaboration with Montreal-based street dance artists.
Restless was created by ALMA (Alexandre Saunier & Marc-André Cossette) in collaboration with Axelle Munezero.
Dancers: Valérie Chartier, Marie-Reine Kabasha