Blast of Invisible Relations – a virtual version of Steve Reich’s “Drumming” composition

BLAST OF INVISIBLE RELATIONS (dir. by Ksawery Kaliski and Piotr Ceglarek) is an experience of a virtual reality concert created for artistic and educational purposes, created in VR/AR Studio. The aim of the project is to broaden the boundaries of reception, to understand complex musical structures and to create the possibility of deeply engaging participation in the sensual experience of this work using virtual imaging and immersion. The composition that forms the basis of the project is Drumming, a work created 50 years ago by one of the most outstanding American minimalists and structuralists – Steve Reich.

The project assumes active participation of the audience in the concert space. The use of interac3ve solu3ons allows to control and influence the visual and audio-visual course of the concert, and through the body layout and the choice of the movement path to redirect attenton to a selected part of the composition. The participant can watch the sequences of the piece, sounds and images of the musicians looped in time from different sides.

The project provides three modes of participation: (1) music lover mode, (2) educational mode and (3) blast mode. Each of them determines the choice of a dedicated narrative path with separate possibilities of interaction and different means of influencing the viewer.

In mode (1), the reception focuses on experiencing a multi-channel three-dimensional sound (ambisonic sound) and broadening the possibilities of primarily phonic, on contemplating the structure. It responds to the needs of a viewer with a great deal of musical knowledge. The visual layer is also important here, although it has a complementary function.

In mode (2), the suggested recipient is a person whose level of understanding of experimental contemporary music does not have to be high, needs to be guided and encouraged to learn acoustic phenomena. The acquisition of knowledge takes place through experience.

Mode (3) is aimed at the fullest possible representation of the assumptions of the Minimalist composers (combining the tradition of European music with the experience of the concept and functions of Far Eastern music). The sense of the fusion of image, space and sound leading through the state of trance, primal rhythms, the sense of presence in the inter-space is to introduce the participant into the metaphysical experience.

World-class musicians (Mi?osz P?ka?a, Joanna Serafi?ska, Wojciech Myrczek) and a sound director (Andrzej Artymowicz) cooperate in recording the music layer. Specialist ambition microphones will be used to record each instrument on a separate soundtrack. This allows to achieve the highest quality acoustic conditions. Almost tangibly present sound surrounding the recipient from all sides allows to immerse oneself in the sounds of individual instruments, which captivate with their clarity and depth of sound.

Materials showing the activities of the project team during production
Materials showing the activities of the project team during production
Materials showing the activities of the project team during production
Materials showing the activities of the project team during production
Materials showing the activities of the project team during production

Nightsss – a sensual VR experience of poetry, dance and nature  

VR piece Nightsss is a virtual erotic poem. A few minutes of artistic animation with ASMR and interactive elements immerses the viewer in the sensual experience of poetry and dance. Nightsss’s script was based on a piece of the spoken word poet Weronika Lewandowska. The artist uses sounds characteristic of the Polish language, creating onomatopoeic landscapes that cross language barriers. The spatially composed poet’s voice takes the immersant to a virtual night environment in which one meets a dancing character. The dancer’s organic movements blend with her virtual body. 

The character is once a poem and loses its materiality, and in a moment splits into other forms. Other times – it condenses so that hundreds of drops can illuminate the flora and bring out the color from the night scenery. Still another time – it takes on a human form that “passes” through the body of the immersant, and then disintegrates into particles of fluidized substance with unreal behavior. The night pulsates with a rhythmic space of sounds and movements, it is looped in words. Immersant sees his/her hands in the created world which serves as an anchor, allowing for small interactions. 

Kadr z do?wiadczenia "Nightsss/Noccc", re?. Weronika Lewandowska, Sandra Frydrysiak
Kadr z do?wiadczenia “Nightsss/Noccc”, re?. Weronika Lewandowska, Sandra Frydrysiak

The creators have used the potential of combining different qualities that can be applied to virtual space – generative forms that have organic movement, and organic forms that exceed the limits of predictable motorics, gravity and matter (just like imaginary objects). Nightsss integrates many sensual experiences with metaphor and language game – thus playing with the perception of the immersant and constructing a synesthesia environment. Dance and choreography in a transmedia spirit transform the poem, exploring its new dimensions. The character “dances” the poem, but also builds up new meanings to it. The relationship between the immersant, the poem, interactive sound space, dynamically changing image, movement of the character and objects of the night – creates a unique experience. 

Rhythmic transformation ends in a daytime environment that brings meditative space for reflection on one’s body and movement in virtual space. After many transformations we can stand for a moment in front of the large virtual Sun and absorb its heat, resonating not only in our virtual body. 

Nightsss explores the possibilities of VR storytelling and dance in the context of the changing perception of technologically created spatial experiences and the development of the kinetic empathy of the immersant in the embodied experience of virtual space. The animation was made in 6 DOF on Oculus Rift S as part of vnLab projects at the Film School in ?ód?. 

Premiere of Nightsss/Noccc at Sundance Film Festival 2021!

The first year of operation of the Virtual and Augmented Reality Workshop brought a worldwide success – the Nightsss/Noccc project directed by Weronika Lewandowska and Sandra Frydrysiak will be officially presented during this year’s edition of the Sundance Film Festival.

In the context of the current pandemic situation, the event will take place virtually, via the SUNDANCE platform.

For more information, please visit the links below, and we congratulate the filmmakers!

Tickets
About the project

 

VR/AR vnLab

Meet the creators of Nightsss!

The VR experience Nightsss/Noccc is a project that, already in its first year, was recognized by the Sundance Film Festival – the largest international festival of independent film productions. Nightsss/Noccc will have its official premiere on January 29th and you can get tickets to immerse yourself in the virtual space of this erotic poem by following this LINK.

A group of experienced creators, artists specializing in the field of audiovisual arts, contributed to the success of the project. We are proud to present to you the full composition of the team:

Weronika Lewandowska – director, screenwriter and executive producer of the Nightsss/Noccc experience. She is interested in interdisciplinary projects that combine art, science, technology and the artistry of digitized storytelling.

Sandra Frydrysiak – director and scriptwriter of the Nightsss/Noccc experience. Researcher of dance perception, Assistant Professor at the Department of Cultural Studies at the SWPS University in Warsaw.

Piotr Apostel – programmer of integrated 3D environment on Unity engine for the Nightsss/Noccc experience. Author of games. When creating games and VR environments, he is most interested in building a multi-level world combining narrative with interaction.

Kaya Ko?odziejczyk – choreographer, dancer, and movement director for the Nightsss/Noccc experience.

Marcin Macuk – musician, instrumentalist and composer of the ambient soundscape of the Nightsss/Noccc experience.

Przemek Danowski – soundscape creator, composer of music for computer games, theater performances, films and other multimedia. His algorithms sculpted the sound space of the Nightsss/Noccc experience.

Arkadiusz Zub – graphic artist, animator and VJ. One of the designers of the visual environment and animation of Nightsss/Noccc experience.

Marek Straszak – visual artist with extensive experience in creating responsive multimedia installations and narrative data visualizations. One of the designers of the visual environment and animation of Nightsss/Noccc experience.

Nightsss/Noccc in the XRMust database!

Nightsss/Noccc – a project realized as part of the VR/AR Studio’s program was honored by being placed in the XRMust database – an international archive of immersive productions offering an overview of current events promoting XR/VR/AR/MR. Weronika Lewandowska and Sandra Frydrysiak’s experience was included in the list of premiere titles of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Huge congratulations to the whole Team!

Click

 

Call for applications for the Essay Film Studio at the vnLab of ?ód? Film School

(all seminars will take place online and will be held in English, so we encourage applications from all around the world)

Established in 2019, The Essay Film Studio (part of the vnLab of ?ód? Film School) is opening its doors to all the makers and artistic researchers interested in exploring the essayistic forms and methods in their own artistic/research practices.

Rather than focusing on historical inquiries, the Studio aims to research how the free-floating, radically subjective, heterogeneous and non-conclusive form of the essay can aid our practices as filmmakers, artists or practice-based researchers. Employing the hands-on approach we aim to rethink the conditions of production, execution and distribution of film, by exploring ‘the essayistic’ as a method of engagement with the cinematic material. We use the term ‘essayistic’ as a flexible, customisable frame of thinking through making, which allows for defamiliarization of your point-of-view, objects of inquiry and methods through experimentation.

Over the calendar year 2021 (starting from the late February), in the series of bi-weekly seminars, hosted by the most inspiring figures working with the essay form nowadays internationally (such as Eyal Sivan, Mark Cousins, Johan Grimonprez, Catherine Grant, Kevin B. Lee, Matthias Müller or Christoph Girardet), we will explore various essayistic devices and registers and work towards translating those principles into participants’ practices and prospective projects.

Participants of the seminar will gain access to the vast and unique archive of Wytwórnia Filmów O?wiatowych (Educational Film Studio. Officially established in December 1949. Its output includes ca. 5,000 films on various subjects, made by several generations of Polish filmmakers, including Wojciech Jerzy Has, Janusz Nasfeter, Krzysztof Zanussi, Zbigniew Rybczy?ski, Jacek B?awut, Jan Jakub Kolski, Marek Koterski, Bogdan Dziworski or Maciej Drygas). In addition, all participants will be encouraged to apply for a limited number of seed grants (2-3) from the Essay Film Studio that will allow them to work on their own audiovisual essays.

Teaser showreel of the archive:

 

PARTICIPATION IN THE LAB IS FREE OF CHARGE. THE ONLY THING REQUIRED IS YOUR FULL COMMITMENT.

Participation

Every 2021 seminar will consist of two parts – a public masterclass with the invited guest and a hands-on workshop for the core group of Essay Film Studio participants. Therefore, we issue this call offering interested filmmakers/artists/practice-based researchers two modes of participation, each coming with a different set of prerogatives, responsibilities, and requirements:

1. Free Listener

Free Listeners will be offered an active spot in every masterclass organised by the Studio. They will be invited to the Zoom calls, will be able to ask questions, participate in the discussions, and all closed-off events where our guests will be analysing their works-in-progress and other sensitive materials. Free Listeners will have to commit to attending most of the seminars offered by the Studio. Free Listeners will not have access to the workshop parts of the seminars and will not have to execute and deliver practical assignments.

Number of places: 50

Requirements:

– Brief description of your practice/area of work/interest

– One paragraph on why you want to participate in the activities of the Lab

2. Member

Together with the Studio coordinators, members will constitute a practice-based research group on the essay form. Members will be active participants of all the seminars. They will be granted access to all the workshops and an opportunity to present experiments and garner feedback from all the invited guests. Members will be expected to attend every seminar (with an exception of the occasional work-related engagements, i.e. work on sets) and execute experiments assigned by our guests.

Number of places: 10-12

Requirements:

– CV

– A motivational letter describing your practice/area of work/study and your interest in investigating the essay form (short samples of previous works are welcome)

– A one-page description of the essayistic project that you’d like to develop in the Studio.

THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS 26 FEBRUARY 2021 RESULTS OF THE RECRUITMENT WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON 1 MARCH 2021

APPLICATION FORM

CONTACT – essay@vnlab.org

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: After the recruitment results have been announced, the Essay Film Studio will open another call for mid-length and feature-length essay films, offering between 2-3 seed grants to execute the projects. All participants invited to the seminar will be eligible to apply for those grants.

We will notify all the applicants directly through an email. Applicants applying for the members’ spot will automatically be considered for Free Listeners slots if they don’t qualify as members.

 

The coordinators of the Essay Film Studio are:

Kuba Mikurda – a documentary filmmaker, with a background in philosophy and psychoanalysis, heading the theory department of The ?ód? Film School in Poland

Stanis?aw Liguzi?ski – a film scholar and a teacher at the Master Programme on Research in and Through Cinema at the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam

VR/AR Studio

The Virtual and Augmented Reality Studio will conduct interdisciplinary artistic and research projects resulting in immersive experiences. Each year, five teams will be established, which will create at least five works with full documentation of their progress and indication of potential technical, artistic and production problems and their possible solutions. The process of creative experimentation will be thoroughly analyzed in order to form a new audiovisual language, with particular emphasis on critical reflection on the issues of immersive narratives. The completed works will also be the subject of research on audience perception with the use of neuroscience tools. Based on the results of research and analysis, there will be recommendations and scientific publications concerning the medium of contemporary audiovisual communication, expanding the field of human interaction with digital reality.

We encourage you to submit your projects as part of the open call for the VR/AR Laboratory of the Visual Narratives Lab at PWSFTviT for 2020.

Studio management:

Pola Borkiewicz, pborkiewicz@vnlab.org
Jacek Nag?owski, jnaglowski@vnlab.org

S3D Studio

The workshop aims to explore the artistic and dramaturgical possibilities of registering stereoscopic images in “stop motion” techniques. Activities will include a series of innovative experiments aimed at exploring and expanding the cinematic language dedicated to stop-motion animation in the context of the third dimension. As part of the four-year research program, an animated (puppet) short film and a textbook focusing on stereoscopic techniques and systematizing the possibilities and difficulties associated with stereoscopy will be produced. The studio will hold competitions for both artists interested in participating in the research project, as well as producers, institutions and universities wishing to realize S3D projects under the auspices of the studio.

Studio Manager:

Piotr Matysiak, pmatysiak@vnlab.org

The Perception and Audience Research Laboratory

The Audience Perception and Research Laboratory will carry out research on participants and creators of culture and other entities of the creative sector (CCI). A special research group will be the youngest viewers and the content created for them (especially animated films). The subject of the research focuses on the significance of new media both in the processes of creation, promotion and distribution, as well as participation in visual culture in its broadest sense. In addition to research using classical methods of identifying the processes of cultural reception, we will use research entering the field of neuroscience (including neuroaesthetics), based among others on ophthalmographic (eyetracking) or biometric emotion research (face reading and GSR). We will try to find answers to questions bothering both researchers and artists: how the processes of cultural reception take place and what are their conditions.

The studio will provide research support to all other Laboratories, and from 2020 will announce a call for two additional research projects concerning the film sector.

Studio manager:

Anna Zarychta, azarychta@vnlab.org

Live Experiences Laboratory

In the Live Experience Studio we carry out research projects: A system for immersive recording of “live VR” events and New forms of performing arts. Their aim is to explore new technologies as a means of communication – creating an immersive stage experience. By attempting to record musical performances, plays and performances in VR technology in order to find an appropriate way to narrate music and peri-theatrical practices, musical and stage experiences will be created that allow the audience to participate in the event in a full and attractive way.

Studio Manager:

Dariusz Kaminski, dkaminski@vnlab.org

Projects

System for immersive recording of live VR events

The aim of the project is to explore new technology as a medium – creating an immersive concert experience. As part of the project, “live VR” registrations of musical works in various casts will be created to test exactly how the setting of cameras and microphones affects the narrative of the transmission and how it affects the reception of the work. All of the material developed will be subjected to audience research at screenings specially prepared for the occasion. It is on the basis of this data and consultations with specialists that shortcomings will be verified and a “live VR” event recording system will be developed, which will allow to create a situation of presence in the concert hall in the full sense of the word – both in terms of sound and visuals.

Project Manager: Joanna Dobrza?ska, jdobrzanska@vnlab.org

New forms of performing arts

The project focuses on narrations that arise from a combination of modern means of artistic expression (including technological tools) and forms derived from the tradition of theatrical areas of exploration with dominant actions of an acting nature. As a result of the studio’s activities, a space will be created to activate the university community in the area of performance art with the intention of creating a new space for making public not only artistic but also scientific works.
The main assumption of this project is to examine the process of creating an authorial performance/performance that intensively explores the ideas of performing arts and (in the aesthetic layer) other fields of art, whose common denominator will be a specific thematic and emotional range. The studio is also the development of the Kampus projects and the Film School’s YouTube channel.

Coordinator of the studio: Waclaw Mik?aszewski, wmiklaszewski@vnlab.org