Fri 4.9. 2:00 PM – 5:00 Uhr

Brucknerhaus, History Stage

“V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media“ is an interdisciplinary center for art and media technology in Rotterdam (the Netherlands). “V2_Lab” is a place for artistic research and development (aRt&D) where generic technical solutions are developed that are relevant to the fields of art and culture and made available under open-source licenses whenever possible.

Selected for the 2009 summer residencies were artists Tarik Barri, Melissa Coleman and David de Buyser, who developed projects in the fields of, respectively, augmented reality, wearable technology, and interactive organic environments. “Test_Lab: Summer Sessions” presents the outcomes of the residencies.

The presentation as well as the public testing of the artworks will lead up to a discussion of the role of media labs today in the presence of experts and representatives from other international labs.

Tarik Barri (NL) is an audiovisual composer. Through revolutionary new audiovisual composition methods realized with self-made computer software, Tarik aims to discover new synergies and aesthetics in the combination of image and sound.

Melissa Coleman (NL) is a software-engineer at the AR+RFID Lab, teacher of DIY electronics and web-developer at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague. Melissa’s work focuses on the relationship between the body and technology. Her key interests are in the performative body, electronic sense augmentation and e-fashion.

David de Buyser (BE) established many collaborations with other musicians and sound artists, but also with artists from fine arts and theatre. During this time his art slowly evolved from composition for live performances into performative installation art.

Boris Debackere (BE) is lab manager of V2_. As a media artist his most recent work and research are concentrated on translating and transforming the cinema concept into other forms like live cinema performances and audiovisual installations.

Michel van Dartel (NL) is a curator and project manager at V2. He is involved in a variety of artistic R&D (aRt&D) projects and coordinates V2_ public events, in particular Test_Lab; Michel has taught various cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence courses in the past, and currently lectures and publishes on aRt&D.

Jan Misker (NL) is responsible for managing projects for V2_ that have a strong technological and/or scientific aspect—for example, projects involving wearable technology and augmented reality. Jan holds an MSc in Cognitive Science and Engineering.

Piem Wirtz (NL) is a project manager at V2_Lab. Her main interest is in wearable technology projects, in which she is not only involved from a management perspective but also in the hands-on production of artworks. Piem holds a MSc in Industrial Design Engineering.

Thomas Munz (DE) is senior curator at V2_ and publications editor in the field of digital media and art. In his curatorial work he is focusing on the cultural and political implications of contemporary media on present-day society.

Simon de Bakker (NL) works as a software and hardware engineer at the V2_lab and is exploring the fields of embedded technologies, smart textiles and soft-sensor design. He holds a BSc in Interaction Design and an MA in Interactive Multi-Media from the School for the Arts Utrecht.

Jelle van de Ster (NL) studied Design for Virtual Theatre and Games (2003) and Media Technology (2005). He joined V2_ in 2006 and is mainly involved in developing software and tools for artists and artworks. He works on 3D graphics, augmented reality and machine vision software.