Intro Post- Die Wolke

 

Δ-topia  (pronounced Delta-topia) will be a solo contemporary dance and sonic arts performance that will use sensor interfaces to facilitate the electronic interaction between movement and sound, by measuring certain attributes of motion in realtime. The sounds will be recordings of original textual statements on the piece’s subject matter, that will be captured through interviews with other artists during the creative process. On stage, we will use the motion data to modulate, resequence, or otherwise distort them. The resulting displacements, perceived on a semantic (textual) and aural level simultaneously, create the tensions, densities, and perceptual abstractions, around which a time-based performance piece can be constructed. The balance between the conceptual statement and the musicality, so to speak, of the soundfield, will be top priority. The title refers to the distance or difference (the delta) between places.

Die Wolke Art Group is a non-profit research and development organisation dedicated to the performing arts, contemporary dance, video art, mixed media and associated technologies. Based in Thessaloniki, Greece, it is comprised by a rotating and ever-expanding cast of individual artists and technicians. Its chief aim is the research and production of outside-the-box multidisciplinary art, as well as the support of local artistic activity, through promotional events and collaborations. “Die Wolke” means “the cloud” in German. Website: die-wolke.org

There will be four of us working on this project:

Drosia Triantaki is the group’s principal performer and choreographer. She is a Folkwang Universität der Künste graduate, and also Die Wolke’s founder and art director.

Dani Joss is a sound artist, composer, computer programmer, and general purpose tech person. He curates many of Die Wolke’s projects, including the performance programme at Vitruvian Thing, the group’s venue. More about him can be found at danijoss.com.

Alfonso De Grandis is also a sound artist and sound designer. He is a frequent Die Wolke collaborator, mostly working remotely from his London-based studio. He and Dani are also known as Paradigm Weave, a sound arts collective that primarily does installation work. paradigmweave.com.

Ioannis Perisoratis is an architect and electronics technician. He operates a materials and programming laboratory. His affiliation with Die Wolke sees him being in charge of electronic hardware, as well as sets, 3D printing for costumes, and more. creativecoding.gr

The development of the piece will take around 8 weeks, beginning now and lasting all the way until the festival (allowing some extra time for corrections and unforeseen circumstances). We will be posting updates on roughly a weekly basis, alternating among the following subjects:

1. Interviews and source material
2. Choreography and Performance
3. Sound design
4. Sensor design
5. Interactive programming

Of course, most of this work will be done concurrently by the different members, so each post will focus on one subject but also include minor updates for the others. We will be using video, images, sound, and text, as appropriate. In November, where everything will come together, the posts will include rehearsal abstracts.

We look forward to working with the Buffer Fringe team towards the realisation of this piece!