In 1997 the first Media Lounge, began on a humble, DIY, underground note. With minimal means and maximum effort the organizers sowed the seeds of the subsequent installments. This inaugural event was born under the daylight and scorching heat that accompanied it. The following year the Media Lounge assumed its role as a temporary autonomous zone by fusing the bright light of day with the intriguing shadows of the night - a chiaroscuro smorgasbord of the digital variety. This year's equally successful event, took a different direction in choosing to wrap itself in the cloak of the night. A choice that both contributed to its originality, but which also slightly dampened its appeal for the more daylight oriented public.
Overall the fifty works (installations, CD-ROMs, performances, web sites) provided a compelling crosscut of the creative application of new media. Two prominent threads ran through the broad array of works shown. The first focused on the renewed dialogue between image and sound, a dialogue in which the inherited dominance of the image over sound is squarely being questioned; while the second examined the variety of interface experiences, both past and present. Among the works that most poignantly addressed the sound image dialogue were : Berlin Atmosphere, Sound Polaroids 2, Soundpicture III.
In Atmosphere from Berlin , the DJ's, hailing from the Berlin Chain Reaction label, delivered a highly textured, minimalist and superbly crafted aural sculpture. Here the visually evocative music clearly spoke louder than the video projections which merely danced along. Another performance in which sound dominated image was the much awaited Sound Polaroids, by Scanner and Tonne. This piece proved to less evocative and engaging than one might have expected from its verbal description in the catalogue . Scanner's aural explorations were intriguing and tight, but they failed to establish a coherent connection with the images concocted by his partner Tonne. Supposedly a sampling of the Montreal imagescape, the processed polaroid snapshots were unimaginative and static. The dialogue between sound and image took on a more balanced form in Soundpicture III by Locust. This sampled video performance fused sounds and images in an innovative and eloquent manner. Using an image palette of familiar faces and sounds from the collective data base of pop music, this performance intelligently played sound off image and image off sound, without one or the other getting the upper hand. Regardless of the high gloss aspect of this work, it was definitely one of the most appealing and cohesive pieces showcased in the festival's new media section.
Among the interface based works there were two apparent approaches: one which treated the subject as artifact and apparatus and the other which explored it as dynamic process. The installation Vinyl Video, by Gebhard Sengmüller, is a remarkably clever media archeology device, whereby video is played back on a record player that transmits the sound and image information to a black and white TV set. Ironically this retro-futuristic interface installation suffered a technical breakdown during the last days of the festival. Two other works that also questioned the spectator's relation to interfaces were - Drive by Jordan Crandall - a video installation in which motion tracking software is targeted on an actor and urban spaces, producing an unusual visual dissonance - and Remember When We Thought Television was Flat and the Center of the Universe by Franklin Joyce and Gerald Tsutakawa - an installation which multiplies and exposes the conventions behind our everyday acceptance of projection apparatuses and screens.
As for the process based interface three works captured my attention: OSS****, Farmers Manual and Reality Dub. OSS**** by JODI, is dynamic, schizophrenic and mind twisting interface installation that interrogates our relationship to "transparent" code or anything that wears the tag "user friendly". Always a refreshing wake-me-up of the indecipherable sort.. The performance by the extraordinarily non-communicative Farmers Manual , drove their digital tractors across similar ground. Equipped only with their laptops, these elusive post millennial farmers' boys served up bizarre crop of a performance. Delving into the midst of the internet's info-subsoil, the piece consisted of an inexorable interweaving of software manipulated sounds, images, text and any other digital creature that came their way. Relentless and without the slightest regard for the live audience (unless they too dared to sow some software seeds) the performance stretched and bent the human attention span beyond the bearable - interface madness. Another revelation during the festival was Reality Dub, by Cecile Babiole and Fred Bigot. This performance/installation in fact simulated a sort of virtual reality experience through low-tech means. The spectators entered a mini-van and were driven through the streets of Montreal. Their perception of the outside world was filtered through an audio-visual periscope (a video camera mounted on top of the van and two monitors inside) The images and sounds processed by the artists in real time contrasted with one's sense of motion and orientation resulting in a truly "systematic derangement of the senses" (Rimbaud) - synesthesia city !.
This year's Media Lounge atmosphere was deliberately minimalist and bare boned. . Of particular interest were the recycled industrial and retro objects both in the lounge bar and the main room. As intriguing as the atmosphere was, it must be noted that the public was promised "a decor that will evolve daily " As a daily and nightly stalker of the space I kept my eyes peeled for this evolving decor, expecting a build up from the minimalist beginning to an increasingly charged atmosphere. Naught, except for some subtle changes in the lighting. Also, the endless nighttime ambiance was not always conducive to social exchange between invited artists and local public alike. That being said, the atmosphere did rise to the occasion when it came to the highly popular performances and night cap events. Nine nights of night caps though maybe perhaps be stretching it just a little - less would certainly be more here.
Despite some of these minor shortcomings, this year's new media section made it more than clear that this event has come into its own and is here to stay. This third year was also a moment to take stock of how the event has evolved and how it will continue to so. One would also hope that the FCMM would provide a venue to see and hear new media works beyond the ten days of the festival. This applies more particularly to works which demand more viewing time such as the CD-ROM's and DVD's, works which I did not comment upon here, since I did not have the time to view them all with the attention that they merit..
Bernard Schütze
