"Live in Bruxelles" by 242.pilots

242.pilots were a live video improvisation group, active 2001-4. Comprising HC Gilje (Norway), Lukasz Lysakowski (Poland), Kurt Ralske (USA). On 20 February 2002 they performed with sound artist Justin Benett (UK/Netherlands) at Theatre Mercelis, Brussels. This was released on DVD as "Live in Brussels" (CarPark Records) and won the "Image" award at Transmediale 2003, Berlin. The jury statement:

The work is convincing above all in the play of collective live production, the presentation mode of large-scale image production, the contextualisation of live images in the scope of a contemporary image culture and the development of specific technological production tools as well as their distribution. The combined introduction of all of these "production strands" in the space of a collective process finally relativises the still prevalent myth of the image as a form of subjective and subject-centered activity. 242.pilots through their work, translate in a thoroughly convincing manner the multifarious aspects of image production under the conditions of digital, interactive and network-based media.



Utilizing their own custom software, 242.pilots expressively improvise rich, layered video works in real-time (both as a trio and as soloists). The performance software created by HC Gilje, Lukasz Lysakowski, and Kurt Ralske (formerly of 4AD group Ultra Vivid Scene and late 90s electronic outfit Cathars) allows video to be controlled on-the-fly in a direct and fluid manner. Improvising as a group, the three artists respond and interact with each other’s images in a subtle and intuitive way. Images are layered, contrasted, merged,and transformed. The degree of interplay and unspoken communication between the artists is akin the best free jazz ensembles. The end product is a complex visual conversation: a quasi-narrative exploring degrees of abstraction; a mesmerizing, immersive journey through diverse landscapes; or just raw retinal delight.

242.pilots have performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal, Tranmediale.02 Festival in Berlin, Impakt Festival in Utrecht (NL), Steim in Amsterdam, and Kunstlerhaus Dortmund (DE). They have also performed at other museums, galleries, and theaters in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, and USA.

refs:
artist website
Medien Kunst Netz
Car Park Records