From 17 to 20 September, Matadero Madrid will host the eighth edition of the L.E.V. (Visual Electronic Laboratory) Festival, an event devoted to electronic sound creation, digital art and extended realities. This year’s programme will bring together national and international artists who will explore the ties between the body, technology and the digital environment through installations, immersive experiences and live concerts.
L.E.V. Matadero will present a journey through some of the most stimulating examples of contemporary creation at the intersection between music, visual arts and digital technologies. National and international artists will propose new imagery through concerts, audiovisual performances, immersive installations, stage productions and XR experiences, in which the physical and the virtual, the human and the artificial and the intimate and the collective enter into dialogue to open up spaces for reflection, emotion and shared experiences.
The programme will kick off with the much awaited Spanish première of Last and First Men, the stage adaptation of the acclaimed experimental film by Jóhan Jóhannsson, inspired by the science fiction novel of the same name written by Olaf Stapledon (1930). The British Neon Dance company will transform the film’s imagery into a performance that combines 16mm film, contemporary dance, the voice of the multi-faceted artist, Tilda Swindon as the narrator and an embracing soundtrack by Jóhannsson and Yair Elazar Glotman to turn the stage into a powerful reflection on the future of mankind.
The second day will feature three references from contemporary sound creation. Suso Saiz, a key figure in Spanish experimental music, will give a free live performance in Plaza Matadero marked by guitars, textures and soundscapes. The Scottish composer, Drew McDowall will present an audiovisual show alongside the Portuguese film-maker, Pedro Maia, in which electro-acoustic composition and experimental film will converse in real time. Kyria Libia will be premièring her latest album, El Arrobamiento, which focuses on sacred music developed at the Centre for Artist Residencies (CRA) at Matadero Madrid, combining mysticism and electronic music.
Saturday 19 September will offer the Spanish presentation of Calligraton, the show by the Schnitt duo in collaboration with the Japanese calligrapher, Aoi Yamaguchi, in which ‘shodō’ art is brought to life on stage in a dialogue with experimental electronic music. The composer and digital artist, Milian Mori, will also be giving a live audiovisual performance on Saturday, featuring strobe visuals.
On the last day, the pianist and producer from New York, Kelly Moran will be returning to the festival to present her album Don’t Trust Mirrors, an introspective journey in which the prepared piano and synthesisers are the main feature. The programme will draw to a close with the Japanese artist NAO, who will première THE CLUSTERs in Spain, a performance that combines dance, robotics, sound and images in real time.
See Full Programme
lev_2206.png
