Rarely ever, a visual artist had so much visual impact on an electronic music scene as Cote. The Bukarest-based visual artist uses space and three dimensional objects as the visual starting point to deconstruct reality as we know it. Leaving little trace on your stream of consciousness while completely altering it, he is working himself through a multi-layered universe, managing to pan in and out of CAD-inspired microcosmic with ease and eclecticism while also having a solid theoretical backup to explain what he is on (about). Touring with the Romanian nuschool, Cote’s art is closely linked to their music whilst also creating an outerworldly experience that goes beyond the limitations of ambientation of conventional electronic music party formats.
This is why he is making up the visual backbone of intrinsic, a London based organisation that seeks to push the boundaries of experimentation into unknown territories. Challenging the artists – be it musician or visual artist – to freely explore his or her own limits of what is possible, it leaves the artist as well as the audience in a real time experiment the outcome and result of which is unknown. MEOKO is embracing such creative endeavour with vigour which is why we managed to connect with Cote on a higher level. Riding a train of thought into hyperspace, we managed to catch up with him between the lines to talk about ideas, inspiration, and even the future.
Hey, how do you feel, and what are you up to right now?
Hi, I am and feel at home, replying to our discussion from before. Thank you for your interest by the way.
Your art is related to the dance scene of now, especially in Romania. How did you and your art become linked to DJs and their art?
By twiddling with architectural renderings on sleepless mornings in the early 2000s.
You said that if the music is not working, the visuals are not working. How come the two are so intertwined for you?
People come for the music, projections are nice-to-have.
Have you ever made visual art without sound, i.e. some installation in a gallery?
Yes, the 'Nadia slides' with Vlad Nanca went from gallery to a psychodiagnosis-thru-art collection
And 'Pingtime', as a part of the gamefication movement.
Nadia, found slides. A collaboration with Vlad Nanca
You talked about your contextual approach - what does this mean and how does this relate to other approaches?
It has to do with site-specific setups, the content is not the same everywhere. The room you find yourself in becomes part of the message. It is the same for most DJs.
Tell me about the spaces that you use, what is a good criteria for you to work?
Going out of the frame is something that is not new, to projections it makes the content more immersive. Also, constructing your own frames is a possibility, a physical framework that you will interact with.
[a:rpia:r] at Sunwaves
How is the technical aspect of your work? What is the minimum setup you need? What is absolute necessary to consider when working?
Technical production does help but it can also be a diy setup. Visuals feel different from different perspectives.
What is your dream space for you to work in?
I am looking forward for actual hologram technology to emerge.
How do you make use of CAD-inspired projections, are they like backbones of your structure?
When you unfold the projection inside of the virtual canvas, you make a map of the room and it looks like a CAD drawing. It comes with a bit of rigour.
Tell me about real-time as opposed to pre-rendering.
It is like comparing a video-game to a movie: with the first one, you can act back on the fly. And maybe you miss out on other things.
Cezar at SNRS48
Lets talk about content, you said you are free of politics in your visuals?
Yes, but I have used references for creating dramatic effects, adding tension.
Where does your search for harmony come from as opposed to "breaking stuff"?
For me personally, it has to do with the programming approach to making visuals. Structure just makes more sense if you go that way. There is nevertheless a polished feeling to what comes out of my Romanian surroundings. Probably there is less critique at the moment, and more (naive?) enthusiasm.
You are an architect by formation, how did you discover the possibility to become a VJ? Who or what showed you your first steps?
I have been in a long term cycle of ideas between physical and virtual realms : Early 90s computers were to me a continuation of childhood drawing. Late 90s, the ease of bringing out form into the physical world via print/light pixels. Doing CAD studies in the early 00s was simulating the physical world back into the computer.Since 2006, i have used vvvv for programming things back into the real world.
What is vvvv?
vvvv is a visual programming platform for prototyping things related to multimedia. It has been my trusted technical companion for 9 years now. I encourage everybody to give it a shot.
Pingtime, a collaboration with the Time crew
Who was the first DJ or producer you started to work with, how did this come about and how was your approach back then?
I have done little producer-centric work to this day. I first got to play in 2005 for Synthplants, a soundsystem from in and around Bucharest. At that time I used takeouts from movies more than anything else. In the lapse of time they have dissolved to more abstract ideas.
Tell me about Videogram, your collective?
Videogram started out in 2008 as a permanent collaboration with Silviu Visan (Dreamrec) and Florin Iscru. A mix of people with different approaches to putting content into scenery: television, graphic design and architecture. It has been a most influential time for me, learning a lot on many levels. During the last four years, group activity has faded, making room for individual work. Sometimes we do team up on a project-base.
[a:rpia:r] at Sinaia Casino, a collaboration with Dreamrec, as Videogram
You also made interactive stuff like Pingtime, an augmented pingpong game, do you have any more "cute" side projects?
At the moment, I hand-trace railroads in Google Earth.
What kind of journey would you like to take one day?
We seem on a journey all the time.
How do you imagine the future?
In short term, crowdfunding-style. In long term, understanding of mechanics beyond our physical realm.
Your art is perfect for brands to claw onto to drink up your your essence and sell it as a package with their product. How do you feel about this danger?
I think art-brands-claw-drink-essence-package sounds a bit biased. There are places where interests of party goers and sales people meet. So I sometimes get invited to play by the latter, too.
You said delay gives opportunity for a retake, some more individual reinterpretation of history. Why?
Socio-economics propagate slowly over physical distances. So if you travel from one country to another it is sometimes like a time-journey. So think about what you would change if you could travel in time..
When you go to other places, how do you feel your work is received outside your originating scene?
I try to address sensibilities that cross social affiliation.
Did you already work with DJs and artists or organisations that are not from Romania?
I have worked with some people from both the club and the media-arts scene from Europe.
Is there a local reference in your work?
Not so much a reference, but the local music culture has been a vehicle for my work.
Praslesh at NextWave
Why is it important for your art - and for you? - to have a set change organically rather than a narration?
I program part of a set in realtime, so I prefer longer sets because there is room for evolving something, taking it apart or maybe loosing it and having to rebuild. Sometimes I change little of what is in the beginning.
Is growth change? Isn't that a narration to? Is any train of thought or workflow a narration?
Perceiving may be quite instant. It is its verbal description that extends in time, and may become a narration.
Are there also ruptures or would this also create a disharmonic element?
I do use moments of rupture. Sometimes they come from a technical breakdown. For rupture/disharmony you need to arrange proper flow and harmony. I rather struggle with that.
I saw an image of a black cat floating in the reel, how did this come about? With so much absence of pictorial imagery in your art, this stood out as either symbolic or total absence of meaning, pictogram dada.... What would you say?
I think they were bubbles of meaning, required in a larger abstract composition.
And maybe the shape or the meme quality.
You said your art moves on a bodily level, what about the mental level, you want to create a zen state by letting it rest?
things you still use if you would boot your mind in safe mode. it is an act of retrieval.
Sunwaves Minus night
How is the development of the next stage coming along, you said you want to move towards more simplicity?
I sometimes use too many graphical layers, I hide between them. More articulation would draw from graphical design and conceptual art, so that is something to look into more carefully.
Who or what inspires you, in which way?
Everything between natural processes and the directions of the people around me.
Regarding inspiration, i have two more points to make: I try to reverse-engineer a process that I like. And I can get carried away with programming the visuals.
How does one manage to be more expressive?
Letting go of many things.
How was working with Afumati at Intrinsic? Have you worked with them before? How did these musicians have, if at all, any influence on your visuals?
Afumati is a side project of Cezar and Praslea where they play a more atmospheric set. This was an opportunity for less drama and more contemplation, so we looked into the complexity of self mirroring materials.
Afumati at Intrinsic
What were the challenges at Intrinsic?
Addressing a different crowd felt like a challenge, luckyly that went well.
How will working with the other artists will be, e/tape and Gyorgy? Will you prepare something special connected to their music or will you exclusively flow in real-time with them - and they with you?
e/tape is a kindred soul and I have known him for years, I listen to his sound montages sometimes and i feel that they come in a more naturalistic approach then what i am used to, usually. In terms of preparation, when I get to return to a place/happening, I tend to continue where I feel I have left last time. As for a feedback from visual to music, I have not experienced this, but it sounds nice.
What is Intrinsic for you?
it is a more personal platform, where you dance away in your mind.
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Words by Katrin Richter
Valeriu Catalineanu, link is http://www.catalineanu.ro
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