For its second year in festival mode, the Society for Technological Arts (SAT) will screen around thirty immersive short films from around ten countries in its newly renovated dome. An increasingly tough competition, which will bring together many Montreal artists, including Lydia Yakonowsky.
A lot has flowed under the bridges of digital and multimedia arts since the beginnings of the SAT Fest in 2012. Of the few rare films submitted shortly after the inauguration of the Satosphere, the almost confidential Montreal festival has little gradually democratized and gained popularity.
“There are more and more artists who are interested in this format,” says SAT Fest programming manager Mourad Bennacer, “and people who come to see their works. Access to tools and production has become much more democratized. The development of video game tools has also allowed more artists to experiment with these worlds. »
The selected works were received following a call for projects, several of them having been screened in dome festivals, specifies Mourad Bennacer, who mentions Fulldome UK, in England, Jena Festival in Berlin and the Dome Under in Australia.
In total, 93 film proposals were received. Of this number, around thirty were selected for the competition – ten of which were signed by Quebec creators. Artists from animated cinema, digital or multimedia arts, virtual reality, music and VJing.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Visual artist Lydia Yakonowsky and Mourad Bennacer, SAT Fest programming manager
Among them, we find Interrupted trajectories and other transient imbalance models, by Montrealer Lydia Yakonowsky. Economist and multimedia artist, but also VJ in electronic music events – Mutek, Igloofest, SAT –, she uses economic graphics to create immersive visual works.
“In economics, we work a lot on forecasting models, but often, there are external elements which mean that the forecasts must be revised or recalculated because they are erroneous,” explains the artist.
It can also translate into life trajectories, which for all kinds of reasons, like illness or bereavement, make us deviate from our trajectory, make us spiral… So I used these graphic elements to create the world of the film.
Lydia Yakonowsky, multimedia artist
The visuals were created to the music of Polish composer Wojciech Golczewski. “It’s music that helps me tell my story,” says the multimedia artist.
Trailer for Interrupted trajectories and other transient imbalance models (2024)
“Mathematical lace”
Lydia Yakonowsky began exploring these graphic elements around twenty years ago in visual arts classes – grids, graphic lines, curves, etc. –, but it was really by working as a VJ on the electronic scene, from 2010, that the artistic metamorphosis of this economic vocabulary truly took place.
“I discovered software that allowed me to make generative visuals in real time and I found it to be a very mathematical way of making art. I realized it worked really well, she says. It’s a universe where you feel like you’re floating in a world of mathematical lace. »
Excerpt from the film Introduction to econometricsby Lydia Yakonowsky
In 2022, his first film in fulldome format was presented at SAT Fest: Introduction to econometricsfor which she received a special mention from the jury.
“Econometrics refers to a set of economic forecasts where different hypotheses are tested,” explains Lydia Yakonowsky. We think about the impacts that certain elements can have on others. On a creative level, I tried to create an experience where we explore a curve in a mathematical world, a curve that gradually frees itself from its grid. It was like an economist’s fever dream, with shimmering colors. »
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Mourad Bennacer, responsible for programming SAT Fest
Mourad Bennacer speaks of a great “discovery” when discussing the work of Lydia Yakonowsky.
She draws inspiration from her practice to visualize economic concepts, but the result is very lively, very colorful, very organic. We were able to see his work as a VJ at SAT last week and we saw how it spoke to a lot of people. I also think that there is a certain maturity in this artist, so she is someone to watch.
Mourad Bennacer, responsible for programming SAT Fest
Immersive films lasting 2 to 10 minutes are grouped by categories. Every evening, around ten films will be screened in the dome.
“The first block is very much inspired by reality, which includes real shots and manipulations inherited from video,” explains Mourad Bennacer. In the second block, we work a lot more on the animation, which comes to us from the community of creative coding. The third block has a science fiction coloring, artists who often come from the world of video games. »
The SAT dome was renovated after several months of work. The broadcast system of eight laser projectors has been upgraded, while the sound system has been improved with a total of 93 speakers distributed throughout the dome. Along with the Planetarium, the SAT dome has one of only two spherical screens in Montreal.
The jury made up of five artists and industry experts will award six prizes, in addition to a special mention. A compilation of the awarded works will be broadcast the following week, from March 27 until May 4.
SAT Fest, March 21 to 24 at the Société des arts technologies de Montréal (SAT).
Visit the SAT Fest page