On the first evening of my second trip to Switzerland back in 2007 Boris and I hopped into his little red car and drove to the picturesque city of Lausanne to see an audio visual performance by a duo called ‘Dynamo.’ A violinist and visualist dressed in white clothing stood on a stage in a small lounge like theater. There were two projectors aimed at the violinist. One, the traditional back backdrop projection and the second, smaller situated off stage left.

As the visualist was using modul8 he was able to manage both this ‘foreground’ image and the backdrop image simultaneously. As he was aware that this secondary projection upon the violinist would produce a shadow he used the grid function of the transformer FX combined with a live camera feed of the violinist to produce a faint feedback that augmented the existing shadow. Smartly this effect was not used throughout the entire performance. To be seen was footage of industrial machinery and factories in dark settings that complimented the electronically augmented sounds of the violin and electronic music sequences that was the accompaniment.

I would later be introduced to Nicholas Wintsch who was the collaborator with the violinist Patricia Bosshard. Based on their performance they were invited to perform in the 2007 edition of the Mapping Festival.

Later I would meet with Nicholas during my frequent visits to Switzerland where I learned that he is a partner in a graphic design firm called motiongraphics.ch. While the name may imply simply video and graphics for commercials and promotional use the projects of motiongraphics.ch demonstrate a departure from this narrow view. In fact the partnership of Nicholas Wintsch, Jean Pierre Fonjallaz,
jean-pierre kazemi began as a motion graphics company. However with time the appetites of both motiongraphics.ch and their clients started to change as tools like projectors and modul8 started to take them away from creating graphics in a 4:3 format and into the realm of events in architecture. Because of this they are able to strike a balance with projects that are both fun and monetarily rewarding.

Examples of their approach: The Paleo Festival in the outskirts of Nyon, Switzerland is one of the largest outdoor music and cultural festivals in Switzerland. In 2007 motiongraphics.ch a public awareness installation for Romande Energie called THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL, an installation in one of the central grounds of the vast encampment of stages and concessions. The installation consisted of a circular screen situated on top of four trusses that allowed the public to walk around and under the circular screen. Projections containing google earth zooms and recordings of a camera attached to a balloon that was was anchored to the installation provided the public with a sense of orientation to the world around them.

Another project of interest ‘THE SWIMMING POOL’ where motiographics.ch was asked to create a special permanent video installation for an indoor pool in collaboration with Adeli & de Rham interior architecture & design LTD. The challenge here is quite different from that of the BASTIONS as it does not need to be informative and but contemplative.

Most recently motiongraphics.ch called upon the skills of the GarageCUBE team to create an installation in the BASTIONS University’s main entrance hall in the center of Geneva. Consisting of three large projectors, one in each arm of the hall, the installation will be in place for the next two years. The system required a custom solution where content could be sent to modul8 via a server. Additionally a webcam link to the site was created so that the person uploading and changing the graphics could see the results instantly. The project has received its start as a method for the press service of the school to keep the public aware of its activities as well as act provide a canvas for motiongraphics.ch to explore the bathing the classical architecture. In the most recent scenario it was the desire to bring some vegetation into the space. motiongraphics.ch created compositions using photographs of vegetation.

Being that this installation will be in place for the next two years motiongraphics.ch hard at work on other approaches for the space. For them this is an extraordinary opportunity to be able to work with a space in the long term.

I recommend browsing around the site for video footage of the projects described above and to see some of their other projects that I have not mentioned here. Despite the fact that all of it is written in French the images provided speak volumes that words cannot provide.

As you may know this years Mapping Festival will feature outdoor projections. As it so happens Dynamo will return to the Mapping this year with a performance project that will take place on the exterior of the Usine. I do not know too many details other then something relating to Patricia playing violin in a harness. Combine that with some projections and that should definitely be an interesting image.