[ Sonom ] Live at Mapping Festival 09 from Sonom on Vimeo.

Somewhat recovered now from the intense glory that was the production of the 2009 edition of the Mapping Festival. It was quite a ride. A bit smoother then previous years yet still leaving me almost completely exhausted but fully inspired.

One of the continuing benefits of the connectedness of GarageCUBE/Modul8 and the Mapping Festival is how we get to meet people in person who are working with our software in interesting ways. One such project was the work of the Spain based Sonom. I had some contact with Borja Alexadandre prior to his invitation to the Mapping Festival. In fact just before the festival we received a video from him.

The Sonom installation/performance entitled ‘Symphonic lighthouse-phony’ was a tad tucked inside the Bac but worthwhile to those that made the effort to see both the performance and the resulting installation. The Sonom team consisted of four people including Borja. The center of the room was occupied by a tall, steel skeletal tower outfitted with a projector and a rotating mirror that acted like a light house but one that projects images. Additionally there was a 2nd static projector and a smoke machine that created the etherial atmosphere that was the light house. The result was that the space of the room was redefined into something akin to a native american hot tent minus the heat.

Another group previously covered on this blog and that I was happy to have had the chance to meet is the Stuttgart based Frischvergitung. The energetic duo really enjoyed every moment of the Mapping and the following is their own self documented tribute.

Frischvergiftung @ Mapping Festival ’09 from Frischvergiftung on Vimeo.

This same night was quite a deck of cards being the Kompakt night (featuring Chaton, Burger/Voight and Tobias Thomas) along with the refined visuals of the legendary Okinawa 69 and the seasoned Bruno Tait. Added to this was Geneva’s own Daschund and Superposition.

electric kettle vs sansculotte live at mapping festival 2009 from sans culotte on Vimeo.

On a less mainstream count the following Thursday featured the high powered punch of the Berlin based VJ duo Sans Culotte with the live Breakcore masher Electric Kettle.

I could go on about all of the little moments. If you have ever organized a festival you probably know how exhausting this can be. Staying up all night and then hopping on a train to nearby Lausanne to do a radio interview and then returning to Geneva to conduct a four hour modul8 workshop. But when you see all the people who come to have a good time and do just that, so happy with the results that they produce nice video clips that capture all those little moments, each in their own unique way? This is where it all comes together.