Double feature: Metaract + Iwakura

Metaract is an exploration of the duality between analog and digital. The artists' quest for meaning is revealed through the use of natural environments, employed as textures, colors and sounds in their creation, juxtaposed with digital elements.

The film features superimpositions of artificial sounds and fragments created using 3DCG (three-dimensional imaging) technology, intensifying the narrative composition. This artistic elaboration could not be achieved through the use of machines alone, but requires the combination of real and virtual world phenomena.

With Metaract, Sakamoto and Urano hope to stimulate the public's imagination and raise awareness of the joys of living in this "coexisting world".

Metaract is a project developed as part of SAT's research-creation residencies.

Rooted in Shinto mythology, Iwakura refers to the spirits that embody the sacred rock formations found throughout Japan. Iwakura reveals the creative strategies employed by visual artist Ali M. Demirel to critically integrate AI into his process. From super-resolution to image stitching and artificial slow motion, the prints presented illustrate the challenges, opportunities and funny accidents that AI brings to artistic activity.

By immersing the public in Demirel's organic visual material, collected in the Kumano region, cradle of Japanese spirituality, and Nagaya's meditative, ambient soundscapes, inspired by Zen-Buddhist prayer rituals, Iwakura offers a profound journey that makes us rediscover the sublime character of nature.

Iwakura was made possible by the 9th cycle of the Goethe-Institut's International Co-production Fund.