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STOCOS creates a space in which natural and artificial entities, sounds and visuals coexist and interrelate. It relies on stochastic processes and swarm simulations for the creation of dance movements, musical compositions and video imagery. A dense network of interactions among algorithms, dance, music and visuals establishes coherence, simultaneity and presence in the behavioral and aesthetic characteristics of the piece.

Tour Locations and Dates:

Festival Impulsos, Bogotá, Colombia. May 23 - June 2 2013
Modern Art Days, Bialystok, Poland. May 17 - May 24 2013
Spring Forward, Zurich, Switzerland. May 3 2013
Roma Europa Festival, Rome, Italy. November 17 2012
Palacio de Festivales de Santander, Santander, Spain. November 2 2012
Auditorio de Tenerife, Tenerife, Spain. From October 27 to November 1 2012
Dansa Valencia, Valencia, Spain. June 2 2012
Festival de Otoño en Primavera de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. May 17 and 18 2012
Hebel Halle, Heidelberg, Germany., April 28 and 29 2012
Beirut International Platform of Dance, Beirut, Lebanon. April 25 2012
Amman Contemporary Dance Festival, Amman, Jordan. April 22 2012
Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival, Ramallah, Palestine. April 19 2012
Auditorio del Palacio de Congresos de Huesca, Huesca, Spain. March 2 2012
Teatro Circo Murcia, Murcia, Spain. February 16 2012
Mercat de las Flors. Barcelona, Spain. October 15 and 16 2011
Temporada Alta, Gerona, Spain. October 8 2011

Summary

The project "Interactive Swarm Space" (ISS) explores the application of swarm simulations for the creation of interactive and immersive spaces. It aims to develop tools and strategies for establishing meaningful relationships between swarm behavior, interaction, perception, as well as musical and artistic expression. The project focuses on issues of multi-modal feedback and audio-visual spatialization which we deem central for a creative engagement with autonomous, self-organized and spatially distributed systems. This project is part of a research direction that explores the possibilities and challenges that artificial autonomous systems pose for artistic practice and performance. We believe that in order to exploit the artistic potential of such systems, novel forms of interactivity, creativity, and aesthetics need to be found. The project builds on research in the fields of New Media and Human Computer Interaction, such as the application of self-organized systems for the creation and synchronization of acoustic and visual feedback and expression, intuitive forms of interaction that attempt to bridge the gap between artificial systems and natural spaces, and differentiated forms of immersion which engage the audience on perceptual, emotional, social and intellectual levels. The project chooses swarm simulations as a flexible and evocative prototype of a self-organized, autonomous artificial system. Our research explores the artistic potential of swarm simulations by emphasizing issues of interaction, immersion and aesthetic expression.

The project is realized as a collaboration between the Intitute for Computer Music and Sound Technology of the Zurich University of the Arts (ICST) and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Zurich (AILab). It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF, Dore Section).

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