a project by Andrea Mi
in collaboration with Intooitiv

City Mix is a journey among the 'hot-spots' of contemporary electronic creativity. It is a journey among those cities that by nature and vocation have become artistic hotspots: the dynamic hubs of a map in constant expansion. In the ever-growing panorama of multi-media electronic techniques, some cities seem more capable of grasping, motivating and giving space to the productive energy that unites experimentation and high quality production.
The voyage had to begin in Florence, in whose underground new energies and projects are moving, capable of renewing the legacy of the pioneers Pankow and Alexander Robotnik.  Next it passes by Amsterdam and its kindred spirits, stops off with the rapid advances of Bucharest and Frankfurt in the east, moves onto the fervid activity of an ever-more global Barcelona, and returns south as always to a bewitching and absolutely up-to-date Istanbul.  The journey finishes in the city that has done more than any other to build the European electronic landscape: Berlin.... To watch the sky above and the music beneath.

City Mix  > BARCELONA / SAO PAULO

The Catalan city is now considered to be the European capital of avant-garde music, especially in light of established festivals like Sonar and Primavera, which have brought the top figures of the international avant-garde to the city for years.  They have been placed alongside the local scene, in an electronic landscape that combines the vivid colour of electronic experimentation with the visual exploration of the new generation of artists. There are many links to the Brazilian city, rooted over in a tight network of exchange and artistic residences, amongst which the all-female Pixelbirds' project ranks as one of the most significant.

Pixelbirds_mixed media live
Pixelbirds is a collective of visual artists and designers, comprising Alex Zitzman and Silvana Catazine, young Brazilians transplanted to Barcelona. Working with video animation and real-time mixing, the group experiments with expanded cinema techniques, which produce new audio-visual experiences. Their live performances have been hosted by major Spanish events including OFFF (International Festival of Digital Art and Electronic Music) and BAC (Contemporary Art Barcelona). A collaboration with Uh Wum gave rise to the project Naoko Songs, inspired by the novel Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami and focussed on the metropolitan perception of the audio-visual flux in which we are immersed every day.