The Jury of International Contemporary and Video Art Festival’s “Waterpieces” competition for the best Baltic audio-visual art work has been selected.

This year submitted competition works will be evaluated by a professional and competent jury representing the three Baltic countries:

Mārtiņš Ratniks – Artist, Lecturer at Art Academy of Latvia [LV]

Irma Stanaityte – Artist, Video Lecturer at Vilnius Academy of Arts [LT]

Raivo Kelomees – artist, art critic and New Media Lecturer at Tallinn Academy of Arts [EST]

Still until June 30 is possible to enter the competition! Check here how to apply.

“International Contemporary and Video Art Festival WATERPIECES” promotes audio visual arts events in the Baltic countries for 12 years, representing not only the fresh material in moving image art, but also experiments in film making. In addition to the Baltic competition programme screenings festival offers contemporary art and film programs from all around the world.

You are invited to submit video works in for Baltic competition following this formal criteria:

- works are created within the last two years (not earlier than 2010);

- the author is from the Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia, or has been a resident in one of these countries for the past 2 years;

- work has subtitles in English or is accompanied by a translation of the dialogue, if dialogues are used;

- the following screening formats are accepted for the competition: 8mm, VHS(PAL), or avi. MPEG2,. mov or H264 format files at high quality;

- one author can submit maximum 3 works;

- application should be accompanied by a completed application form (the original, or a signed and scanned copy). Download application form here: doc file or pdf file

- brief author’s CV;

- 2 high-resolution images of the work;

- Submission deadline: 2012 June 30th (post stamp).

Competition entries can be submitted:

via e-mail: waterpieces.competition@noass.lv with the reference (subject field) “Waterpieces submissions for 2012″ title of submitted works.

via Internet, by using a server available to the applicant and sending us a link for downloading the file to e-mail waterpieces.competition@noass.lv

via post to address:

“Waterpieces 2012 competition”

Culture and Art Project NOASS

The 11 Novembra Krastmala – 35,

Riga, LV-1050,

Latvia

Additional information: +371 25926065, anna@noass.lv

Culture and Art Project NOASS

noass.lv/udensgabali

International Contemporary and Video Art Festival “WATERPIECES 2012” is organized by:

supported by:

Japan Media Arts Festival now are accepting entries on works for the 15th festival.

Application period: From Friday, July 15, 2011. Applications must arrive on or before Thursday, September 22, 2011.

Application form: Application website

Entry Divisions: Art, Entertainment, Animation, Manga

1. Art Division

• Artwork created with computers or other electronic devices.
• Interactive art, media installations, video works, digital photographs, graphic art, website works, etc.

2. Entertainment Division

• Entertainment created with computers or other electronic devices.
• Games (including web games and social network games), video works (music videos, publicity films including TV commercials, digital special effects videos), toys (including figures), character merchandise, website works (including advertisements, etc.), application software, etc.

3. Animation Division

• Theatrical animation.
• TV animation;
• Other original animation, animated short films, etc.

4. Manga Division

• Published in book form.
• Published in magazines (including works still being serialized).
• Produced independently and in small private magazines.
• Produced on websites (PC/mobile), etc.

Awards:

For each division, one Grand Prize, four Excellence Awards and three New Face Awards will be awarded on the basis of artistic quality and creativity. In addition, a Special Achievement Award will be awarded on the recommendation of the jury to a person or group having made a special contribution to media art in the four specified divisions.

Grand Prize: Certificate from Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Trophy - 600,000 Japanese Yen.

Excellence Award: Certificate from Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Trophy - 300,000 Japanese Yen.

New Face Award: Certificate from Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Trophy - 200,000 Japanese Yen.

Special Achievement Award: Certificate from Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Trophy. Jury Selection - Works considered to have special merit will be exhibited or screened along with the award-winning works at international media art and film festivals in Japan and elsewhere.

■ Awards Ceremony

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tokyo Midtown

■ Exhibition of Award-winning Works:

Wednesday, February 22 through Sunday, March 4, 2012

The National Art Center, Tokyo

Please visit the official website for more information. Official website: http://bunka-jmaf.jp/en

Special program from Japan Media Arts Festival will be shown at International contemporary and video art festival Waterpieces 2011 at September 8 and 10 at the Floating Art Centre Noass and Betanovuss, AB dam 2, Riga.

Wish you good luck,

Culture and Art’s Project NOASS team.

From 3-5 September, the 10th  International Contemporary and Video Art Festival “Waterpieces” took place on AB Dambis and the Betanovuss floating arts centre.

Over the years this festival has evolved from a small event attracting a narrow group of devotees to one of the most interesting and idiosyncratic events in the cultural life of Riga. And we were delighted that, in spite of the chilly autumnal weather, this year’s festival programme not only attracted its usual loyal fan base of video art lovers, but also proved to be a potent magnet for the artists themselves, art students, as well as curators from overseas, Rigans and visitors to the city.

More than 40 video works were submitted for the festival competition showcase not only from the Baltic States, but also from countries as far afield as Spain, the US and Indonesia. After a lively debate, the international jury comprised of Art Academy of Latvia lecturer Mārtiņš Ratniks (LV), Vilnius Art Academy video art lecturer Irma Stanaityte (LT) and Helen Tammemäe (EE) Editor in Chief of the arts magazine Müürileht concluded that the best ‘Waterpiece’ of 2010 was ‘In’, a work created by Lithuanian video artist Ieva Bernotaite. The artist herself describes her work as a “video performance that analyses the relationship between nature and culture.” This work was created with the assistance of a microphone with which Bernotaite conjured up a forest soundscape with a magical dexterity reminiscent of the twirl of a conductor’s baton.

In appreciation of her efforts, Irma Bernotaite was awarded the AB.LV Public Benefit Fund Prize of LVL 500 to go towards the creation of a new work of video art, as well as the Special Festival Grand Prix, a bronze ‘Waterpiece’ created by artist M. Zemītis.

We are also delighted by the fact that this year’s Top Three festival works were created by artists from all three Baltic States. A Merit Diploma was awarded to Estonian video artist Kristina Norman for her work ‘We Are Not Alone in the Universe’ which is the story of events that took place 15 years ago on a farm in Northern Estonia where a UFO was sighted. Latvian video artist Indriķis Ģelzis also received a recipient a Merit Diploma for his work “Inside/Outside” which the artist describes as follows, “We are all buried under some profession or experience. We disintegrate into ashes and are assimilated by earth, as a result of which, in becoming a tree or being mixed into concrete, we evolve into an object that shapes the surrounding environment. A carpenter becomes a table while a builder becomes part of a building. Communication goes on.”

Another award presented during the festival was the AB. LV Public Benefit Fund Special Favourite Prize, which was received by Edgars Lielzeltiņš for his work “Substitution – Gap”. The leitmotif chosen by the artist for his work was Robert Smithson’s idea that “The space between events can be called a gap. This gap exists in the form of voids which we never look at.”

Parallel to the festival programme, the premises of Culture and Arts Project NOASS also played host to a meeting of the ARTNET-Baltic-Nordic audio visual arts network which thanks to the support provided by the Nordic Culture Point attracted curators and artists from the Baltics and Scandinavia to Riga who came together to discuss the contemporary arts space in the Baltics and Nordic countries and the possibilities for its development and integration.

At the conclusion of the seminar it was concluded that as the centre point not only of the Baltics, but also that of the entire Baltic Sea region, Riga can become the city in which to represent the region’s contemporary culture trends through the organisation of similar meetings of this network on an annual basis. More detailed information about the Artnet network and its partners can be found at: http://artnet.noass.lv/

Waterpieces 2010, 3rd – 5th September:

ABOUT WATERPIECES 2010

International Contemporary and Video Art Festival Waterpieces is the only festival in the Baltic States which offers its audience unusual sounds, and performances delineated by movements and images whose unifying element is the moving image.

This year, the festival will celebrate its 10^th anniversary and to mark the occasion, a special celebratory program will be offered to the audience. Special anniversary fireflies will adorn AB dambis from 3^rd to 5^th September – projected by monitors simultaneously presenting a showcase of the all time best Waterpieces. Parallel to the best works from the previous festivals, audiences will have the chance to see a showcase of the Baltic States video art competition and enjoy the special selections of the world known video festivals and experimental film archives.

As has become the custom, the festival will also present overseas programs showcasing the latest trends in global video art including a selection of works from 13^th Japan’s media arts festival, Sweden’s art film and video archive Filmform, Oslo Screen festival, Finland’s interdisciplinary artists’ association MUU, and a program from the archive of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.

Since moving images have moved outside the confines of the TV screen with the advent of contemporary technology; this year’s anniversary festival will focus on works in which the medium of video is fused with other means of expression.

And, of course, honoring tradition, the winner of the festival’s Grand Prix will be awarded a special Waterpiece award. In addition, thanks to the generous support of AB.LV Sabiedriskā Labuma fonds, the artist who has created the year’s best work of Baltic video art will also receive a cash prize of LVL 500, as well as the chance to put on a personal exhibition during next year’s Waterpieces festival.

SUBMISSION OF WORKS FOR THE FESTIVAL COMPETITION

Submission of works for Baltic video art competition for festival “Waterpieces 2010″ is over!

Criteria for video works:

- Works must have been created during the past three years (no earlier than 2008) with subtitles in English or an accompanying translation of dialogue.

- The running time of a submitted work must not exceed 25 minutes.

- Additional information to be enclosed about the work: artist, title, year of production, and soundtrack.

- Works may be submitted on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM in the following formats: .avi, .DVavi, .mov, .mpg2, PAL, and DVD.

- Works must be submitted together with a completed  Waterpieces 2010 application form.

- Two high resolution images (of the work) must also be attached to the application form.

Video works for the Waterpieces showcase must be submitted no later than 1 August 2010,

Sent by post to:

Society “Culture and Arts Project NOASS”;

11. Novembra krastmala 35,

Rīga, LV-1050.

Or delivered in person to: “Culture and Arts Project NOASS” Office, AB Dambis 2, Rīga;

Alternatively, using an available FTP server, artists can also upload works for subsequent downloading, and e-mail the relevant details (user name, password, file name, etc.) to: kaspars.groshevs@gmail.com

If you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to call: 29567606, or write to: kaspars.groshevs@gmail.com

JURY

Helen Tammemäe – editor in chief of Müürileht magazine [EE]

Mārtiņš Ratniks – Artist, Lecturer at Art Academy of Latvia [LV]

Irma Stanaityte – Artist, Video Lecturer at Vilnius Academy of Arts [LT]

PROGRAM

Friday, September 3

21:00 Opening of the festival and exhibition “The Best of Waterpieces 2000 – 2010″

21:30 Program of the Baltic video art competition

23:00 Awarding of the best Baltic video work

23:30 Program from the archive of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (DE)

Saturday, September 4

21:00 MUU presentation (FIN)

21:30 MUU on the Catwalk: selection of Finnish video art (FIN)

22:30 Selection of the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival (JP)

00:00 Waterpieces’ 2010 International video art program

Sunday, September 5

21:30 Selection of the 2nd Oslo Screen festival (NO)

23:00 Selection of the Art film and video archive Filmform 2009 (SE)

A detailed description of the program >>

AWARDS

Grand Prix for the best Baltic video art work 2010 and cash price from AB.LV Public Benefit Foundation (LVL 500) goes to Ieva Bernotaite from Lithuania for her video work “in”.

Special Mention goes to Indriķis Ģelzis for video work “Iekšpuse/Ārpuse” (LV) and Kristina Norman for video work “We are not alone in the universe” (EE).

In program of Baltic video art competition included also video works:

Edgars Lielzeltiņš “Aizvietojums – atstarpe” (LV)

Jeļena Glazova “Re-Start” (LV)

Ieva Bratišiūte “Pats/Itself” (LT)

Laurynas Navidauskas “La Cucina Futurista” (LT/CAN)

Jeļena Glazova “Switch” (LV)

Saulius Leanovičius “The Bomb” (LT)

Aleksandra Samuļenkova “Nobīde” (LV)

Marija Linciute “Labas, Vilnius” (FR)

Paulius Gvildys “The Bond” (LT)

Sinda Kārkliņa “Parade” (LV/USA)

Pēteris Līdaka “Imaginary Planes” (LV)

Friday, September 3

21:00 Opening of the festival and exhibition “The Best of Waterpieces 2000 – 2010″

21:30 Program of the Baltic video art competition

23:00 Awarding of the best Baltic video work

23:30 Program from the archive of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (DE)

Saturday, September 4

21:00 MUU presentation (FIN)

21:30 MUU on the Catwalk: selection of Finnish video art (FIN)

22:30 Selection of the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival (JP)

00:00 Waterpieces’ 2010 International video art program

Sunday, September 5

21:30 Selection of the 2nd Oslo Screen festival (NO)

23:00 Selection of the Art film and video archive Filmform 2009 (SE)

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen is one of the major international crossroads for the short form, unique in the range of forms and genres it presents to the public, and particularly well known for its spotlight on experiments.

In short film, anything is possible: formally, content-wise, or aesthetically. Hard to pin down, extremely open – and for that reason endlessly fascinating – short film remains an inexhaustible reservoir from which cinema, television, Internet and even the museum cull new visual languages. Oberhausen’s competitions are equally open to artistic and cinematic trends, they are exhibitions as well as film programmes. The festival is always looking for works that defy tradition, that have the courage to try out something new.

Oberhausen stands for short distances, intensive discussions, sold-out theatres and plenty of opportunities to make contacts. The four competitions, featuring some 140 new films and videos from all around the world, attract television programme editors as well as curators, festival representatives and journalists.

Program from the archive of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen:

Pierce, Crush, Escape: Notes on the Boreal / Susan Turcot (CA)

10:00, 2008

Trees become animals, animals become people and people become trees in this experimental acoustic meditation on the environment. Turcot continues her abstract exploration of deforestation and its effects on animals, humans and the climate.

Prrrride / Sirah Foighel Brutmann, Eitan Efrat (NL/IL)

3:00 / 2008

A story of familiar human complexity. The relation between a mother and a son. Their relation towards compulsory military service.

Murphy / Bjorn Melhus (DE)

3:30, 2008

“Murphy” is a true abstract post-traumatic stress disorder.

Coal Spell / Sun Xun

7:30 / 2008

Inspired by an old five yuan RMB note, the artist gives an account of the rise and fall of Fuxin, an old industrial city located in northeastern China questioning both the notion of history and of power…

Contre-jour / Christoph Girardet, Matthias Muller (DE)

10:00 / 2009

The look with which we comprehend the world and which it casts back at us in response breaks up into disquieting fragments in “Contre-jour”. Blurs, flashes and stroboscope montages disintegrate reality into shadowy images that inflict pain on the eye.

The Sea Is a Stereo, Video Number 2, Paris Without a Sea / Mounira al Solh (LB)

13:00 / 2008

“The Sea is a Stereo” is an ongoing series of reflections on a group of men who swim everyday at the beach in Beirut no matter the circumstances: rain, wind, war… Even in this moment, the men might be swimming or preparing themselves to do so.

Fiction Follows Forms / Julia Oschatz (DE)

3:00 / 2008

In “Fiction Follows Forms” all the elements from the painter, filmmaker and designer are drowned together in a Beckett-like world. Things can get a bit absurd but they will, in one way or another, follow a form.

n.n. / Michel Klofkorn (DE)

11:00 / 2009

I don’t want to live like a dove in your Europe.

Ketamin – Hinter dem Licht / Carsten Aschmann (DE)

21:00, 2009

Driving through the mountains. The sounds of chords, beauty, art and death echo through the places and elements. The trip ends in the city of Venice which appears exhausted and deserted.

The Parable of the Tulip Painter and the Fly / Charlotte Pryce (USA)

4:00, 2008

An intoxicating flower; a metaphorical insect; a longing reach across the centuries. A philosophical search drenched in luminous colours and sparkling light.

The Artists’ Association MUU represents and promotes professional artists working across a wide range of disciplines in the fields of media and experimental arts. MUU was founded in 1987 out of the need for an association for artists’ working with video, performance, installations, environmental art, sound art etc. The Finnish word muu means “something else”. In August 2010, MUU has 550 artists members. MUU organises several important festivals and events: The Amorph! International Performance Art Festival has been arranged since the mid-1990s. The international performance art festival Performance2011 is part of next year’s European Capital of Culture project in Turku. The international sound art project Audio Autographs includes events, publications, seminars and workshops, with an online radio as its main meeting point. www.muu.fi/sounds

MUU on the Catwalk – A Selection of Finnish Video Art:

1.Jarno Harakkamäki: Making Something Out Of Nothing

2.Juan Kasari: Giving People the Run Around Helsinki

3.Juhani Koivumäki: Sin

4.Juha Mäki-Jussila: The Well

5.Hanna Ojamo: Rush

6.Olga Palomäki: Distortions

7.Pauliina Salminen: 8 Crossings

8.Mailis Saralehto Rekola: Le Podium – Deconstructing the Catwalk

9.Outi Sunila: Labyrinth

Total duration of the screening 40 min.

Curators Hannele Romppanen and Timo Soppela

Produced by Artists’ Association MUU, Finland

In co-operation with NOASS, Latvia

MUU on the Catwalk presents a selection of video works by members of the Artists’ Association MUU as part of the Waterpieces festival in Riga. The screenings are held in the floating art gallery Betanovuss on the AB dam. Video is the most prominent aspect of the field of experimental artforms on the new boundaries of visual art that has emerged around the MUU association. The nine very different Finnish artists featured in the festival are united by the medium of the moving image and an interest in humanity. The themes explored in the works cover different aspects of life and change, the relationship of the individual to the self and the environment, social alienation and the irrationality of existence. The approaches range from personal reflections to observations of social phenomena.

In Making Something Out of Nothing by Jarno Harakkamäki, a young man dressed in a black and wearing an eye mask talks about the meaning and meaninglessness of existence. In Giving People the Run Around Helsinki, Juan Kasari uses performative and conceptual video art to investigate the contemporary urban environment and human behaviour. The piece is made in collaboration with the American video and performance artist Lee Walton. Juhani Koivumäki’s Sin presents a situation that serves as a metaphor for our need to transcend our human boundaries. The piece resembles the story of Lot’s wife who turned into pillar of salt when she disobeyed the command not to look back.

The Well by Juha Mäki-Jussila is a bubbling plunge into the deep waters of the subconscious, from where forgotten memories rise to the surface. Hanna Ojamo’s Rush is a short film about industrialisation and its impact on people’s lives in post-war Europe. The film is the third part in a series based on black and white archive material. In Distortions, Olga Palomäki makes visible an experiential world dominated by irrational fear. The video is a journey into a disoriented, isolated and blocked mind.

In 8 crossings by Pauliina Salminen, a river divides the town of Guwahati in north-east India. On one bank is a village, on the other a city. A group of people shuttle between the two realities every day. Le Podium – Deconstructing the Catwalk by Mailis Saralehto Rekola combines decadence and transgression with the visual idiom of the catwalk. The central thematic of the piece is the continuous movement in fashion itself. In the video Labyrinth by Outi Sunila, two rats wander around a grey and dull labyrinth, searching for the impulse – an irritating sound that interrupts the routine and safe silence. Rats are not humans, even though they act very similarly.

The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997.

During the festival, awards are given in four categories: Art (formerly called Non-Interactive Digital Art), Entertainment (formerly called Interactive Art; including video games and websites), Animation, and Manga. Within each category, one Grand Prize, four Excellence Prizes, and (since 2002) one Encouragement Prize are awarded. These are sometimes also called Japan Media Arts Awards.

The 13th Japan Media Arts Festival Selection:

Hibi No Neiro (Tone of everyday) / Nakamura Magico, Nakamura Masayoshi, Kawamura Masashi, Hal Kirkland (JP/AU)

3:51, 2009

“What are the really important things for us in this world that is flooded with various senses of value?” The answer to this song-like question should be the same no matter how much our civilization has evolved. This music video was done by editing video materials shot with webcams by cooperating fans, and conveys to us the feeling of connecting with people.

Ogre You Asshole “Pinhole” / Monno Kazue, Nagata Takeshi (Tochka) (JP)

3:46, 2009

This music video portrays the members of OGRE YOU ASSHOLE having a picnic on a small planet. At the end of the day, they sing all night long and play instruments made of linear lights.

Towa Tei “Mind Wall (feat. Miho Hatori) / Nakamura Takeshi (JP)

4:00, 2009

Let’s get rid of barriers in our mind and set ourselves free; let’s stop thinking; let’s surrender ourselves to the natural flow of life, like being in a child’s dream.

The Last Piece (Chapter of Kyosuke Kijima) / Mizuno Takanobu (JP)

2:35, 2009

People in modern society have different problems of their own. The Last Piece depicts mysterious incidents that occur to people through a series of music videos. In the first episode, a NEET young man named KIJIMA Kyosuke encounters an alien creature that suddenly appears in front of him. The drawing is dynamically animated, yet the pictures exhibit a simple and warm sensation.

Grained time / Goshima Kazuhiro (JP)

13:00, 2009

This work seeks to portray each still picture as an individual photon reaching the retina, and to express the grains of sensation accumulated as “recognition.” It consists of two stages, one being an uncertain camera, which accumulates still pictures from different perspectives, while the other, factor light, gathers the shadows cast by light from a single source to draw the space.

Parallel / Owen Eric Wood (CA)

7:27, 2009

The search for meaning in the act of creation begins at the crossroads of art and philosophy. Photography, drawing and video merge to tell the story of an artist who seeks purpose in the act of creation. Through his struggle to reconstruct his own identity, he finds himself caught in a cycle of selfperpetuating artistic expression, where the line between reality and perception is not clearly defined.

Alone / Gerard Freixes Ribera (ES)

3:06, 2008

In mainstream fiction, the heroic characters have always shown individualistic attitudes. In this work, this individualism is taken to its extreme level, allowing the main hero from an old western movie to act completely alone.

French Lessons / Vanessa Louzon (IL)

7:00, 2009

Inspired by the story of her parents, this is a short story about a young Polish woman who meets a young Frenchman and leaves her grey 70s East European life for Paris. The filmmaker cut and rearranged images from a French lesson book that belonged to her mother and an old road map of Europe that belonged to her father, then constructed a new narrative using language lesson clichés that speak about modern life, displacement, and failed dreams.

The Cable Car / Claudius Gentinetta, Frank Braun (CH)

6:44, 2008

While travelling by cable car to a place somewhere in the mountains, an old man treats himself to some snuff. Et voilà! With every sneeze the cable car cabin falls apart more and more. The man, however, is far from accepting his fate, just like that.

Animal Dance / Okawara Ryo (JP)

5:00, 2009

This hand-drawn animation depicts the dynamism of life. All the motions and actions of living are treated as dancing, and synchronized with music. The work makes full use of the characteristics of flat animation such as visualization and linkage of images, and metamorphosis of form.

Lizard Planet / Joko Tomoyoshi (JP)

5:00, 2009

A lizard wrapped in water represents Earth, which is composed of both land and sea. For human beings, living on this earth feels quite natural. However, the earth is both an enormous living organism and a planet in the infinite universe. It would be gratifying if, after seeing this work, the viewer could feel that we live life on a planet that itself is a living existence in space.

Metropolis / Mizue Mirai (JP)

4:45, 2009

This film was created as the opening film of SICAF2009. The growth and decline of a changing city are portrayed using a technique that employs graph paper, which basically restricts movements in all directions. One aim of this work is to emphasize the characteristics of hand-animation through analogue rendering of a material suitable for CG.

Chisato stared / Uekusu Wataru (JP)

5:21, 2009

In this work, a line is used to reflect emotion, and the theme is the sublimation of a complex and continuous moment, like following one phrase

of a song.

Organic / Kozutsumi Pon (JP)

4:00, 2009

This work was created with elements such as images of primary things, primordial things, reincarnation, and the food chain. It consists of minimal lines and colors, and eliminates unnecessary additions so that it becomes simple and attractive. The animation created with only pen and paper could itself be part of an organic world. The last scene leaves a lingering resonance that will make it possible for each viewer to receive a different impression.

Oslo Screen Festival is an international festival for experimental film and video art which started in 2008. The festival finds place at Filmens Hus in Oslo every two years with screenings and presentations of international and Norwegian video art. The main focus of this festival is to promote international video works in Norway and Norwegian video works abroad. www.screenfestival.no

Jazkamer, Live at Club Urga, Tokyo / Håvard Gjelseth (NO)

1’39”, 2008

Music video, stop motion, shot live with SLR.

React / Fabien Bourdier (FR)

8′, 2009

React is featuring active chemical reactions of everyday products. Immersion in the natural phenomena of small scale, effervescence, mousses, gels, sprays, fuels are spatialized and amplified. The outside world colorful then invited to hypnosis and the fascination of the organic power of these “micro” reactions. An appeal to the imagination and the poetry of little things.

Motholic mobble part 3 / Kaia Hugin (NO)

6’38”, 2009

By use of cinematic elements, patience, time and labor, a “real film trick” is carried out. The piece balances between Sisyphean desperation and the humorous. It might be seen as an intervention or interference in nature, or maybe as a longing to feel connected to the vast landscape.

Stone on Stone / Rob Carter (USA)

7’44”, 2009

This stop-motion video animation uses the architectural language of High Gothic and Modernism to invent a contradictory history of their evolvement. The theme begins and ends with the vast, but unfinished Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, located on the upper west side of Manhattan, New York.

Exótica / Sérgio Cruz (PT/UK)

5′, 2009

Tracing a path from ancient customs to contemporary social interaction, this film demonstrates the unifying force of music and dance. Somewhere between a dance movie and a documentary. It is the result of a collaboration between Sérgio Cruz and the Portuguese choreographer Miguel Pereira during a three-week artistic residence in Maputo (Mozambique) in March 2008.

The delicate art of the bludgeon / Jean-Gabriel Périot (FR)

4′, 2009

About policemen’s sensibility.

Copy City / Denise Hauser (NO)

4’35”, 2008

Copy City is an experimental short film about marginal worlds, having its roots in the new media development and web 2.0.

Planet A / Momoko Seto (FR/JP)

7’40”, 2008

The world has become a dried out planet, where the growing of cotton, over exploited for economical reasons is the main cause of desertification. A saline desert covers acres of dried out land where strange salt trees appear. This phenomenon echoes an ecological disaster, the desertification of the Aral Sea.

Flights of Sleeping Birds / Gayatri Kodikal (IN)

13′, 2009

This story is inspired by the stories that surround a secret ritual that is performed in Goa. The adventures of two grandchildren with their grandfather in the mystical realms of their ancestors. An explosion of visuals and illusions swim into their lives.

My Father’s Letters / Yana Sakellion (USA)

2’11”, 2008

This piece is based on personal narrative and expresses my early fascination with handwritten letter-forms and textile qualities of handwriting. I am employing digital video and animation to convey my childhood associations between the object and the meaning, while experimenting with kinetic typography.

Stultifera Garden / Johanna Domke (DE)

11’26”, 2008

The traditional garden is a place where the entire world is represented in highly symbolic symmetry and perfection. Stultifera Garden deals with an overlapping structure of the public and the private. The continuos pan shot shifts from a classic park scene into a dystopic, mazy structure of trails.

Requien Granular / Tomaz Klotzel (BR)

6’50”, 2008

An audiovisual composition inspired by the musical theory of the granular synthesis, which is based on the organization of music in small sound pieces, called grains. The footage used to create the Requien Granular grains are old sport film from the last century, mainly football from the 50′s to the 80′s. Requien Granular talks about life and it’s passing, time long ago, actors – heroes? – already dead or incapable of the shown performances, empty of that virility. It’s a reflexion about every present moment of the life, and of being present at every moment.

Thank you to everyone who sent in their video works.  Submitted works are collected and will be presented to festivals’ jury for evaluation.

Results will be announced during Waterpieces festival at 3rd – 5th September.

For additional information about festival and competition follow at noass.lv

International Video and Contemporary Art Festival Waterpieces 2010 Call for Submissions – OPEN

International Contemporary and Video Art Festival Waterpieces is the only festival in the Baltic States which offers its audience unusual sounds, and performances delineated by movements and images whose unifying element is the moving image.

This year, the festival will celebrate its 10^th anniversary and to mark the occasion, a special celebratory program will be offered to the audience. Special anniversary fireflies will adorn AB dambis from 3^rd to 5^th September – projected by monitors simultaneously presenting a showcase of the all time best Waterpieces. Parallel to the best works from the previous festivals, audiences will have the chance to see a showcase of the Baltic States video art competition and enjoy the special selections of the world known video festivals and experimental film archives.

As has become the custom, the festival will also present overseas programs showcasing the latest trends in global video art including a selection of works from 13^th Japan’s media arts festival, Sweden’s art film and video archive Filmform, Oslo Screen festival, Finland’s interdisciplinary artists’ association MUU, and a program from the archive of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.

Since moving images have moved outside the confines of the TV screen with the advent of contemporary technology; this year’s anniversary festival will focus on works in which the medium of video is fused with other means of expression.

And, of course, honoring tradition, the winner of the festival’s Grand Prix will be awarded a special Waterpiece award. In addition, thanks to the generous support of AB.LV Sabiedriskā Labuma fonds, the artist who has created the year’s best work of Baltic video art will also receive a cash prize of LVL 500, as well as the chance to put on a personal exhibition during next year’s Waterpieces festival.

Therefore, we call for submissions of video works for the showcase of Baltic video works which comply with the following criteria:

- Works must have been created during the past three years (no earlier than 2008) with subtitles in English or an accompanying translation of dialogue.

- The running time of a submitted work must not exceed 25 minutes.

- Additional information to be enclosed about the work: artist, title, year of production, and soundtrack.

- Works may be submitted on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM in the following formats: .avi, .DVavi, .mov, .mpg2, PAL, and DVD.

- Works must be submitted together with a completed  Waterpieces 2010 application form.

- Two high resolution images (of the work) must also be attached to the application form.

Video works for the Waterpieces showcase must be submitted no later than 1 August 2010,

Sent by post to:

Society “Culture and Arts Project NOASS”;

11. Novembra krastmala 35,

Rīga, LV-1050.

Or delivered in person to: “Culture and Arts Project NOASS” Office, AB Dambis 2, Rīga;

Alternatively, using an available FTP server, artists can also upload works for subsequent downloading, and e-mail the relevant details (user name, password, file name, etc.) to: kaspars.groshevs@gmail.com

If you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to call: 29567606, or write to: kaspars.groshevs@gmail.com

• ABOUT WATERPIECES
• SUBMISSION OF WORKS
• FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
• AWARDS
• PHOTOS

ABOUT WATERPIECES

Cultivating traditions through a synchronicity of evolution and progress, this year the Waterpieces festival will satiate the palates of audiovisual art connoisseurs for the ninth time. Throughout its history, experimenting and stretching the boundaries of artistic expression, the festival has preserved its specific aura by occupying the most diverse forms and scopes and addressing both artists and art lovers.

The festival is traditionally comprised of competition and festival programmes offering a miscellany of unusual acoustic, movement and visual presentations. It is also a showcase for globally renowned festival and experimental film archive programmes which are complemented by presentations by curators and creative workshops. This year, the festival will focus on “pixel art” which at an associative level brings to mind the first computer games such as the color classic “Tetris”, but which nowadays has become a stimulating and challenging medium of expression for artists. Waterpieces will consider this art form more extensively and in greater depth with the help of a panel discussion, artwork generating creative workshops and artists’ performances.

Waterpieces will get under way with an audiovisual art exhibition/competition, as well as a one man show by the winner of the 2008 festival Grand Prix, Krišs Salmanis warming up AB Dambis for the central festival programme which will take place from September 4-6.

SUBMISSION OF WORKSFOR THE FESTIVAL COMPETITION

RULES FOR SUBMITTING WORKS

Submission ended on 31 st of July.

Submission  of works for the WATERPIECES 2009 audiovisual festival competition ended on 31 st of July. The competition jury selected thirteen works which will be exhibited from September 4 until October 4 in a dedicated exhibition on the floating gallery “Betanovuss and Noass”, AB dambis 2, Riga, as well as being subsequently distributed in the 2009 competition DVD showreel.

GRAND PRIX – a bronze figurine “Udensgabals/Waterpiece” and 1500 LVL for a new art work profited by AB.LV Fonds.
With agreement of the authors, the selected works will be distributed to other international festivals.

JURY
Annika Räim – Manager of contemporary art collection of  KUMU Art museum of Estonia;
Irma Stanaityte – Artist, Video Lecturer at Vilnius Academy of Art;
Kaspars Groševs – Artist, Video Lecturer at Janis Rozentals Art Highschool.

ELECTED WORKS FOR COMPETITION

From 11th till 13th of August the jury meeting for International Video and Contemporary Art Festival ŪDENSGABALI/WATERPIECES 2009 was held. During the meeting session all the submitted video works were estimated and ten artist works were chosen for the exhibition.

“FIFION SINGING, KAI PAINTING” – Kai Kaljo (Estonia, 2008)
“Sinchronisation” – Rimas Sakalauskas (Lithuania, 2009)
“The Window of my parents bedroom” – Klāvs Mellis (Latvia, 2009)
“12233″ – Mārtiņš Ratniks (Latvia, 2009)
“5 kustīgas gleznas” – Anete Melece (Latvia, 2008)
“Message” – Eva Lilienfelde (Latvia, 2007)
“Football match 2″ – Kęstutis Šapoka (Lithuania, 2009)
“Football match 3″ – Kęstutis Šapoka (Lithuania, 2009)
“1,2,3…” / “One, two, three…” – Rudolfas Levulis (Lithuania, 2007)
“Vilnius From the Archives of My Childhood (I) Lazdynai” – Lina Miklaseviciute (Lithuania, 2009)
“Vilnius From the Archives of My Childhood (II) Movement” – Lina Miklaseviciute (Lithuania, 2009)
“Vilnius From the Archives of My Childhood (III) My Granny’s Seat” – Lina Miklaseviciute (Lithuania, 2009)
“Press” – Gintare Rakickaite (Lithuania, 2008)

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

FESTIVAL INTRODUCTORY EVENTS

August 31 – September 5.

“MEDIUM-DIODE WALL” Creative Workshop. Led by:  Kostya Mitenev (RUS), Peter Burr (USA).

Festival is taking place at  Floating Gallery “Betanovuss and Noass”, AB dambis 2, Riga. Festival club Dirty Deal Cafe is situated in Maskavas 12, korpuss 2, Riga.

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME:

04.09. Friday
12:00 Panel discussion: “Video art – sounds-old fashioned?”
19:00 Opening Ceremony
- Opening of solo exhibition by  Krišs Salmanis, the winner of the 2008 festival Grand Prix*
- Opening of Baltic audiovisual art competition-exhibition*
20:00 AB.LV Foundation Baltic Award Presentation for the Best Work in the Field of Audio Visual Art in 2009 and the Festival Competition Works Awards Ceremony
20:30 Performance of sound and image  “Fullscreen Vjs” by vj Laimonas Zakas and dj Uran Uran (LT)
23:00 After party in the festival club Dirty Deal Cafe

05.09. Saturday
19:00 “Medium- Diode Wall” presentation of workshops
20:00 Video program “Cartune xprez”, curator Peter Burr (USA)
22:00 Performance of sound and image by vj Punte and dj Evgeniy Droomoff & Sound Meccano (LV)
23:00 After party in the festival club Dirty Deal Cafe

06.09. Sunday
20:00 Video program “Art Video Screening”, curator Jonas Nilsson and Eva Olsson (SE)
21:00 Video program “Pixels Out”, curator Anna Kolosova (RUS)
23:00 After party in the festival club Dirty Deal Cafe

FREE ENTRANCE TO ALL PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITIONS, ENTRY TO THE FESTIVAL CLUB DIRTY DEAL CAFE WITH A FESTIVAL STAMP 1,-LVL

* EXHIBITIONS IS OPEN from 2009.09.04. till 2009.10.04., from 1 PM till 8 PM,
Monday and Tuesday closed.

AWARDS

Rimas Sakalauskas has been awarded with AB.LV Baltic Award for the Best Work in the Field of Audiovisual Art 1500,-LVL  for the work “Sinchronisation”  (Lithuania, 2009).

PHOTOS

From 11th till 13th of August the jury meeting for International Video and Contemporary Art Festival ŪDENSGABALI/WATERPIECES 2009 was held. During the meeting session all the submitted video works were estimated and ten artist works were chosen for the exhibition.

“FIFION SINGING, KAI PAINTING” - Kai Kaljo (Estonia, 2008)
“Sinchronisation” – Rimas Sakalauskas (Lithuania, 2009)
“The Window of my parents bedroom” – Klāvs Mellis (Latvia, 2009)
“12233″ – Mārtiņš Ratniks (Latvia, 2009)
“5 kustīgas gleznas” – Anete Melece (Latvia, 2008)
“Message” – Eva Lilienfelde (Latvia, 2007)
“Football match 2″ – Kęstutis Šapoka (Lithuania, 2009)
“Football match 3″ – Kęstutis Šapoka (Lithuania, 2009)
“1,2,3…” / “One, two, three…” – Rudolfas Levulis (Lithuania, 2007)
“Vilnius From the Archives of My Childhood (I) Lazdynai” – Lina Miklaseviciute (Lithuania, 2009)
“Vilnius From the Archives of My Childhood (II) Movement” – Lina Miklaseviciute (Lithuania, 2009)
“Vilnius From the Archives of My Childhood (III) My Granny’s Seat” - Lina Miklaseviciute (Lithuania, 2009)
“Press” – Gintare Rakickaite (Lithuania, 2008)

Additional information is available from: Inga Uldriķe  inga@noass.lv, mob.tel.: +371 26649911