Maotik Et Fraction

One of the main attractions at this year's MUTEK festival is the audio visual exhibit DROMOS. Though not included with the full festival pass, the live installation was worth every bit of the price of admission. The performance was the brainchild of French producer Eric Raynaud (aka Fraction) and visual artist Mathieu The Deaf (aka Maotik), who explore spatial themes using a set developed exclusively for the satosphere (a dome-like structure built inclusively for Montreal's Société Des Arts Technologiques). Guests who enter the dome are invited to lie down on a number of low-level sofas that guide their attention to the ceiling, while a series of Derivative-powered visuals light up the room, challenging the participant's sense of depth and time. Chapters flip like a sequence of intercepted transmissions; sounds of light orchestration, flickering white noise and fitful blips can be heard from every angle, while shapes expand, shatter and contract at various speeds. DROMOS is an immersive, sensory-heavy experience that engages right up until its intense stroboscopic climax.