PAF Day 1: Isama Zing & Ink Midget, Jakub Jansa, Slowmotiondancer
The New York edition of PAF will return to Pioneer Works for two evenings of new audiovisual performances by international artists including Isama Zing & Ink Midget, Jakub Jansa, and Slowmotiondancer on Day 1 and Dean Blunt on Day 2. PAF is a Czech platform for moving image, animation, and contemporary art. Its main output is PAF Olomouc – Festival of Film Animation and Contemporary Art, whose 17th edition takes place December 6–9, 2018 in Olomouc, Czech Republic. All performances are commissioned by PAF, with support from Pioneer Works.
Ink Midget & Isama Zing: Prelude for light and fog
Prelude for light and fog is an audiovisual composition written for eight fog machines and four strobe lights. The very limitations of these machines serve as the main inspiration for an exploration of the contrast of loud and quiet, light and dark. Isama Zing and Ink Midget are both producers, DJs, and members of the Mäss collective from Bratislava, Slovakia. Zing’s compositions oscillate between carefully crafted post-industrial soundscapes and spontaneous bursts of euphoric energy represented by his playful melodic structures. Midget’s music is best characterized as recontextualized club music as he often takes contrasting ideas and puts them into complex composition.Â
Jakub Jansa, Club of Opportunities
In Club of Opportunities, Jakub Jansa builds an immersive environment with hidden, inner dramaturgy. Each episode introduces new characters, plots, and emotional twists. Unlike film, it is not only about the scenes, but instead the narrative is gradually revealed through video, various objects, and performances. Based on his personal experience, Jansa depicts archetypal characters and situations. Freely changing the genres, going from high to low, he achieves a distinctive poetics. After a long-term investigation of the world of advancement propagation and foolish vision, Jansa currently examines the modern form of oral literature in the time of social-sitting. In his real-time epic Club of Opportunities, he depicts characters of engaging storytellers and makes overlooked entities, such as celery root, more visible. Jakub Jansa has collaborated with cinematographers Kryštof HlĹŻĹľe and Kryštof Melka, fashion designer KarolĂna JuĹ™Ăková, philosopher Kamil NábÄ›lek, and many others.
Slowmotiondancer
Slowmotiondancer is the music project of Prague-based artist and producer Dominik GajarskĂ˝. Characterized by evocative vocals against slow, sober sounds, his musical output is slightly sardonic yet oozing with emotion. GajarskĂ˝ combines field recordings and instrument samples with minimal electronic background. He has previously composed soundtracks for theatre, mounted his own exhibitions, and is presently working on a new album.