Sonar+D 2017 opens with the large immersive space 'phosphere' by Daito Manabe

The world premiere of the 'sphere of light', from the Japanese technological-creative new media art studio Rhizomatiks, It is the most immersive show in the history of the festival, which can be seen in SonarPlanta until 17 June in Barcelona.

Department of Dairto Manabei and Motoi Ihishibasshi, the study Rhizomatic has been the great attraction of the inauguration of SonarPlanta, with the world premiere of the immersive and interactive work 'phosphere'(light sphere). Based in Tokyo, Rhizomatiks Research is your laboratory dedicated to exploring the new artistic possibilities of technology, in the field of new media, the art of data and other R&D projects. Its founder, Daito Manabe, He is considered one of the most recognized digital artists in the world.

The 'phosphere' installation represents an important step in the new forms of immersive creation that feature Sonar+D 2017: a robotic hybrid architecture in which synchronized mirrors, smoke machines, beams of light and up to twenty-four video projectors come together to build an impressive spatial experience, that goes from the object to the light and involves “the crystallization of space through technology”.

The name of the piece comes from the Greek words 'phos' (luz) and 'sphaíra' (ball), from whose combination this new term is created - 'phosphere'- to define an experience in a changing space built by light, as its creators point out. This immersive and interactive experience is generated with a computer system that combines two different spaces on the same plane: the physical space of the room and another digitally generated on the computer.

Through multiple video projectors, mirrors and meticulous optical calculation technology, both dimensions are synchronized to generate a new visual experience from the moving geometry of all the elements. As its creators point out, "phosphere proposes a new form of stereoscopy based on an effect that we could call 'crystallized space', in analogy with the visual and spatial structures that some minerals create, whose designs surpass human imagination.”.

The work replicates this process through the most advanced digital technology, to reproduce in a physical space the crystallization processes of certain minerals, alluding to the geological world in which the Plant of the Sorigué Foundation in Balaguer (Lleida), a joint initiative with Sónar that began in 2014 to promote research and experimentation of creative languages ​​around technology and new media art.