Still from Sylphides 3.1 by Diego Mac
In the fast-evolving landscape of neo-contemporary art, staying abreast of the latest art headlines is akin to embarking on a thrilling odyssey through the avant-garde.
As the digital and material blend, the art world has become a canvas for innovation and exploration through uncharted territories.
In this adventure, we find ourselves delving into the offbeat, the unconventional and the unexpected — all very much a part of the realm of the Wrong Biennale.
The Wrong Biennale is an independent, multicultural and collaborative international art biennial founded by David Quiles Guilló, and organised by The Wrong Studio.
Since starting in 2013, the event has evolved to become a beacon of creative innovation challenging the conventional.
With hundreds of artists and creative practitioners from all over the globe participating in each edition of the biennale and “Counting its viewership in the millions, The Wrong just might be the world’s largest art biennale” — as quoted the New York Times.
This years edition of the Biennale runs from November 1st. 2o23 to March 1st. 2o24 and features over 100 pavilions and embassies.
A pivotal component of the Wrong Biennale is Wrong.tv, which features a 24-7 stream of curated video works by participating creators.
With more than 120 video artists/ creators showcased on the Wrong.tv this year, the following is a selection of just eleven works to watch out for and get you started.
Listed in no particular order, these works have been highlighted on the basis of their concept, cohesiveness, composition, execution, sound design, artistic voice of the artist, and most of all, the ability of the work to capture a compelling overall mood.
Read on as we shine a spotlight on a selection of a few must-see works that we believe encapsulates the spirit of the Wrong Biennale, where the intersection of technology, creativity, and artistic expression take center stage.
From experimental performances and edgy animations and VR, these works stand at the forefront of artistic innovation, challenging our perceptions and pushing the definition of art in the realm of digital expression.
Sylphides 3.1 — Diego Mac
Stills from Sylphides 3.1 by Diego Mac (Links at end)
Sylphides is a work consisting of a globus mass of rubber band-y mannequins performing the ballet and swirling around in asymmetrical synchronization while revolving around in circles that morph into spheres and back.
While the figures occupy the foreground, the background consist of moving patterns in black and white reminiscent of the casts of an old-school film projector when out of a reel.
The scenes, like with the theater stage, are clad in dramatic key, back and rim lighting that slide in counterpoint to the rest of the set. And final, the cherry on top: the dancers and the spaces theu occupy swirl around to the original strains of Serguei Diaghilev's ¾ time Les Sylphides, from 1916.
What’s beautiful about this work is the manner in which Mac melds his specialization in dance (classical ballet, in this case) and ideas from classical stagecraft into a format that is underscored by neo-contemporary technology and 3D simulation techniques.
The resultant effect delivers something that is thematical original, visually captivating, and aesthetically f*ing spectacular!
touha — Robert Seidel
The next on our list of must-catch works is from Berlin-based artist, Robert Seidel.
Titled touha, this work is a 4:20 minute monochromatic montage of forests, tree lines and rocky landscapes morphing into and out from each other in the subtle manner of distressed film and etchings (as the artist himself describes).
The overall style of this piece, however, strongly resembles that of 18th century Ukiyo-e art.
The visuals do their thing over the tones of a processed vibraphones cementing its overall mood and synthetic, yet, serene atmosphere.
Stills from touha by Robert Seidel
Sex Appeal – Serin Zevering
Still from Sex Appeal by Serin Zevering
Featuring stop-motion fruit and a delightfully personal narrative on sexuality, Serin Zevering’s Sex Appeal has all the qualifications needed to grab your attention and hold it for its 5 minutes and 14 second life span.
Cast under the sounds of dissonant echoes and a meandering bass line walking at a casual 70 bpm and bordering on the cheeky, this work is a good reminder that the act of provoking thought can be fun as well.
Still from Sex Appeal by Serin Zevering
Monoethyr 103/4 — Boris Shershekov
Still from Boris Shershekov’s Monoethyr 103-4
Delving into the worlds of noise and glitch and born from pure technical alchemy is Boris Shershekov’s work called Monoethyr 103/4 — a work that’s part of his Ethyr project.
This is an example of a piece where the process may be as significant as the result itself. Shershekov explains, “the concept of "ether" was used in classical physics to determine the environment in which electromagnetic waves propagate. The theory of the ether was disproved, but the word itself remained to designate the electromagnetic information environment - overall information flows transmitted in the radio wave range."
"The project "Ether" uses a small cable network, consisting of standard tv-signals generators and color TVs of Soviet production, which are obsolete as technical media, but still remain operational."
Featuring the results of distressed signals of all varieties this one is a pure sensory feast for the eyes and ears.
(Pro Tip ;), watch in full-screen mode.)
Still 2 from Boris Shershekov’s Monoethyr 103-4
Marketing Keeled Free Web Like a Storm — Beena Gaean Maris
Marketing Keeled Free Web Like a Storm, by Beena Gaean Maris is a retro themed parody music video of The Buggle's "Video Killed the Radio Star".
The work comes complete with its own 8-bit orchestration, vocals recorded over an old-school telephone and lyrics that comment on the transformation of the free internet into an ecosystem built for..
wait for it…
advertising. ;)
Stills from Marketing Keeled Free Web Like a Storm by Beena Gaean Marris 1*
Vano-G3MS1S-23 — Daniel Kuge
Vano-G3MS1S-23 by Daniel Kuge is next on our list of must-catch works.
The piece consists of a monochromatic montage of geometric forms and brutalist structures floating in a synthetic space.
With the viewers POV constantly panning and hovering over these proto-technoid-forms and formations, what make this visual work successful is the strange tension it manages to immerse you within.
This is especially true for the final sequence — a prolonged hover around a microchip styled form lit wonderfully to make it a scene that is beautiful and strangely tense at the same time.
My one crit about this is that without a follow through to this one scene, abstract as it may be, the mood feels wanting and unresolved at the end.
Good thing?
Definitely maybe, if that was the intension.
Stills from Vano-G3MS1S-23 by Daniel Kuge*
Inflorescences — Sabrina Ratte
Still from Inflorescences by Sabrina Ratte
A common aspect with all the good stuff on the Wrong.tv this year is, undoubtedly, that all the works that grab your attention are the ones that take you through a cohesive, captivating visual experience — and one that is held firmly in place by a compelling soundtrack, or an apt silence.
Ratte’s work here is no different.
The artist describes her work, Inflorescences, as an unfolding in an “hypothetical future, where plants, mushrooms, and unfamiliar critters have undergone mutations to exist in symbiosis with electronic waste.”
Beautiful!
Unreal — Bit Turner and Joerg Hurschler
Still from Unreal by Bit Turner and Joerg Hurschler*
Bit Turner and Joerg Hurschler’s Unreal features cinematic flythroughs over a martian-esque landscape.
Strewn all over this alien world are mammoth structures that resemble the gigantic skeletal remains of some kind of ancient creatures.
With sounds straight out from a horror flick this work successfully manages to create a compelling tension that last through its duration.
Still from Unreal by Bit Turner and Joerg Hurschler*
Post-Human nursery — Weiyu Chen
Stills from Post-Human nursery by Weiyu Chen*
Presented in the style of a documentary clip, Post-Human Nursery features a running description of a possible (and probable) post-human future.
Look beyond the visual documentation of the artwork installation by the artist and it’s not difficult to find through-provoking ideas on the future of humans, technology and, in this case, flora in the living world.
Mutating Babe — Lilia Li-Mi-Yan and Katherina Sadovsky
Part of a larger exhibit by the artists, Mutating Babe is another science themed work in this year’s biennale that is particularly interesting.
Described in the CICA museum’s artist page as a work that lies at the “intersection of contemporary art, social ecology, scientific discoveries in biopolymer chemistry, and the production base for plastic recycling.”
Over amorphous heartbeat type sounds and processed speech are a series of a bare-chested humans of seemingly ambiguous sex and gender and each sporting bulbous blobs and masses of various types on their anatomy.
Stills from Mutating Babe by Lilia Li-Mi-Yan and Katherina Sadovsky*
Memory Foam Material by Camille Soulat 1
And stills from Memory Foam Material by Camille Soulat*
Memory Foam Material is a curious little journey around a messy bedroom.
Set in a real and realistic 3D space, and coupled by the artist’s narrative about her thoughts, memories and inclinations, this one has everything needed to be memorable.
That includes beautiful imagery, thoughtful sound design and, a seemingly random, yet surprisingly insightful, stream of consciousness.
And included is the line, “my thoughts could fill a bathtub.”
Damn! Mine too.
The Wrong Biennale is an independent, multicultural, decentralized and collaborative international art biennial founded by David Quiles Guilló, and organised by The Wrong Studio.
All the above recommended works are part of the Wrong Biennale's the Wrong.tv.
All works are property of the respective artists and stills/ photoes used with permission (except pending where indicated*)
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