Alejandro Martín is head of innovation and EU Projects at the Espronceda institute of art & culture in Barcelona, a unique art exhibition & residency space, which has opened its doors more than ten years ago. Espronceda is also a pioneer in the dissemination of immersive arts in Spain.We discuss with him the cultural center’s latest projects and trends he has identified in the immersive realm.
Can you tell us a few words about Espronceda?
AM : Espronceda is a private institution created in 2012 by two entrepreneurs, Holger and Henrik Sprengel, and an Italian artist Savita Tarsitano. The institute covers multiple subjects and many works presented revolve around immersion and interactivity with advanced technology. Espronceda does not consider immersion as only technological but we open our doors to any artist who wants to go further than the usual artistic standards. Espronceda’s projects are supported by both the Catalan government and the European Union.
Which notable immersive projects does Espronceda run ?
We run different projects in the immersive realm.
Our main artistic platform is Immensiva which we have been running since 2018., which includes 1 month international residency, we invite 10-15 artists and other technical professions working with advanced technologies such as as VR, AR, AI.
In 2020, will also joined the Galaxy Network. with other VR venues ( Meet, Chroniques, INVR, VR Future, Cinema Leap, Bucheon Art Bunker 39) Galaxy Network’s mission is to coordinate and showcase each year a selection of the best Virtual Reality experiences in the different venues of the network.
In 2021, we have launched REAL-IN, a project we are running with two festivals ( La Manifacture, VRHAM), the MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan and the XR production company Dark Euphoria. REAL-IN explores cultural, audiovisual and creative sectors for immersive and interactive proposals, exploiting 3D scanning technologies combined to XR settings in a multidisciplinary approach.
Our most recent project to date is Nubia a platform which let selected artists to expose their own liminal metaverses .
Can you elaborate more about the Immensiva ?
Immensiva has several dimensions : it is a community which supports artists and creative technologists It is also a one month residency for artists and creators where they are accommodated free of charge, have access to training workshops in advanced technologies and to equipment : studios,VR headsets, laptops, PCs, projectors, speakers, etc., to create their project. In exchange, the participants have to make a project and showcase it in front of a jury at Espronceda, as well as leaving a copy of the project in the form of a smart-contact.
Each year the participants are selected through an open call but we also ask other artists and curators to help us identify them.
We were lucky to have many artistic projects created during your residency which have been touring festivals after their creation at the residency. Oxytocina Machina created by artists Sammie de Vries, Mila Moleman, Zalán Szakács, Lucía Redondo, Mathieu Preux allow two strangers located in two different locations miles away from each other to connect through VR.
In 2020, we have organized the “Quintessence Dome lab” where we invited artists for a special Immensiva residency to work on collaborative projects using the Fulldome projection. Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video projection environments. Artists were introduced to the realtime visual creativity software SMODE to create their works.
For this special workshop , Espronceda collaborated with several students of the ./studio3 Institute for Experimental Architecture of Innsbruck and the Barcelona-based architecture studio Azcon. In one week they built a 6mx6m modular dome easily assembled and dissembled. Each wooden panel and lath being the same size and easily exchanged or replaced in needed.
The 9 collaborative projetcs were showcased on 13th September 2020, and streamed live to Ars Electronica Festival.
The projects were also interdisciplinary involving the mixing of sound, music & visual technologies. For instance, the project Wonders presented a dance performance by Moon Ribas where wearable sensors captured her movements and were turned into sounds by Felix Schoeller. Those elements also interacted with the visuals created by creative coder Ferran Belda.
The theme for the 2023 residency is quite large “be irreverent” because we wanted to give the artists the freedom to play with their chosen medium and not to follow the rules.The deadline to apply for the Immensiva’s residency is February 6th ( the residence period is from March 6th to 31th). The selected projects will be presented at the New images XR Development market.
Your last project Nubia let artists create and show their metaverses to the public..
NUBIA (NFT Universe in Blockchain for International Artists) is all about ideation & creation of metaverses . We commission artists to create their personal metaverse with their own set of rules.
For instance, Solimán López created a metaverse called Olea where the NFTs are based out of olive oils which contain codes directly from people’s DNA.
Another example is Mohsen Hazrati who created a metaverse called Petroglyphing Data which is an adimensional metaverse where space is defined by lines of connections.
We want to go further than the traditional VR exhibition which often stays limited to traditional showcaising of paintings & videos .
The artists can also create NFTs and upload them on the platform. The public, art collectors can acquire those NFTs with special Nubia coins (based on the Ethereum Network). Thanks to this crypo currency we can have financial sustainability.
To end this interview with some predictions how do you see the future of immersion in the art world ?
The immersive experiences are increasingly combining digital & physical worlds. We will also see probably the holographic devices; augmented reality glasses progressively replace VR headsets.
