In collaboration with Nordstern Basel, Fondation Beyeler is expanding upon its art.set program with a virtual presentation by Dixon. Typically, the music format physically showcases electronic musicians in an art context, but on April 7 it streamed an online set for art and music lovers alike that long for the unique experience of both combined.
Courtesy of Dixon and Fondation Beyeler.
The creative collective Transmoderna has transformed the DJ into a hyper-realistic avatar, and digitally rendered the museum into an elaborate 3-D model, to set the stage. For the audiovisual experience, the internationally acclaimed DJ is seen kicking off his set in the garden and spacious exhibition halls of the museum.
Courtesy of Dixon and Fondation Beyeler.
The immersive environment also welcomed selected works from the museum’s reputable collection—like photographs by Wolfgang Tillmans, Auguste Rodin‘s The Thinker, and paintings by Paul Klee—to surround the DJ for an unforgettable immersive environment. In addition, Transmoderna presents a selection of digital works in the space, including collaborations with the neural artist Sofia Crespo, the multimedia artist Sabrina Ratté, and the generative artist Feileacan McCormick.
Courtesy of Dixon and Fondation Beyeler.
Far from a typical one-hour music set, the art.set presentation also features reactive changes by Dixon that alter the audio and visuals. As his digital character plays music, he triggers changes in the space that allow for the music, art, and architecture seen on screen to transform.
Machine for Living by Sabrina Ratte, courtesy of Dixon and Fondation Beyeler.
The stream was filmed by the art director Aaron Jablonski from Unity—a game engine software that creates high-definition renderings—and the custom DJ booth was created exclusively for the video by the architect Timur Novikov.
Courtesy of Dixon and Fondation Beyeler.
“Walking the cutting edge between unreal and real was what we wanted to achieve, but without fooling the audience,” said Dixon. “The stream is not supposed to make up for the loss of real clubbing. It rather reveals the fleshiness of the virtual.”
