New York Experimental: MuX : The Work of Chiaki Watanabe, 2002 - 2006 October 22, 2006

A screening of works from visual music artist Chiaki Watanabe's recently released compilation DVD, muX, in addition to her recent video series, o.t.m.

muX is a collection of six visual music works created between 2002 and 2006 by visual artist Chiaki Watanabe The title of this compilation is derived from the digital processing term "muXing": fusing audio and visual data into one. muX represents the best of Watanabe's works, including those featured in the NY Video Festival, European Media Art Festival, Microcinema International, MOMA and ICA London, in addition to other recent works. All live visual works were performed with various experimental, electronica and avant classical sound artists in NY and abroad. Working with color, form- and geometry, Watanabe experiments in visual music: the visual presentation of experimental music through uniquely abstract and minimalist aesthetics.

o.t.m. (on the move) is a series of abstract video collages consisting of footage captured from everyday life, including the street, vehicles, and nature. The collages are composed of Watanabe's observations of fragments of moments. These fragments form patterns, creating a pulse for each moment. Watanabe's inspiration is the exploration of the moment that repeats in time, and in o.t.m. she weaves each of these moments into a poetic tapestry.

As a visual artist, Chiaki Watanabe (also known as c.h.i.a.k.i.) creates moving images that touch upon the fields of visual music and visual language. With minimalist and organic aesthetics, she works in live video performance, video installation, and motion graphics. While professionally trained as a visualist, her interest in experimental media developed as a child, through listening to the noise from a dentist father and the sound from a violinist mother. Her inquiries into visual communication and consciousness/unconsciousness offer resonant aesthetic and poetic insights, as she explores a new form of expression, "visual music" - a combination of digital video and music. Her primary fascination lies in integrating visual music into various fields such as performance media, architecture, art therapy, neuroscience, and psychology. Her work investigates the relationship between the synaesthetics and kinesthetics created through the interaction of simple elements like kinetic visual patterns, organic forms, and colors.

Watanabe's work has been presented internationally in various venues ranging from media art and video festivals such as the New York Video Festival, Microcinema International, European Media Art Festival (DE), Viper New Media Festival (CH) to art institutions including MOMA, ICA (UK), Austin Museum of Digital Art , and Kunsthall (NO). She has performed at venues throughout New York City including Location One, Dance Theater Workshop, The Knitting Factory, The Kitchen and Merce Cunningham studio.

* muX is made possible with support from the Experimental Television Center's (ETC) Finishing fund. The Experimental Television Center (ETC) is supported by The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and Media The Foundation.

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