The STRP Festival :: the Klokebouw, Eindhoven :: November 22 - 25, 2007 :: with works by artists such as Kurt Hentschlager (AUT), Scanner & TeZ (UK) and D-Fuse (UK).

The STRP Festival is one of the largest art & technology festivals in Europe, presenting a four-day multidisciplinary programme with more than 120 artworks, performances, and artists. Thursday November 22 the festival kicks of with a Chemical Brothers opening concert. The extensive expo of robotics and interactive art challenges the visitors to undertake their own explorations.

The works range from small, subtle, and poetic to awesome and overwhelming. The interactive nature of the works in particular investigates the increasingly vague boundary between technology, humankind, and art, and often leads to confrontational experiences!

Music: The STRP Festival opens on 22 November with a concert by one of the world’s most celebrated electronic bands: The Chemical Brothers. The music programmes of Friday and Saturday start at 20.00 and continue until six o’clock in the morning. The extensive music programme presents alongside big names also superb high-tech experiments in the field of electronic music. The performance by 5MM (DJ Akufen and VJ Coutu-Dumont), for instance, is a true audiovisual gem of deep soundscapes and alienating projections. A world apart from the French Aufgang, which consists of two grand pianos and electronics: Jeff Mills meets Keith Jarrett!

Visuals: The visuals programme comprises video art/video clips, live cinema, animation, and documentaries. The live cinema performances are a once in a lifetime experience in which image and sound are in perfect harmony with one another, almost creating a new dimension.

Feed by the Austrian Kurt Hentschläger, for instance, is a mind-blowing experience in which all senses seem to crash. Starting at a calm pace, the performance soon enough literally builds up steam, immersing the audience in a dark space full of smoke, stroboscopes, projections of androgynous creatures and ear-deafening sound. Feed was developed for ‘Theatre Biennial Venice 2005’.

Other: Theatre and performances, workshops and lectures; there is so much to do at STRP that can’t be classified under one of the main categories. Premiering at STRP is the performance IM-agined by the world-famous Belgian ballet group Joji Inc. In this performance, the dancers wear light-emitting garments made of high-tech Philips Lumalive fabrics, which function as a theatrical means of communication.

For full programme, see STRP Festival.