Noto^DE

From the east of Germany and established in Berlin, Carsten Nicolai plays off his various backgrounds: known in the contemporary art world for his installations, he's also equally recognized by electronic scene aficionados for his individual productions designed under the pseudonym of Noto or Alva Noto and with collaborators such as Ryoji Ikeda, Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic, Ryuichi Sakamoto. His point of departure is genuinely transversal and coherent. Presented in New York, Japan, the Kassel Documenta or the Venice Biennale, his sonic installations ride the same groove as his works as a musician, published for the most part on his own label, Raster-Noton, and on Mille Plateaux: cross-examine the creative potential of codes, cryptic formulas and other logic systems that we relentlessly invent as integral components of our world's structure. His music, composed exclusively of remixed digital sounds (fax and modem noises, digital mishaps, etc.), is at times adrift and from a groovy dominion. With his Noto project, presented here, Nicolai's interests lie most keenly towards sounds as much as towards physical phenomenon. Moreover, as the grand master of deconstruction and austerity, he composes using micro-sound elements, which he employs over rhythmic themes with a cutting-edge effectiveness and an uncompromising approach. On the stage, the magic of Noto's music is intensified through mesmerizing deployment of visuals generated by software he himself helped design, and which contributes to a signature Noto session of breathtaking, hypnotic displays.