Lola Ajima and Yukao Nagemi are an audiovisual duo. In a mixed music artform, Lola Ajima associates electroacoustic compositions, voice and live cello looping. Yukao Nagemi develops his own environment for digitally augmented performative drawing by adding digital effects on ink and tablet drawing. Their audio and visual creative processes are deeply intertwined from the early improvisations to the final performances on stage.
They create works by combining traditional instrument performance (music and drawing) with the most cutting-edge digital processes. Their compositions confront generative processes in an innovative postmodern artform which questions our relationship to technology and information flow. They are inspired by ancient myths and cultures, and how these strong human beliefs have survived in our society. Their performances are poetic in the sense that they articulate complex sensibility to contemporary dramas with a subtle mix of traditional expression and digital features. They do not tell stories as such, but however develop narrations during their performances with their own visual and musical languages both representative and symbolic.
Porphyrograph ― the “electric” pen
Making a parallel between electric guitar and the possibility to use drawing as a live performing act, I present porphyrograph a digitally augmented performative drawing tool. After a brief overview of VJing culture, I present the technical components and the aim of the tool, mainly on the correlation between sound, music and digital effects, and highlight the difficult association of generative effects such as particles or cellular automata and manually controlled drawing. Several works are presented based on this tool, mainly in the audiovisual duo Lola and Yukao Meet. The notion of electric pen art is further developed together with outlining perspectives in fields such as contemporary music and art education.
