Nano vjs: Transitions
(Beáta Kolbašovská & Jakub Pišek)

The works of the Slovak artistic duo Nano vjs, composed of Beáta Kolbašovská and Jakub Pišek, combine art, technology and multimedia performance. Their creative practice primarily focuses on exploration of public space, employing an interdisciplinary approach to create interactive immersive ambient installations, which also includes collaboration with artists from other disciplines, particularly musicians and animators. Projects they created in recent years include multimedia performances on historical buildings, such as video mapping at the Spiš Castle, in which they addressed the history and legends surrounding one of Europe’s largest medieval castle complexes. In general, their immersive installations are recognized as a symbiosis of filmed video images with manual interventions and musical performances in real time.

Video mapping is a technique that has only become widely used in the last two decades, although its origins can be traced back to the second half of the last century. The first known example of projecting moving images onto an uneven surface is the 1969 singing statues of Disneyland: filmed on 16 mm images of singers were projected onto busts at the Haunted House, creating the impression that the statues were animated. With the rapid development of technology and software, the technique of projecting video onto surfaces of various shapes, from architecture to water fountains, has seen great improvements in recent times. Still, the core principle remains the same: moving images dematerialize structures and create visual illusions and optical effects.

At the lecture, which the authors prepared as part of the R.o.R festival's residency in Šempas, they underlined that they always adapt their projects not just to the specific environment, but also to the audience, which takes an active role in the creation of the visual narrative. This approach is exemplified in their new video installation entitled Tekoče/Viaggio, which they have dedicated to the border area of Nova Gorica and Gorizia. As the bilingual title suggests, the project emphasizes the borderlessness and interconnectedness of the twin border towns. The choice of the municipal building in Nova Gorica as the presentation site demonstrates that the authors have also explored the rich history of the Gorizia region. The Municipal Palace (1949-1953), one of the first post-war projects by architect Vinko Glantz and one of the foremost architectural works of Slovenian post-war modernism, serves as a unique artistic canvas or surface on which the projections are perfectly adapted to the unique geometric/structural elements of the façade and cannot be replicated on any other surface.

The artists conceived the project Tekoče/Viaggio in their signature style: a combination of video mapping, 3D animation elements, sound and pre-recorded hand-drawing, giving the projections a unique tactile property. In their words, manual interventions bridge the gap between traditional artistic techniques and contemporary digital art. In their multimedia projections they appear to seek a balance between manual interventions and computer-generated images which are layered and/or fluidly alternated onto an architectural surface. The same is true of their Nova Gorica project, where the central motif is the flow of the Soča River, a kind of colorful pictorial surface onto where hand-drawn and animated images from the abundant cultural and artistic history of a once singular space alternate: for example, images of the Kanal, the Rusjan Monument, Roman mosaics, Gorizia's Raštel (Rastello) Street and Europe Square. The Soča River is in fact depicted as a lifeline, symbolizing not only the connection of the border area in the physical sense, but also the cultural fluidity - the intermingling of different peoples, cultures and languages. In this way the projection celebrates multiculturalism, local identity and natural beauty of the landscape, while at the same time highlighting the historical significance of the municipal building.

The multimedia presentations of the Nano vjs duo are usually designed to offer viewers a multi-sensory experience that creates a sense of virtual reality, such as plunging into the depths of the Soča River or deconstructing a municipal façade. Their works, which are always adapted to a specific environment and audience, are an extension of reality and often react to the audience. This creates a unique dialogue between the interactive images and the audience, which further encourages reflection on the role and significance of new media art in contemporary society.

Nataša Kovšca

Nano VJs is a visual media art collective founded in 2010 by Beáta Kolbašovská and Jakub Pišek in Košice, Slovakia. They specialize in video mapping, light installations, live visuals, VJing, interactive installations and multimedia performances in Slovakia and worldwide. They cooperate with artists, musicians, bands, DJs, independent theatres, contemporary dancers and performers. Through creative and experimental artistic production with an interdisciplinary approach, they create site-specific projects, directly tailor-made. As media artists, they present their works at group exhibitions and international festivals at home and abroad.