ALTERITY by Jacco Gardner
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and media archaeologist Jacco Gardner has been connecting music, technology, and visual art since his HKU education (2007–2011). Gardner’s artistic practice is characterized by his collection of rare synthesizers, light machines, and historical electronic instruments with unique technology. His technical expertise with analog synthesizers, legacy studio hardware, and MAX/MSP reflects his ongoing interest in the dialogue between human creativity and technological innovation. He is currently undertaking a doctoral research path into the spirit of that early digital era and the role of AI in creative practice, of which ALTERITY is a central artistic output.
With ALTERITY he excavates a forgotten moment in the history of human-machine collaboration. The piece’s narration, written and researched by art historian María Pandiello, traces humanity’s recurring desire to build thinking companions; against it, sound, light, and image are synthesized live, each element responsive to the others, in a format closer to improvisation against a silent film, except the film is audio narration and the improvised response is audiovisual.
Credits:
– Creator: Jacco Gardner
– Performance by: Jacco Gardner
– Narration & Research: Maria Pandiello
– Research and historic-futuristic design: Edwin Gardner
– Video & Animation: Lucas Laujedo
– Producer: Floris Smit | UPscaleXR
– Supported by: Stimuleringsfonds voor de creatieve industrie
