Katharina Ernst / Michael Breyer / ATELIER-E

“Polylog” is a complex experimental arrangement of sound, image and AI. A live performance on drums and film projections interact using state-of-the-art technology. Katharina Ernst plays all levels of this multimedia space like a polyrhythmic instrument. The high-contrast visual language of Michael Breyer's video works refers to the aesthetics of analogue large-format photography, which is placed in a new context by the performative setting. For “Polylog”, the Berlin studio ATELIER-E, consisting of Christian Losert and Daniel Dalfovo, develops a customised real-time that analyses the artist's performance using AI and creating a dynamic interaction between the live performance and the image/sound level. As a media ensemble, music, performance and visual language become equal players.

The Malaysian-Austrian artist and composer Katharina Ernst, who began her musical career playing the drums at the age of nine, has developed a unique approach to polymetric, odd rhythm structures at the intersection of music, fine arts, and choreography. At donaufestival, she will present the work Polylog, a complex experimental set-up of sound, imagery, and AI. Her live performance on drums interacts with video works by artist Michael Breyer using a tailor-made real-time system developed by Berlin studio ATELIER-E: an artificial intelligence analyses Ernst’s performance and generates a dynamic interplay with Breyer’s videos.