Algorithms are the common thread in Telemagic's work.
Cyanne van den Houten, Roos Groothuizen and Ymer Kneijnsberg make upthis art-meets-technology collective – an open media lab forinventors experimenting with contemporary media and technology.

'We don't look at whether something is good or bad; we look at technology's potential.'

To make the media lab both physically and digitally more accessible, broaden their range and involve other creators,
Telemagic are working on tools to share with other artists. One ofthese is '1 Euro Cinema', a small cinematographic oracle thatselects a film for you after you insert one euro. Together with twoguest curators, Telemagic filled this 'movie jukebox' with work bymore than 40 up-and-coming filmmakers and artists, ranging fromshort videos to longer documentaries.

'In this way, we offer peers a platform to show their work.

It also provides interesting perspectives on how they look at various aspects of today's society. At the invitation of filmmaker Biyi Zhu, they went to Macau, which resulted in the addition of films and perspectives fromoutside Europe. China also offers a nice metaphor for the oracle.

'Macau is known as a gambling city; with the 1 Euro Cinema you canbet on a movie.’

Another long-term project is 'Concert in A.I.', which can composeand conduct musical harmonies based on 'AlgoRhytmics', a self-learning music algorithm.

In collaboration with Valentin Vogelmann, Mrinalini Luthra and Arran Lyon, they philosophized on how a deep-learning algorithm could theoretically create new musical pieces and genres. They designed a tool that they linguistically trained – after all, music is a language you can parse.

'It's excitingthat the algorithm creates patterns, using our tool that storesmillions of pieces of data. The results are a new part of themusical spectrum that can endlessly reinvent itself. Usually, welisten to a composer's concert. This is the meta-version of all themusic in the world.'

Telemagic's Concert in A.I puts the algorithm center stage. In their magical shows, the designers create varying arrangements where the invisible becomes insightful and tangible. Circles of light and floor projections indicate the notes played and their connection with the instruments. They propose the next step could be an A.I. music label. This autonomous platform would bring together artificial intelligence, musicians and filmmakers.

Text: Viveka van de Vliet
Images used in thumbnail: Studio Moniker