Alberto Novello & Max Frimout - About Dynamical Systems

Alberto Novello a.k.a. JesterN’s practice repurposes found or decontextualised analogue devices to investigate the connections between light and sound in the form of contemplative installations and performances. He repairs and modifies tools from our analogue past: oscilloscopes, early game consoles, analogue video mixers, and lasers. He is attracted to their intrinsic limitations and strong ‘personalities’: fluid beam movement, vivid colors, infinite resolution, absence of frame rate, and line aesthetics. By using these forgotten devices, he exposes the public to the aesthetic differences between the ubiquitous digital projections and the vibrance of analogue beams, engaging them to reflect on the sociopolitical impact of technology in a retrospective on technologisation: what ‘old’ means, and what value the ‘new’ really adds.

His productions in form of performances, talks, papers and compositions have been presented at Centre Pompidou in Paris, Museo Reina Sofia Madrid, Ars Electronica Linz, Amsterdam Dance Event, Venice Biennale, New York Computer Music Festival, Bozar Bruxelles, BOA Biennale Porto, Rewire Festival Den Haag, Glasgow Contemporary Art Center, Dom Moskow, Seoul International Music Festival, Rome University of Fine Arts, to mention a few. He has released records for Staalplat, Bowindo, Elli Records, Dobialabel, Setoladimaiale, Ante-Rasa and Creative Sources.

He graduated in Nuclear Physics at the University of Trieste, completed the master Art Science Technologies with Jean Claude Risset, obtained a PhD degree at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven with Armin Kohlrausch, and graduated in Electronic Music at the Institute of Sonology, Royal Conservatory of Den Haag. He worked for Texas Instruments, Philips Research, and Auro Technologies creating software for their audio applications.

With Alberto, Max Frimout presents one of his recent developments in the use of hybrid analog-digital computers for writing semi-generative music. Informed by his collaborations with contemporary dance and classical harpists, max seeks to strengthen the groove in the mechanical-acoustic. Max's main research is in the field of spatial sound, where he is part of the team that developed Odio, an iOS app for 3D sound sculptures. His experiences in these investigations are central to his live improvised compositions with modular synthesizers. Max is currently based in The Hague where he studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague within the Institute of Sonology. Previously, Max studied physics at the Eindhoven University of Technology.