By Raynald C Rivera
Technology and creativity are at the nexus of The New York Times Art for Tomorrow conference being held for the second consecutive year in Doha.
Unlike its inaugural edition, this year’s conference which witnesses an august gathering of art luminaries, has, among its features, an Art Lab which shines the spotlight on a smorgasbord of artists and their art which sparks exciting conversations among art connoisseurs from around the world.
One such artist is Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark, one of first connected artists in the world, who blends photographs with music and sound effects to further enhancing the viewing experience of the audience.
The centrepiece of his exhibition at the Art Lab is “H2Orizons” — a multidimensional triptych of photographs, which originated from a photo taken between the islands of Arki and Lipsi, in the southeastern Aegean in his native country Greece.
The photo was taken on November 30, 2014 while on an expedition with a team of 30 volunteers to support remote Greek islanders.
“I took one photograph of the horizon of the sea just after the rainstorm. It was a very bad weather, then suddenly the sun came out and it made a very calming effect,” Prince Nikolaos told Doha Today in an exclusive interview.
The photo was printed on Chromaluxe aluminum, a new technique he started using two years ago.
“After I had printed the image on aluminum , I left it in the rain and then took a photograph again with the raindrops and waited later when the sun came out to take the third photograph,” he explained.
What resulted is a series of images captured vibrantly in different conditions: the original image in the centre titled the H2Orizon, the, H20rizon Droplets on the left and H2Orizon Wet on the right.
Although the series vividly resonates the inherent characteristics of Aegean seascape, the images could arouse a multitude of other images alluding to one’s memory of the sea.
“The picture with sunlight reflecting on the raindrops reminds me of pearls and the sea which is very much a common theme in Doha,” he observed.
To provide the viewer nearly the same experience as the artist from the day he took the first photo till the completion of his creative journey, he incorporated music and sound to the photos.
“I put all three photos in a series and curate some music that evoke the emotions that remind me of the time I took the photograph, then add some sound effects which include the sea, the waves and the rain.”
Turning the experience of his art from visual into multisensory took a breakthrough technology provided by Soundwall.
“This installation is essentially a collaboration between myself and the company called Soundwall.”
Founded in 2013, Soundwall creates wireless connected canvases, a powerful computer that enables a range of functionality that gives the artist new modes of expression and the audience a better experience. In particular, the canvas emanates vibrant sound.
“I think it’s going to be a question of time before Soundwall would be everywhere. I really believe at the moment I’m using it as an artist to portray my work but I think it will be a very short time before everybody has Soundwall in their walls instead of speakers as a means to listen to music,” he said, adding he has more upcoming projects with Soundwall.
From a tender age, Prince Nikolaos has always had a penchant for photography and what fascinated him to venture into it: “I supposed it’s the one that gives me instant gratification to see the work that I’m doing. I never consider myself an artist. I just took photographs from a young age and slowly it grew.”
His choice of subjects, however, has made a dramatic turn from portrait to landscape.
“I used to do a lot of portraits of people, but people as subjects have opinion and they tell you why they got wrinkles and so on, but when you take pictures of nature, there’s no complaint, what you see is what you get,” he said, adding he dislikes enhancing images with Photoshop.
“I just like to produce the image that I saw and the feeling that I had when I saw the image.”
For over a decade, Prince Nikolaos has explored breathtaking scenery in his native country Greece, photographing landscape portrayed in literature, art and music in the course of Western Civilisation.
“A lot of the images that I take are mostly in Greece and it’s quite a moving experience and if I can convey that by incorporating sound to the images, then so much the better.”
Prince Nikolaos will discuss his installation in an interactive salon at 4pm today at the Art Lab on Level 29 of W Doha Hotel.
Other artists featured at the Art Lab are Ali Hossaini, Omar Khalifa, Androulla, Michael, Pia MYrvoLD, Laurence Winram, and Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed Al Thani.
In addition, there is a Google Cultural Institute a booth which is a digital museum that allows visitors free access to over 200,000 artworks and six million photos and provides a virtual reality journey.
The Art Lab is open to the public until tomorrow.
The Peninsula
