Artists plug in and turn on

Noa Tokui, inventor of the Sonasphere.

You might imagine that a festival of digital art and music would see the emptying out of several darkened bedrooms' worth of computer nerds and techno-geeks.

But this, says Kitt McGregor, the organiser of the second Version Festival in Auckland, is just not so.

"Techno geeks are not what they used to be," he says, laughing, "they're no longer segregated."

What McGregor means is that the sorts of technologically literate, computer-savvy types participating in this event come from a wide variety of areas of expertise and art.

"These days many artists are really influenced by technology and integrate it into their work," he says. "And many of those using technology in their everyday work have also seen the potential for art. [Version] is all about creative use of technology, a sort of summit of technicians, musicians, artists and 3D animators showing what they do on their days off."

But it's not just these people. Alongside software designers and computer programmers there are jazz musicians, designers, film-makers, architects and even a physicist appearing during the festival.

Each of the six nights of the festival has a theme - from nightclub to cinema to lounge bar to orchestral - and each venue has been elaborately set up with specialised lighting and sound. As a result, every evening offers a different sort of experience.

"You might see this kind of thing in an installation in a gallery but it's quite rare to see it in this kind of context, in entertainment-oriented venues," McGregor says.

For instance, the opening night on Saturday incorporates audio and visual partnerships who will perform and play the sort of music and pictures you'd expect to see at a nightclub, or possibly a sophisticated dance party.

At the other end of the scale comes an evening named Ensemble Electronique, which features four different groups of musicians and artists putting on a show in a darkened, hushed auditorium setting that will most resemble an orchestral concert.

And in between are movies (state-of-the-art sound-surround, experimental film plus live interpretive dancers) and lounge-style scenarios, involving jazz and what the organisers are calling "experimental soundscapes".

This is his second year organising the festival and McGregor believes these forms of electronic art and music, or "art-sound" as some like to describe them, have slowly but surely been gaining validity among the general public alongside more traditional art forms.

"And the technology has changed so much that what would have cost $20 million to do 20 years ago, can now be done by someone on their home computer," he says. "Which means the bar has risen. The really talented people out there are doing incredible stuff, things based on evolving technologies that are out of this world."

Such technology also delivers two other benefits that Version's audiences will appreciate, McGregor says.

"It's not like having to transport a large sculpture around or deciding where to hang a painting on a wall. Because it is mainly digital it's much easier to bring lots of different artists and musicians together.

"As an artist you can put [your work] on a disc, you can reproduce it, you can broadcast it using all sorts of methods and you can even re-mix it or re-work it on the spot.

"Which means the potential is limitless. It also means that audiences will be enjoying completely unique pieces, never to be seen or heard again."

Version's hit picks

* Nao Tokui: Playstation competitors, step away from your gaming consoles and re-enter the real world. Tokui is a leading programmer for the likes of Sony and usually based in Paris. He is coming here to demonstrate software he's developed called Sonasphere. It looks like a game, acts like a game but is a musical instrument. Besides playing at the opening night, Tokui will take part in a more detailed seminar later in the week.

* Radioqualia: Sounds from outer space will arrive in Auckland via a series of radio telescopes located around the world and on the internet. When they get here, they will be played live at the Odeon Lounge in Mt Eden on Tuesday night.

* Te Apiti Ensemble: Four diverse performers come together and play probably some of the most interesting instruments you've ever seen, along with a few traditional ones, to create a peculiar symphony. The artists are renowned percussionist Phil Dadson, sound artists Sean Kerr and Andrew MacMillan and Maori instrumentalist Richard Nunns.

* Andrew Clifford: He's a journalist who regularly writes arts features for the Herald, but instead of using his 1960s Royal Express typewriter to put sentences together, he has wired this machine to produce sound and visuals.

* Chris Cottrell: An architect who experiments with sound and space will be using a computer game engine to convert architectural data into sound and light.

* Norm Skipp: This work, named Beyond Skin and part of the Sonic Cinema evening, combines improvised film, sound and interpretative dancing.

* Omit: Most orchestral-style ensembles involve a bunch of musicians getting together to make music,and this is true even at a festival as unusual as Version. However, Clinton Williams will be bringing a troupe of home-made machines with him all the way from Blenheim. This results in a table full of boxes with knobs, a spaghetti-swirl of wires and a lot of interesting noises.

* Light Space: Before the closing party begins properly on Thursday evening, video artists get to play with six projection screens. What this means in practice is that the audience will be virtually, and spectacularly, enclosed by six giant walls of light and sound.

Digital art & music

*What: Version Festival

*Where and when: sites citywide, Dec 4-9