From the time I first touched the Haken Continuum, I'd wanted to use it to play a composition by Olivier Messiaen called "Oraison". I first heard "Oraison" years ago as a student of electronic music, and had fallen in love with its simple, beautiful harmonies and profound sense of mystery.

"Oraison" is not only a lovely piece of music, but has historical interest too - it may be the first piece of purely electronic music written expressly for live performance. Also of note is that Messiaen re-arranged "Oraison" for cello and piano and used it for the fifth movement of "Quartet for the End of Time", which he composed in a German prisoner-of-war camp in 1941; the "Quartet" is one of the great classics of 20th-century music.

"Oraison" ("prayer") is from a suite of pieces for six Ondes Martenot called "Fete des Belles Eaux" ("Celebration of the Beautiful Waters"), composed for the Paris International Exposition in 1937. The Ondes Martenot was among the first electronic instruments, and is still among the most expressive. The Continuum's own expressive qualities seemed at least the equal of the Ondes Martenot's, while allowing for polyphony and the possibility of performance of the work by a single player. I transcribed "Oraison" for my Buchla 200e/Continuum system, programmed the modern system in homage to the sound of the Ondes Martenot, and now offer this performance to you.

Oraison, composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1937 for six Ondes Martenot, transcribed for Buchla 200e synthesizer and Haken Continuum Fingerboard controller and performed by Richard Lainhart in 2009.

Abstract from the short "Beatrice at the market".
Choreography by Aline Nari & Davide Frangioni ubidanza.com
Music by Filippo Gambetta filippogambetta.com
Produced by associazioneartu.it

"The LightScraper, made by Eness, is a custom built aluminium structure, fabricated with a layer or semi translucent mesh. The structure can be easily erected in various compositions in an outdoor or indoor setting.

Visitors position are tracked via an Infrared camera mounted at the peak of the structure, and transposed into musical notes, the result is ever-changing melodies and visual delight"

an ENESS Creation ////////////////////////

> graphics by Fanni Montlouis and Nimrod Weis
> music installation by Mike and Jack
> builders Anna sophia Sperling,Mario Bottke, Jason Dowrick
Haim Weis, Steven Mieszelewicz, Yuno Maekawa
Mathew Thompson and Ray Thompson and Darren
> music videoclip "Crazy Keva" by Thomas Simoes

electronicmiracles.com

designed & created by Mehmet Akten, memo.tv
choreography & performance by Miss Martini, myspace.com/maleficentmartini
music "Kill me" by Dave Focker, myspace.com/davefocker

Excerpts from performance at
“Clicks or Mortar”, Tyneside Cinema, March 2009
curated by Ed Carter / The Pixel Palace, thepixelpalace.org

see installation footage at vimeo.com/3576457

memo.tv/body_paint

“Body Paint” by Mehmet Akten is an interactive installation and performance allowing users to paint on a virtual canvas with their body, interpreting gestures and dance into evolving compositions.

Custom software analyzes live feed from infra-red cameras in real-time, and converts shape and motion into colors, drips and brush-strokes. The software was written in C++ using the open-source toolkit openFrameworks and computer vision library openCV.

The installation is designed to work with any number of people and is scalable to cover small or large areas. The interaction is very simple - movement creates paint. Hidden in the simplicity, are many layers of subtle details. Different aspects of the motion - size, speed, acceleration, curvature, distance all have an effect on the outcome - strokes, splashes, drips, spirals - and is left up to the users to play and discover.

While the installation is suitable for a single user, when multiple users are present a new dynamic emerges between people. A user-to-user interaction is born when the audience start playing with each other through the installation, throwing virtual paint at each other, trying to splash their friends, working collaboratively to create shared artwork, or mischievously trying to vandalize others' work.

This is the on screen visuals I created for the Led Zeppelin re-union concert. They were used for the track Kashmir.