The four sections of Orizzonte degli eventi are quite different in their methods of interaction and in the music and video which results, but they are unified by their common interpretation of the movement of hands.

After a brief introductory passage, Leonella Tarabella performed using the virtual piano. Utilizing a visual tracking system to follow the movement of his hands, the virtual piano produced an impressive translation of his movements above an imagined piano keyboard into tangible music.

Next, the lights were extinguished except for one UV light which illuminated the white gloved hands of Massimo Magrini. Sculpting broad lines and gestures in the air, thin bars of light cascaded across the video screen accompanied by a terse, synthesized music. This section too made use of a video tracking system which translated the movements of his hands in space into sound and video.

Leonella Tarabella performed next with the Twin Towers, an infra-red motion tracking device which produced synthesized and sampled sounds sympathetic to the motion of his hands above the instrument.

In the final section, Massimo Magrini again utilized his hand gestures to manipulate video and sound. This third video tracking system could individually follow the movement of his brightly painted hands. Here, powerful but controlled gestures translated into a pulsing, emphatic music with colorful, richly textured streaks on a digital canvas.

Report written by David Birchfield, Producer of the Movement and Sound Concerts

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Video excerpt from

Orizzonte Degli Eventi