Interview with Michel Waisvisz (1949-2008), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

An evolving vision on expressive electronics.
in March 8th 2008, during one on my visits to STEIM, in Amsterdam, I had the honor of interviewing the late Michel Waisvisz (1949-2008) STEIM director, electronic musician/performer, thinker and pioneer of the use of alternative gestural interfaces for the performance of electronic music. In this interview he gave us a generous account of his extraordinary participation in development of electronic systems and devices for performance from analogical to digital, from MIDI to USB, from electronic instruments such as crackle and HANDS. He tells stories about the first collaborations with musicians George Lewis and Joel Ryan and their contributions on the development of first hacking workshops at STEIM.
He also expresses his ideas about DIY approaches and the investment of the performers on the depths of technology and its possible consequences on the artistic purpose within the STEIM history.
He traces a trajectory from costumed electronics for performance to virtues of the Wii and envisions the powering the devices with energy obtained from the movement of the performers.

Edited by Ragnar Chacin

Produced by Marlon Barrios Solano

Dance-tech Interactive LLC

http://www.dance-tech.net

http://www.steim.org/steim/

http://www.steim.org/steim/cracklebox.php