Oporto apresenta #33

"Land"by Maarten Ploeg 

Commodore Amiga file transferred to video.Colour, stereo sound, loop, 1992

In an old edition of Enciclopédia Luso-Brasileira, the entry word computer (then called ordenador) is illustrated  with a vector-based drawing of a face. It shows the first computer-generated drawing, depicting the kind face of a samurai. That funny looking picture can be seen as the computer's first attempt at a self-portrait, a clear demonstration of its highly complex level of self-determination.
Maarten Ploeg was a multi-talented genius born in the flat lands of Holland. Trained as a visual artist, he was part of the punk music scene in the late seventies (Soviet Sex, Blue Murder and Astral Bodies), as well as a pioneer in computer art and in the art of TV piracy. He was co-founder of PKP TV, a channel that hacked regular broadcasting and of Park 4DTV (http://www.park.nl/), a still operational art platform.
For years he produced bright and colorful abstract paintings, halfway between geometric landscapes and bi-dimensional portraits of computer beings, a personal research into digital foolishness as a way to humanize computers.  But it was with the help of a friendly Amiga computer (the Commodore Amiga 4000) that he finally found a medium that matched his multiple skills. Ploeg's computer videos are kinetic paintings embedded in mesmerizing sound, windows to a deeply immersive universe, an "O.K. World", where computers fulfill their destiny as emotional and melancholic entities.

"Towards the emotional digit."  Alexandre Estrela

This session would not be possible without the precious help of Ryu Tajiri, Peter Mertens, Rogier Van Der Ploeg and a large team of friends who share his memories and work.( http://maartenploeg.nl/trust/PloegisOKcompleet.pdf)

 Friday, June 6, 10.30 pm