Macular is an initiative of a group of artists based in Rotterdam who share a collective interest in art, science, technology and perception. Their projects aim to create their own abstract language, which is mostly based on rule-sets within self-built systems. This development happens through constant interaction between the works and the creators, since the pieces are shaped and transformed throughout the process. With this in mind, Macular aims for a minimalistic aesthetics through a continuous exploration of the basic characteristic properties of the media they use. Whether they are cultivated systems or natural phenomena, the medium gets stripped down to the essence of the medium itself, showing only what is necessary to perform the composition. Work by Macular members has been shown worldwide at festivals and institutions such as WRO International Media Art Biennale (Wroclaw, Poland), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), EXIT Festival (Paris, France), Microwave International New Media Arts Festival (Hong Kong, China), Sight&Sound Festival (Montreal, Canada), Saatchi Gallery (London, United Kingdom).

In the U-AV series Macular (Joris Strijbos and Matthijs Munnik) build synaesthetic landscapes from electronic sound structures, generative video and stroboscopic light. The project is the result of a combined research on the side effects of human perception and how the eyes perceive visual complexity in combination with external flicker images and loud pulsating sounds. The stroboscopic light is used at specific frequencies and colors to induce hallucinatory imagery, these images melt together with the stroboscopic patterns generated in the video projection. While the installation relentlessly over-stimulate the audiovisual senses, the works open up and envelops the audience in a meditative and hypnotic zone where the spectator can dream away in the abstract worlds that pass.

U-AV was realized with the support of Sonic Acts Festival and was selected for SHAPE (Sound, Heterogeneous Art and Performance in Europe) and The Creative Europe program of the European Commission. Presented in collaboration with Fiber.