VJ BunBun and Alex Vlair on Creativity and Collaboration at MUTEK Montréal 2023
BunBun, also known as Chelsea Liggatt, is a British-American-Canadian multimedia artist and performer renowned for their distinctive style characterized by vibrant colours, intricate textures, synchronised beats, and mesmerising holographic quality. Their artistic talents have graced the stages of numerous international festivals, concerts, conferences, and clubs, including shows at Bass Coast, HELLERAU — European Centre for the Arts, Jazz Fest, MUTEK Montréal & Tokyo, New City Gas, NODE — Forum for Digital Arts, Stereo Nightclub, SXM Festival, and WOMB Tokyo. Similarly, BunBun has had the privilege to share the stage with world-renowned musical artists such as Alicia Keys, Black Coffee, Bob Sinclar, Claptone, Gipsy Kings, and Phish.
Alex Vlair is a multidisciplinary 3D artist and VJ who creates work for music videos, installations, and events. He is interested in the boundary between the digital world and the real, working often with real-time content for events that bring people away from their screens and into social gatherings. He often works with music and musicians, not only exploring the relationship between sound and image but also as a simple admiration for the power music has to draw people together. His personal work gravitates towards dark, dreamlike themes with an underlying hint of ancient and esoteric symbolism. He strives to capture a sense of a deeper coherent meaning for humanity, using the allure of virtual worlds to draw the audience into the here and now.
For this instalment of the series of interviews we’ve dubbed Behind the Pixels, Jake Triola from Notch speaks with VJ BunBun and Alex Vlair about their recent performance at MUTEK Montréal 2023.
Jake: What are your backgrounds? How did you first become interested in motion graphics and performance (and everything else you do)?
Bun: My background is in graphic and media design, with completed studies at the University of Arts London, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Ringling College of Art and Design.
I’ve pursued my full-time passion for live visual performance because I strongly believe in co-creating ephemeral experiences that connect people through unique spaces while having a good time.
Alex: I’m a 3D Generalist from Calgary, Alberta. I started with A/V installations at the Alberta College of Art & Design, earning a BFA in Media Arts. I then went to France to study 3D character animation at Les Gobelins, followed by moving to Montréal, where I continued studying 3D content creation with the Centre NAD.
I discovered Notch while freelancing in A/V events; this transformed my interest in creating real-time content for performances instead of pursuing a career in animated feature films.
Jake: How did you originally come together to collaborate on this project?
Bun: I invited Alex to join me at this year’s edition of MUTEK Montréal. It was the first time we had ever performed together.
Alex: Chelsea, better known as VJ BunBun, plays a vital role in organizing VJ bookings across the city of Montréal. Thanks to her, we collaborated on a live performance for the first time during MUTEK Montréal’s 24th edition.
Jake: Tell us about your experience and history with MUTEK.
Bun: Since my debut at MUTEK Montréal in 2018, the organization has steadily supported my artistic endeavours. Their dedication has enabled me to perform in various locations, including MUTEK Japan and WOMB in Tokyo. The MUTEK organization also facilitated the dissemination of my work through esteemed partnerships with The NODE Institute and HELLERAU — European Centre for the Arts in Germany. I am immensely grateful for MUTEK’s ongoing support and encouragement.
Alex: I performed for the first time as an artist at MUTEK Montréal in 2022. Previously, in 2020, I teamed up with Transmission MTL to stream a hybrid MUTEK event using Notch.
Jake: Has Notch ever helped you overcome creative challenges?
Alex: Notch has been a lifesaver whenever I find myself in a creative pinch. One memorable instance was during my gig for the Vive Latino Festival in 2019. The festival organizers had a last-minute request for visuals to accompany a fireworks display scheduled for the next day. Ordinarily, this would have been an unattainable task, but I agreed to take it on, knowing that Notch would allow me to deliver on time.
Jake: For the completists, what other software do you use?
Bun: As a multimedia artist & VJ, I have experience with a wide variety of applications in addition to Notch, such as the Adobe Creative Suite, Blender, Chaser, Cinema 4D, disguise designer, MadMapper, Madrix, Max, Maya, Modul8, Onyx, Pangolin, Processing, Pure Data, Red Giant, Resolume, StageFlow, TouchDesigner, Unreal Engine… TL;DR jack of all trades.
Alex: As a 3D generalist, I also create a lot of content for advertising. My main tools for this purpose are Maya for hard-surface modelling and animation, ZBrush for organic modelling, Substance Painter for texture work, and Nuke and After Effects for compositing. I also use Solaris in Houdini for lighting and shading work with Arnold and Redshift. I have also been exploring using Unreal Engine as a real-time rendering engine.
Jake: What’s your current setup and process? How has this changed over the years?
Bun: Part of my process is to improve productivity and minimise latency, so my setup continually evolves to incorporate the latest technological advancements.
My performance gear includes an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series AERO 16 OLED BSF with an Intel Core i9 Processor and a backup RTX 30 Series AERO 15 OLED XC.
To keep my computers clutter-free, I store my files externally on a dedicated media storage server, a Synology NAS (DS1618+). Additionally, I make backups of my most cherished visual content on two external solid-state drives: the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro and a Samsung X5, which I take to every performance.
I rely on an Akai APC40 MKII controller for MIDI control, with an Akai MIDImix as a backup.
Alex: I work on a wide variety of projects, and my setup and process change from project to project. For anything VR, dome, large-canvas, or installation, Notch is my no-brainer go-to tool, and when I need to create assets, I use a Maya + ZBrush + Substance pipeline.
My desktop PC is a custom build equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 5950x CPU and an ASUS RTX 3090 GPU, housed in an nCase m1 to maximize portability, and my laptop is an ASUS TUF Dash 15 with an RTX 3070 GPU.
I use an Akai MIDImix controller for my live performances.
Jake: Who/what are your greatest inspirations?
Bun: Boxcat Studio, dandelion + burdock, Datagrama Visuals, Nohlab, Studio Drift, Studio Joanie Lemercier, Studio Moross, Volvox Labs, and, of course, my mom & dad. 🙂
Alex: I am a big fan of Anyma (Alessio De Vecchi & Matteo Milleri). They’re setting a new benchmark for audio-visual experiences in concerts along with other artists like Odezsa.
Jake: Before using Notch, what were your abilities to break free and improvise, and has that now changed?
Bun: I’ve always been a fan of generative content creation, and of all the real-time visual effects tools I’ve worked with, I find Notch to be one of the most intuitive and user-friendly. Plus, their support team is a delight to connect with.
Alex: Working in real-time means I know what the final result will look like as I make the content. Whereas in traditional CG workflows, you have to wait for the final render to be calculated, which can take minutes or even hours.
Jake: At the beginning of a production, how do you gauge the complexity of a project before you’ve started it? Do you know when you’ll be able to implement Notch?
Bun: I typically associate Notch with real-time dome content or if there’s an integration that requires disguise (D3) or a performance utilizing live camera feed(s) that calls for IMAG special effects.
Alex: I think of Notch for any project with a final output outside the standard 16:9 HD format. Whether it’s for the dome, VR, a projection-mapped installation, something that needs to run in real time, or just something very high-res with a low turn-around time, Notch is almost always the solution.
Jake: How much of your content is produced on-site? I assume this varies per project.
Bun: I started visual performance almost exclusively in real time. Nowadays, I have a diverse set of projects that call for different kinds of live performance or playback methods.
Alex: 99% of the content for a performance is created off-site. However, changes almost always happen once the content is seen on-site. Another significant advantage of working with real-time content is that adjustments are accessible.
Jake: Have you ever had a creative breakthrough in using Notch and implementing your process, and if so, what were the artistic/emotional implications of that?
Bun: Notch’s straightforward approach enables me to easily create, simulate, render, composite, edit, and play in real time.
Alex: I love Notch’s layer system. I use it in my dome shows to create real-time lighting sourced from my VJ content in a 3D environment. By separating my VJ content and the environment into different layers, I can pipe the former into the latter using a pre-comp node; this creates the impression that the sky is illuminating the environment.
Jake: Any audience reactions you’ve been particularly proud of?
Bun: 2022’s MUTEK MTL performance between me and Dauwd at Nocturne 4. I loved the crowd’s energy!
Alex: During my first dome show in 2019, and the first time I used Notch at the SAT, another artist approached me after the performance and exclaimed, “holy s***, man. You just flexed on everyone!”
Jake: That’s one of those great moments. I’m glad you got to experience it! Looking forward, where do you see this industry going in the next five or ten years?
Bun: The multimedia technology industry is poised for remarkable advancements in the next five to ten years, particularly with the potential emergence of superintelligence and artificial consciousness. These developments will transform how we engage with multimedia content and have far-reaching effects across multiple sectors.
Alex: The quality gap between real-time and pre-rendered content is constantly shrinking. In ten years, I believe “waiting for a render” will be a thing of the past, regardless of what content needs to be made. Real-time workflows are the future.
Jake: What’s your best advice for someone new to motion graphics, 3D art, etc. in general?
Bun: Learn to code and think in layers. See the bigger picture but focus on the details. Continuously strive to understand different perspectives. Negative space is positive. Be conscious of colour psychology. Master flow. And remember, stars can’t shine without darkness.
Alex: Learn how computers work and learn the principles of illustration and design. The best digital artist is the one who can understand an image like a Renaissance painter and understand a computer like a programmer.
A special thanks to VJ BunBun and Alex Vlair for taking the time to sit down and talk to us about their performance at MUTEK 2023. You can follow Bun here and Alex here.
