Electropixel

Electropixel: The Festival of Emerging Digital Cultures and Free Electronic Practices

Since 2011, the Electropixel festival has established itself as a must-attend event on the Nantes and European experimental art scene. Organized by APO33, a transdisciplinary artistic and technological laboratory founded in 1997 in Nantes, Electropixel draws its identity from the intersection of digital art, experimental music, performance, free software, and collaborative practices. The festival is part of an international network of electronic arts festivals including Piksel (Bergen), Pixelache (Helsinki), and other events in Europe.

A Radical and Transdisciplinary Program

Each edition of Electropixel offers a program structured around several axes:

• Electronoise Evenings: Concerts of noise, electroacoustic, and experimental music, and sound performances at Les Ateliers de Bitche, bringing together local and international artists in a raw and vibrant atmosphere.
• Performances and Installations: Intermedia artistic proposals combining sound, image, sculpture, code, and body in atypical venues like La Psallette, a historic crypt in the city center of Nantes.
• Workshops and Labs: Building modular synthesizers, introduction to free software for artists (Blender, PureData, GnuLinux, VCV Rack), circuit bending workshops, and DIY sound creation.
• Free Software Day: A day dedicated to free software and open digital practices, with demonstrations and exchanges.
• Exhibitions: Digital and sound art installations displayed at La Plateforme Intermédia and other spaces, freely accessible for several weeks.
• Conferences and Meetings: Round tables and theoretical discussions on the issues of digital art, alternative technologies, and contemporary critical practices.

Atypical Venues in the Heart of Nantes

Electropixel takes over several emblematic venues of the Nantes alternative scene:

• Les Ateliers de Bitche: Shared artistic space at 3 rue de Bitche, venue for Electronoise evenings and many performances.
• La Psallette: Historic crypt located at Impasse Saint-Laurent, in the city center, hosting workshops and performances in a unique architectural setting.
• La Plateforme Intermédia: Digital and sound creation space at 6 boulevard Léon-Bureau, on the Île de Nantes, home of APO33 and a festival exhibition venue.

A Commitment to Emergence and Free Software

True to the spirit of APO33, Electropixel champions a committed vision of digital art based on sharing, free software, DIY, and collaborative practices. The festival highlights emerging artists and practices often invisible in the institutional circuit, offering a space for free exchange and creation where programmers, hackers, inventors, sound artists, performers, and theorists from around the world meet. The majority of events are offered at a "prix libre" (pay-what-you-want) basis.