A witch, pixie, elf and alien will keep you company at the bar

Tonight, Zenzi Mills transforms into a visual paradise as DJ duo Helium Project team with &Then, a new media art and design think tank to help you wash your drink down with a narrative-cum-film pieced into a visual showcase to create a multi-sensory experience. And it's FREE

At first, to watch a surgeon whose real passion is art, paint with human blood on a mammoth projector screen, may seem lurid and masochistic and somewhat beyond general human understanding. But, when clubbed with seven other fantastical characters including an elf, pixie, joker, witch and an alien into a film of sorts, where each one acts out their own story depicting either a happy or dark emotion to the beat of music, it can be captivating at the very least. To add to the histrionics, "These characters will be present in costume at the venue, when their sequence is being played," says Soham Sarcar, co-founder &Then.

For most clubbers in the city, visual art is a fairly unexplored addition to nightlife, so, understanding what this film will do to your weekend booze-binging will demand an open mind. "When you are clubbing, the music manages to activate one sense, your sense of hearing. But, when visualsu00a0 complement music, your visual senses are stimulated. Visuals are dimmed or made to move faster as per the music. We can make people dance with visual jockeying," adds Soham.

&Then, co-founded by Soham, Meera Adhia and Vikram Soodu00a0 provides new media design solutions to a range of clients. Visual jockeying is what they dabble in after work, usually after 10 pm. Their office space atu00a0 Mahim doubles up as a party hub where they experiment with a live visual editing skill set, which only a handful in the country have mastered. "A few clubs in Mumbai have assigned a resident video jockey, but these places don't edit the images live.

They are played in loop like a playlist, like the kind you see on music softwares Winamp or Real Player," Soham says. What &Then specialises in is live editing of images they have produced, to sync them with music, using a software called Resolume. This demands that the VJs stay on their toes, without blinking or missing a beat to ensure uninterrupted harmony between music and visuals.

"So, for this film too, though everything has been shot and produced in advance, it will come together spontaneously only when the live DJ set is played by Helium Project." &Then has performed at spots like Bling, Dragonfly and Mumbai Times Cafu00e9 in the last year, but always with progressive and minimal house DJ duo Arijit and Promode of Helium Project; they work well with the 4x4 beat of this genre's bassline, they tell us. To create a different event each time around, the group collaborates with filmmakers, fashion designing students from NIFT and other friends to brainstorm about concepts and styling.

What to expect tonight

A narrative, performance art, visual art, a filmu00a0a mixed media event that &Then is creating will see Soham Sarcar, Rahul Sureka, Swapnil Rao and Shirish Mishra as video jockeys and as "live light artists" who enhance the experience with the use of LEDs and neon lights. The actors who will be projecting eight surreal characters will be present at the venue, styled as they are on film. All the content that the team has produced, shot and styled will be streamed and the VJs will edit it live in conjunction to the music, their main cue. You might just end up sharing a bar stool with a witch, as visuals mix, turntables spin and the crowd bounces in an art-frenzied environment rocking with relentless energy.

Where else can I experience visual jockeying in Mumbai?
>Poison, 001/b, Krystal, 206 Patkar Marg, Waterfield Road, Bandra (W). Call: 26423006
>Blue Frog, Mathuradas Mills Compound, opposite Kamala Mills, Lower Parel. Call: 40332300

Catch DJ duo Helium Project and VJs &Then tonight, 10.30 pm onwards at Zenzi Mills, Todi Mills Compound, opposite Kamala Mills, Tulsi Pipe Road, Lower Parel.
Call: 43455455.
Entry: free

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