Nokta

Bulat Galeev is a scientist and artist from Tatarstan, who stood at the origins of the Russian media art. He was a member of the Soviet experimental association called the Prometey Research Institute. His modern successors Moscow-based S E T U P studio made a series of laser projections in Almetyevsk, which are devoted to research of laser projections, nature and visual code of the town.

In the early 60s «Laboratory 26a» was established on the base of the Kazan Aviation Institute. Later it was renamed into the Prometey Research Institute as a tribute to Alexander Scriabin's poem, the first writing ever with a lighting plot. «Prometey» founders were inspired by abstract ideas of Wassily Kandinskiy, which were formulated by Anatoly Lunacharsky: «The music of colour, symphony of patterns and linear melodies is quite conceivable, especially in fusion with the music of sounds».

The Prometey Research Institute invented music-light devices that react to sounds by changing their glow. They also created the USSR's first media installations, and scientists also conducted experiments in the field of light architecture. A graduate of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics Bulat Galeev joined the team of the Research Institute from the first years of its existence and soon became the head of the laboratory.

Bulat Galeev (1940–2009) is a physician, engineer, constructor, pioneer of Russian media art and specialist in the synthesis theory of various types of arts.

Galeev kept a lively correspondence with Western artists and composers, adherents of scientific progress Nicolas Schöffer, Frank Malina, Yanis Ksenakis, Lev Termen and Stelarc. For half a century he created a number of great projects that have influenced contemporary media art. For instance, he made an installation called «The dogs bark, but the camels move on», where a computer drawn big camel walked slowly to the music «Bolero» by Maurice Ravel. Under the screen with the camel there was another screen with a synchronously barking dog.

Another cult work is the automated system «Man-machine»: there was a light-music performance on the screen, which appeared there only when the system worked normally. When the system failed, the performance was displaced. The installation called «Mellow Chime» illuminated the walls of the Kazan Kremlin's belfry in proportion to the volume of the bell.

Moscow-based crew installed a staged light projection on the walls of the local heating station area (APTS №2). Seven lasers installed outside the station area project five scenes on the walls of the building, which are devoted to the topics of nature, energy, digital art, local visual code and the art studio heritage. Scenes change automatically and are played at night.

Significance of this artwork is encoded in its name. From Tatarian «nokta» means a dot, or a point. It is a word which derived from the Arabic language. In philosophy the term «point» stands for the intersection of the conceivable and the visible. It is the basement of the whole ground, it is the beginning and the end. Point on the world map is the place endowed with a special visual code and culture. A point in space and plane is an abstract object, lying in the ground of any geometric figure. Comprehending all the mentioned meanings of the word, S E T U P studio artist Pavel Zmunchila explains: «A laser beam is almost the same point, which can move in space at a high speed. The result of its moving we recognize as a complex geometric pattern, which in fact can be seen on the installation». The laser projection made with a multitude of abstract points becomes a symbolic beginning of the artistic comprehension of the surrounding space: its visual culture and physical position.

Pavel Zmunchila has founded S E T U P studio together with Dmitriy Znamensky and Stepan Novikov in 2018. Participants are engaged in light design and they work in the field of technological art. They are involved in constant search for new connections between light and sound. They also explore the expressive possibilities of the latest visual programming languages. The main goal of S E T U P is to create installations and multimedia artworks that can sharpen the physical perception of surrounding things.

The crew has worked with light and special visual context for Maxim Didenko's «Norm» stage play. They also participated in the «Here and Now» exhibition in the Moscow Manege and created installations for «Signal» and «Alfa Future People» festivals. S E T U P took part in the decoration of many events for the Moscow club «Mutabor».