“Agnete & The Merman” has been described as “transcendental cinema.” A modern hallucination of music, the ancient augmentation of reality, our relationships - and our spaces - the theatre, the club, the empty warehouse. ‘Agnete and The Merman’ is a film adaptation of an immersive sonic theatre production created by the composer Cristian Vogel. The original staging happened at Godsbanen Theatre Aarhus in June 2017. The scenes for the film were shot on the set and edited by Canadian AV artists Tanya Goehring and Trevor Jacobson aka The Automatic Message. The story of Agnete and the Merman based on a supernatural Scandinavian folk ballad. Cristian Vogel’s sonic theater adaptation was originally commissioned by the Aarhus European Capital of Culture under its “ReThink” theme. Software controlled sound, light and live choreographic performance reframed scenes from the old ballad, as a modern, immersive and immediate music experience. The staged version ran for four nights and was well received by all who attended. The parallel film project represents an experiment into performative documentation, aiming to mediate the experience of the immersive staging for a wider audience. The music score of the film is an adaptation of Cristian Vogel’s original wave field synthesis score, but has been recomposed entirely in Higher Order Ambisonics at Notam Studio Sirius in Oslo. The film has been scored in 7.1 surround sound to capture the immersive environment of the live theatre production. The cinematographic content of the film captures in detail the sensations of the immersive theater performance, filmed on location with the performers using high definition cameras and lighting. The film was premiered in December 2017 on the famous ZKM Kubus spatial sound system, as part of the InSonic2017 official selection. It had its Danish premiere at Cinemateket (in 7.1 Surround Sound) as part of KLANG - Copenhagen Avantgarde Music Festival. Cristian Vogel (founder of NeverEngine Labs™) is a long-term innovator in the composition, mixing and performance of electronic sounds. Spanning over two decades at the vanguard of European electronic music, his work has been acknowledged as an outstanding influence in the fields of composition for stage, club culture and studio. From 2003 to 2011, during his residencies with the Gilles Jobin Dance Company in Geneva, he composed a number of scores for choreographed speakers or quadrophonic sound. Although known for his studio production and more conventional concert settings, he sees ‘Agnete’ as his first major creation for spatial sound using a hybrid technological and performative sound art approach. He has been working on the concept behind the piece since 2014. Cristian was born in Chile, grew up in the UK and now lives and works in Denmark. http://www.cristianvogel.com Canadian A/V artists The Automatic Message (Tanya Goehring and Trevor Jacobson) have been working together since 2006. They produce techno and experimental music, perform cinematic live audiovisual sets, direct music videos and create experimental films. The Automatic Message has released music with such labels as From 0-1 (USA), Crossing (Germany), Illegal Alien (Mexico) and Reclaim Your City (Germany). Their music videos have been screened internationally at various music video festivals and was nominated for a Berlin Music Video Award in 2014. The Automatic Message run their own annual music video festival in Vancouver – RENDER: The Vancouver International Music Video Festival. Since debuting live at the 2008 New Forms Festival in Vancouver, BC, they have performed across North America and Germany. They made their European debut at Berghain's Klubnacht in July 2013 and performed there again in July 2015. Both trips were made possible by the Canada Council for the Arts' music travel grant program. In June 2017 they travelled to Aarhus, Denmark to collaborate with Cristian Vogel to create their first feature length film: Agnete & The Merman. It is a 55 minute immersive sound, experimental dance film. https://www.theautomaticmessage.com