Polar Inertia: Multidisciplinary artists of the techno-underground scene

During the 16th International Image Festival - ISEA2017, we were able to speak with a representative of Polar Inertia, a multidisciplinary group from the French underground techno scene. Within the framework of the Colombia-France Year, Polar Inertia opened Nuits Sonores Colombia in Manizales with a concert on Friday, June 16. We asked him about the history of this mysterious group and his experience in Colombia.

• Good morning Polar Inertia, welcome to the International Image Festival – ISEA2017.

Good morning.

• Tell us how the Polar Inertia project was born

It is a long story. It started when I was in Fine Arts, in 2010. I played music with a friend and we were looking for a musical identity and some concepts. At that time, we were both reading a French author named Paul Virilio, who has written several books, including one called “L'inertie polaire” (Polar Inertia). For us it was a fantastic title, we saw a lot of images behind it, and finally I entrusted this title to a science fiction author who started writing a story but had nothing to do with the original title by Paul Virilio. We had the idea of creating records for this story that we had developed in five chapters. Each chapter unfolds a part of the story through a sound track where the narrator tells the story of Polar Inertia.

• How long has Polar Inertia been around?

6 years ago.

• If we search for Polar Inertia on Google, it is difficult to find information. Why do they want to be so mysterious?

I don't know. From the beginning, we were several people working on Polar Inertia, with an open structure. We have received many people who produced pieces under the collective name of Polar Inertia. Both the texts and the videos, the installations or the music that we have produced share a common aesthetic that we bring together under the Polar Inertia label that is voluntarily vague and indefinite. We want to be open to crazy things, to have no limits.

• Is it usually two?

Very quickly we started working with other people. My friend and I make the music. Then we worked with this science fiction writer and another friend who is a videographer. Also with a photographer friend and another who was my old philosophy teacher when I was in Fine Arts. Little by little, we had more than a dozen people who contributed to each of our projects.

• Do you only do performances or do you have other projects?

We have various forms of expression. I'm in charge of the techno side, but we also do exhibitions, text and image publications in magazines and artistic fanzines. We also have installations at festivals or in galleries. We are multidisciplinary.

• Regarding your experience here, is it the first time you come to Colombia? How about?

He had come twice before. What do I think of the country? It's a bit crazy but people are very enthusiastic about this music, more than in many other places. I think there is a real joy and a great response from the public for what we do. I speak of myself as of other artists in the same vein as us. I had already played in Pereira and other places like Medellín and Bogotá.

• How was the process to participate in Nuits Sonores Colombia?

They are people I have known for a long time. I have already participated in several previous editions of Nuits Sonores in Lyon. We are a band of artists, we know each other well, and this all came naturally.