Playmodes is an audiovisual research studio that works with custom technologies and open-source tools where the mix of creativity, software, and hardware produce immersive installations, projection mapping, building lighting, digital set design, audiovisual instruments, and sound design.

Can you tell me about the project you're currently working on?

We've been going non-stop since late last summer after being completely shut down for two years due to the pandemic. Right now, we're totally committed to a kinetic sculpture project. It's an order from an Asian brand that is presenting the first electric automobile in their range of luxury cars. We're presenting it in three European cities simultaneously: Zurich, Munich, and London.

What are these installations like?

Maybe we could call them light in motion. They’re quite calm and kinetic. We've made two walls that frame the car with a series of modules that are LED profiles with three strips that slowly turn: one aiming upward, one downward, and one forward.

Could you tell us a little more about Playmodes? How did it all begin?

In the early 2000s we were part of the live electronic music and images scene Barcelona. We started working together on an interactive installation called Playmodes that ended up becoming the studio's name.

What role does everyone currently play?

EM: I'm an IT engineer, but at the beginning of my career I knew I was interested in the more creative side of the discipline. Eduard Frigola is an audiovisual systems engineer as well as a musician. He's the head of software development and the programmer.

SV: There's also Eduard Llorens, who studied architecture. He's responsible for implementing the plans for installations. He also handles logistical issues. Finally, there's me. My background is similar to Eloi and Eduard Frigola, but from an artistic side. I ended up studying graphic design through graffiti. At the same time, I entered the world of music through hip-hop.

What's your relationship with the Empordà?

Eloi came to live in Madremanya because he has a family home there. I reached a point where I got really tired of Barcelona. Since we don't need to be connected to the city because our stage is global, we came to the Empordà. It's beautiful, time is a bit more relaxed, and everything works better for us.

Where's a spot in the Empordà you like to explore?

Sant Cebrià de Lledó, a village in Cruïlles, a spot in the middle of the Gavarres where there's a restaurant that's been run by the same family for hundreds of years. It's perfect for a hike.

Getting back to your work, one of the "materials" that you work with most is light. What does light mean for you?

At the start, we explored the relationship between electronic music and live electronic imagery. We've been leaving the screen behind thanks to mapping, i.e., projection on buildings or on objects. It has been a relatively natural transition. We started complementing some of the mappings with light on parts of the building where we couldn't project. What we do is reinterpret spaces and enhance them to help people see them in a different way. It's a very abstract yet incredibly expressive subject with the ability to transform your perception of a space or your mood.

You work with open-source tools, but alongside TikTok dances, egocentric discussions on Twitter, and #foodporn on Instagram. Where's the technological utopia?

We were talking about the most catastrophic vision of all today actually. Television itself was a medium that could be used in a very intelligent way to help humanity, but it ended up turning into garbage. Social media could change the world, but it ended up being used very superficially. We rely on open source for software and hardware development, from the idea of being part of a community where knowledge can be freely exchanged. The potential is there. Unfortunately, it gets corrupted along the way.

Are there any possible or impossible projects you've set your sights on?

Creating music from the stars while aiming lasers at them. This is research under development that hasn't reached anywhere yet, but will in due course. We would also like to get to a point where our work is energy self-sufficient. We'll continue working in the Empordà because our relationship with nature and ecology, with all these living spaces, is important to us.