ELELE

(hand in hand)

At times psychedelic at times meditative, ELELE is a sensory and intuitive VR experience featuring only your hands.

With music from renowned electronic musician Max Cooper, it invites you(r hands) to take part in a dance performance and explore the beauty of your movements. Listen to the music and let your hands lead the way. Dance as big and loud as you want or as small and simple as you want. You’re only expected to bring an open mind. But beware, things may get a little out of hand…

An Institute of Time production, ELELE is the directorial debut of Dutch artist Sjoerd van Acker (aka No Fish).

Director’s Notes

Without giving too many spoilers, I wanted to create a fun VR experience that encourages the user to be unpredictable and creative but also lets them find connections with others through music and dance. People create artwork with their hands. In ELELE your hands become the artwork. By focusing on an “instrument” that we all have, I believe that ELELE reignites the childlike wonder of looking at your hands, rediscovering how even the most simple and mundane movements can be beautiful. Just like ancient cave paintings, ELELE continues to explore a fascination that's thousands of years old.

TEAM

CREATOR / Technıcal lead

Sjoerd van Acker (1997) was born in the Netherlands, but was brought up in various places in Africa. He studied Image and Media Technology at the University of the Arts Utrecht. He started experimenting with VR during an internship at a theater group that has done pioneering XR work. After graduating, he started working under the name NO FISH as a Creative Technologist, creating virtual exhibitions and VR experiences for museums and artists. ELELE is his directorial debut he developed at Biennale College Cinema VR.

PRODUCerS

Fırat Sezgin is a producer working in Film and in New Media with a background in producing feature length films as well as documentaries. After graduation from Emerson College (2011) with a BA in Producing for Film, he returned to Istanbul where he worked in different positions in various productions. In his last five years in Istanbul he joined the largest Turkish studio BKM, where he worked in national and international licensing & distribution as well as more than 20 co-productions. He co-founded Institute of Time to work on independent projects including 3 feature creative documentaries. His last VR work Floodplain premiered in Venice Film Festival. His latest documentary co-production world premiered in the IFFR 2020. He now resides in the Netherlands.

Ecegül Bayram is a producer with a passion for social sciences. She holds a BFA in Film & TV from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a minor in Politics. Her first VR producing work “ELELE” won the Biennale College Cinema VR Production Grant in 2022. Her previous works have premiered at festivals such as Venice, SXSW, IDFA, Hot Docs, Dok Leipzig and more.

Musıc

Max Cooper has carved a unique space as an audio-visual artist with a science PhD and an international reputation as a leading electronic musician.

His work carries an emotional resonance and sensory immersion, often focusing on humanity’s place in the world. He merges electronic music and visual art with scientific enquiry through installations, live performance, immersive audio-visual experiences, a range of digital media and award-winning music videos.

Art dırectors

Tolga Tarhan is a visual artist based in New York. Originally from Istanbul, he studied classical painting in Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia in Italy and graduated from Painting Department of Mimar Sinan Academy of Fine Arts. He’s been working as an illustrator, animator, and motion designer since 2012. He’s founded his design studio Off the Grid Creative in New York, had the chance to work with major global companies as a designer and animator. He’s a proud member of Society of Illustrators USA and SILA.

Gamze Yavuz is a creative producer and co-founder of Off the Grid Creative, a design studio based in Brooklyn, NY. After working in the film industry in her hometown Istanbul for over a decade, she teamed up with animator and designer Tolga Tarhan in 2017 and she’s been living and working in the US, collaborating with clients such as Google, Sony, New York Knicks, LA Times and UEFA.