Nato.0+55+3d


NATO.0+55+3d was a software application for realtime video and graphics, released by 0f0003 Maschinenkunst and the Netochka Nezvanova collective in 1999 for the classic Mac OS operating system.
Being one of the earliest applications to allow realtime video manipulation and display, it was used by artists for a large variety of purposes, prominently for live performance, VJing and interactive installation.
WWW eusocial.org/nato.0+55+3d...

Design

Running in the framework of Max, NATO.0+55+3d extended Max by allowing to access and manipulate all the media types that QuickTime supports. The functionalities included image generation, image processing, control over MIDI and numerical data, integration with Internet, 3D, text and sound.

History

At the time of its release, NATO.0+55+3d was in demand as it appeared several years before other similar infrastructures such as GEM and Jitter. Earlier software such as Image/ine developed in 1997 at STEIM was drawing in a similar direction, but the fact that NATO.0+55+3d was operating inside the Max/MSP framework, using its "visual programming" protocol, provided at the same time greater ease of use and more flexibility, allowing the user to create their own applications and tools. It gained popularity among video artists and performers, who were using it for a large variety of purposes, prominently for live performance and interactive installation.
The last version of NATO.0+55+3d modular was released in November 2000, while additional NATO objects were developed until June 2001.

Applications

Artists used the software to "manipulate video for live performance and installations". The flexibility of the interface provided artists with "a uniquely suitable environment for the creation of new synesthesiac applications and experiences" and "opened up tremendous possibillities for working with realtime video".
As NATO was distributed with a software development kit, several artists and programmers created third party extensions, or developed entire applications based on NATO, such as Johnny Dekam with VDMX or John Dekron.

NATO.0+55 pilots

Some of the most prominent users of NATO.0+55:
  • 242.pilots - live video improvisation ensemble, winners of the Transmediale award 2003 in the category "Image" for their video performance DVD Live In Bruxelles, released on the Carpark imprint in November 2002.
  • Farmers Manual - the Austrian collective was among the first artists to integrate NATO visuals into their performances. Their twelve-hour performance "Help Us Stay Alive", which was presented and awarded at FCMM festival in Montreal, October 1999, was using the NATO software. The group held a max/nato/pd workshop at Avanto festival in 2001.
  • fiftyfifty.org - media art collective based in Barcelona. Its members Pedro Soler and Mia Makela were very active promoters of NATO, organizing numerous workshops and using the software in live performance.
  • Johnny Dekam - founder of VIDVOX. Used NATO to create 'Revision History', an artistic software that autonomously downloads and transforms images from the Library of Congress' Database. His commercial VJing software VDMX was originally based on NATO.0+55.
  • The Builders Association - American multimedia theater company. Used NATO for their piece Xtravaganza, performed in 2000 at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the New York Guggenheim Museum. During the piece, "live actors keyed into old movie footage".
  • - Japanese audiovisual duo. Made extensive use of NATO.0+55 in their video installations and live shows, at locations including ISEA, sónar and ICC Tokyo. Gave a NATO workshop at Kyushu Institute of Design in 2001.
  • N3krozoft Ltd - This multimedia art collective was using NATO.0+55 in live performances and video installations up to 2004.
  • Fork Unstable Media - German design team. Did an installation using NATO at Sónar 2000. Created shprootC3ll, a freeware videomixer built with NATO, in 1999.
  • John Dekron - developed the first version of his commercial VJing software ES_5 with NATO.
  • Meta - produced numerous videos and internet applications built with NATO.
  • Rene Beekman - used NATO.0+55 in a number of collaborative performance projects, including Route with Bruce Gremo, and with Xavier van Wersch at Dot Nu and at the International Media Art Festival, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Workshops

Significant workshops centered on the use of NATO.0+55+3d were held from 2000 through 2002 at many art institutions and festivals:

Workshops held in 2000

  • Bergen
  • Paris
  • Rotterdam

Workshops held in 2001

  • Sheffield
  • New York
  • Leipzig
  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona, Stralsund
  • Paris
  • Helsinki
  • Fukuoka/Japan

Workshops held in 2002

  • Stuttgart
  • Amsterdam
  • Paris
  • Berlin
  • Newcastle/Australia