Robotfunk
Robotfunk AKA Jilt van Moorst is quite literally a multimedia artist. He started out as a DJ in the
80’s, then progressed onto music production and more recently focussed on VJing and doing
audiovisual performances, as well as programming and electronics. Not a rookie in the Dutch
scene, Robotfunk hopes to celebrate his 150th gig this year.
After his VJ debut in 1994 in Berlin, he has been trying to combine his various workfields and
interests by integrating them into projects such as the Robotfunk audiovisual performances,
diverse installations, organizing audiovisual events such as live.rel.nl and creating visual
performance software. After being involved in 2 VJ software projects, one of them the Epic
Generator, a project from VJ Geert Mul and V2_lab, he started working on Flowmotion, an video
performance instrument that allows people to improvise visually in a musical context. Flowmotion
is the first software that allows the VJ to synchronize the video loop to the music’s tempo.
Originally designed for his own performances, Flowmotion is currently used by VJs in over 40
countries, from Hong Kong to Colombia. After over 5 years of development, Flowmotion is now at
version 2.8 with version 3.0 expected this year.
Recent projects include developing video-matic, a project where people in the building
‘Mariendael’ in St Oetenrode can use a touchscreen interface to VJ with visuals by VJ Oxygen on
a 7 meter high window screen. The same interface is accessible from www.video-matic.nl so that
people can make VJ compositions and upload them to the building. Besides producing,
performing and developing, Jilt van Moorst teaches on various schools such as the Interactive
Multimedia & Visual Effects department of the Dutch Film & Television Academy.
Equally at home doing visuals for his own music as for artists such as The Orb’s Alex Patterson,
Carl Craig, Luke Slater, Islandic funk band Jaguar, or with free jazz improvisations, Robotfunk has
done VJ and audio/visual performances at clubs and events all over Holland as well as in
countries like England, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Greece, Croatia and Spain. A regular
performer in Amsterdam’s 12-screen ‘VJ Temple’ club 11, Robotfunk recently collaborated with
legendary director Peter Greenaway, on his first ever VJ set.
Musically as diverse as otherwise, Robotfunk takes elements of jazz, funk, electro, dub, ambient,
disco, and minimal house/techno and breaks and melts them into a twisted, delirious journey for
your booty as well as your brain. At live performance this is combined with a fresh visual mix of
retrofuturism, natural textures, all connected to the music in various ways such as syncing and
linking of visual parameters to audio characteristics, using his own custom soft and hardware to
make it a multisensory joyride.
In his VJ sets, Robotfunk benefits from his background as a DJ and producer by approaching
visuals in a musical way. Combined with the unique audio/MIDI responsive functionality in his
custom software, a Robotfunk visual show perfectly complements the music and the atmosphere
on the dancefloor.