Ongoing Projects

︎︎︎ Interior (2022-)

        Interior is a Madrid based record label focused on exploring the symbiotic relation between visual and sound creation through the concepts of pseudonym and self perception. It was founded as part of my Bachelor Thesis, but, following the label’s second anniversary, the project has grow exponentially. Our first release was a compilation called “United We Stand” were I proposed musicians from the experimental electronic scene, both from Spain (Madrid, Valencia & Barcelona) and from other parts of Europe (Paris, Berlin & Helsinki) to release songs under an alternative moniker. This proposal was formulated as an attempt to explore the relevance our name has in both our creative process and our self-awareness. This compilation was the result of my previously mentioned Bachelor Thesis, called “United We Stand: Graphic & Sound Creation through Pseudonym & Self-Perception”, we conducted a research in a variety of fields: research about the genesis of experimental electronic music, with a heavy focus on Ambient & Avant-Garde music and its pioneers. The compilation was edited in a physical edition of a hundred cassettes; each casette possesed a unique methacrylate figure attached to it, with was procedurally generated as an attempt to understand physicallity in contemporary music as uniqueness.
        As part of the label thesis, we have also founded Club Kommunal, a Madrid based club focused on not only building a strong community around electronic music, but taking care of the individuals which create this community and the places it develops within. Despite me being the prommoter, curator & graphic designer, this club is made possible by the community: all the djs are friends and the scenography is made by a group of architects developing projects with similar goals as us. We have also recently edited Helsinki based sound artist Murrettumeri’s brand new EP “Back Life”, an euphoric compendium of trance anthems.
This collaboration attempts to create a bond between the Finish & Spanish experimental electronic communities through mutual aid and colaboration, which is my main goal with Interior: community, colaboration, communication & conceptualization.
        I also curate a series of digital mixes called Chronically Online, which both promotes local talent from Spanish and connects international communities (we recently edited a mixes from Wa?ste, a prominent figure in the Japanese experimental music scene, whom is part of Genome 6.66Mbp, one of Asia’s most promminent electronic music labels and a heavy influence in what I do).  
        Our last event was LAGR(I)MAL, organized with another Madrid based label called Lágrima. I curated the event line-up with some of my favourite artists from both Madrid and Valencia; they are some of the most avant-garde and gender blending artists in the electronic music scene right now, and it was a privilege to have them in our event. We also did the production of the event, which took place in Espacio Nueva Carolina (Madrid) last 10.02. I did the poster design with Olga Siglo Eterno, a Madrid based artist specialized in fabric printing.

︎︎︎ Malware Acoustics (2023-)

        MW-A is a self-initiated project born as a response to the need of creating third spaces in Madrid. I curate, research and organize events and projects with a group of designers, artists, musicians and architects which aim to create an alternative way of approaching the spaces left behind by the nightlife and cultural industry in Madrid. Malware Acoustics is also used as a placeholder name for this network of independent artist to create artworks, exhibitions and research projects without a non-profit approach to culture.
        The launching of this project took place on July 9 in Madrid, at a secret location, consisting of a listening and viewing party of five sets curated by local artists. With this event, Malware Acoustics aims to give voice and shine the spotlight on emerging artists from the world of music and video creation who inhabit the peripheries of these disciplines and perhaps do not have the recognition they should due to the elitist creative system in which we live. In addition to trying to support all these artists, Malware Acoustics tries to provide specific places, spatialities that move away from the classic “room set” or gallery programming, and that allow the participants to play freely with the new locations and its characteristics and conditions.
        Malware Acoustics arises from these needs. “MW-A” (shortened name) is an anti-disciplinary creative collective, focused on being able to provide an outlet for all creative initiatives that want to be part of the project. Originally, it was created as an excuse to address the programming of the second Interior party due to its involvement in the musical field but also due to the interest of its original members in the city, urban planning, public space and the possibilities that it has linked to citizen action. In this case, MW-A would be in charge of curating the event covering all disciplines, from music programming to space research. Precisely, this pseudo party or celebration arises from the need for Interior, the record label behind the programming, to be able to find a location, a place in accordance with the concept with which the proposal was born.
After having organized the label’s launch party in the first quarter of the year in a conventional hall, Interior was able to observe that both the feedback from artists and the public had been excellent, while the management of the place did not stop having problems and problems regarding payments, schedules and occupation. Because of this phenomenon, Interior decided that the next party it launched could not take place until an environment more consistent with the label and its discourse was found. The party took place in the middle of the Madrid summer. It was a complete success, with a great reception from the public in all aspects. This good result has made MW-A’s intention to continue programming creative activities.


︎︎︎ I Refuse to be Sentient (2021-)
 

  I Refuse To Be Sentient is an ongoing investigation based on In Defense of the Poor Image, published by Hito Steyerl in 2009.   Focused on exploring the implications of what we consider “High Quality” or “High Definition” in a digitally driven artistic approach, this research tries to reconsider and spotlight the history behind the poor quality image. It can mean circulation (each time an image is reposted or screenshoted it looser quality), desinformation (parts of the image have been modify and context has been lost), or contemporary communication (once a image is recontextualized or turn into a meme, poor quality is understood as a intrinsic quality of the image). I do not condone Steyerl’s opinions on Palestine or any other political topic. Palestina libre. 
https://d2w9rnfcy7mm78.cloudfront.net/17756367/original_4666bf14bafb99a571ef4a764002a568.jpg?1661475314?bc=0 (image 1) is an installation done for Un Circo En La Ciudad @ Cutto (October 2022, Madrid) as part of the research of I Refuse To Be Sentient. The piece consisted of a 310x140cm woven poster which was on display for a day at Cutto, an art gallery located in Madrid, as part of a collective exhibition organized by some of Madrid’s most talented young artists. The installation also consisted of a poster only accesible through the link display in the woven poster, which consist of a reinterpretation of the poem “Two-Headed Calf” by Laura Gilpin. Poor Image Aftermath (image X) is also a poster done as part of this research. Inspired by Hito’s text and John Wilson’s “How to with John Wilson” TV Show, I documented one mural displayed in Estrella metro station in Madrid. This mural has been there my whole life, and I’ve been in that station for almost everyday for the past years: going to school, uni, work... but I never paid attention to it, considering it part of the daily scenary. Inspired by one of Wilson’s episodes, in which he investigates the Mandela effect, I decided to take a picture of the mural each time I pass by it on my way to work for a month. It was a extremely interesting process in which ideas about immediacy, consuption and authorship arose. To dive deep into this process, and contrasting the one month process of documenting the mural, I took screenshots of each frame from a maimai gameplay video; maimai is a japanese rythm game in which every frame counts, every move can be game over. Poor Image Aftermath was selected as part of the International Poster Competition by INTL, and was publish in their International Poster Book 8 (2023) as well as exhibited in Olympia Gallery.


Freeform image researcher from Madrid.



Residencies & Awards

Radio Relativa (AW21-SS22, Madrid)
??? Summer School (Summer 2023, Estonia)
PIA Selected as part of INTL International Poster Competition (2023)










+ Info

Past Experience: N-Ei (✣✼)
                                Deutsche & Japaneri (✼❈)

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Last Update: March 2024.

Currently not open for commisions.
Portfolio available under demand.


tristan-toa@proton.me
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❈:  2024
✼:  2023
✣:  2022
⁂:  2021
✲:  2020

AT 2024 ︎