Presentation at MUTEK Buenos Aires.
Festival
MUTEK ES+AR, Buenos Aires, Argentina — 2023
Information
Mettapana works at the intersection of generative art, creative coding and musical composition; his work explores the dialogue between technology, sound and image as a contemplative practice.
Festivals & Residencies
Mettapana has left its mark on a wide range of festivals including MODULAR (HN) Domo Experience and MUTEK ARGENTINA/SPAIN. He has participated as Artist in Residence at MAB «La Maison André Breton» in France, and exhibited at Creative Code Festival in New York and BRIFW in Brazil. His presence has been recurrent in festivals and artistic residencies across Europe and America.
Artistic Vision
Inspired by the macro and micro universes of nature, his experiences invite immersion in diverse landscapes represented through live visuals of generative and interactive art. Technology is applied to performing arts, where visual compositions render in real-time, interacting audio-reactively with live instruments like bandoneon, piano, and modular synthesizers.
Background
Nicolás is a digital visual artist and musician with over 15 years of trajectory. Recognized as a cultural activist, he has worked in prominent spaces like Archibrazo in Buenos Aires and is the co-founder of Cultura Guacamaya in Tegucigalpa. METTAPANA is the project that reunites all these experiences, where sound design, programming, and visual creations coexist.
Musical Roots
Trained at the Leopoldo Marechal Conservatory and EMBA, he studied Recording Engineering and Music Production at Inartec. A self-taught bandoneon player since 2009, he has toured Europe and South America with groups like MIL ABRAZOS and BICICLETA TRÍO, and composed for dance-theater projects like 'Permiso para pisar un mundo' in Medellín.
Detailed Biography
Coming from a family of designers and musicians, Nicolás has been drawing in 3D using parametric software for the industry since a very early age. Today, he merges this technical background by creating and programming his own artistic visuals.
METTAPANA emerged as the convergence point of his journey, where sound design, musical arrangements, programming, and visual creations coexist. The project debuted in 2017 as a concert format (guitar, keyboards, and bandoneon) and stands out for the real-time processing and deconstruction of the bandoneon’s sound—an instrument rarely explored with digital technology.
He studied guitar at the Leopoldo Marechal Conservatory and EMBA, and Recording Engineering and Music Production at Inartec. He also trained with Ricardo Pellican (Gypsy jazz) and Alejandro Kitay (Tango and Folk). In 2009, he discovered the bandoneon and taught himself to play, eventually joining traditional Buenos Aires orchestras like the Orlando Goñi School, playing in historic milongas in San Telmo. With his groups MIL ABRAZOS and BICICLETA TRÍO (resident band at the Archibrazo milonga, a venue declared of National Cultural Interest), he toured Europe (2015) and South America (2013/14).
In 2016, he composed the music for the dance-theater project “Permiso para pisar un mundo” in Medellín (Colombia) alongside Juancho Valencia and Eduardo González, performing at the Teatro Pablo Tobón Uribe. His performance work and interactive installations have been exhibited at MODULAR (Honduras), MUTEK (Argentina/Spain), ArtLab (Buenos Aires), Creative Code Festival (New York), and residencies at the Maison André Breton (France).
Contact
mettapanasound@gmail.com
Km 5.5 cta a Valle de Ángeles, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Social
Code, Sound, and Image as a Contemplative Practice.