BLOT is an Indian collective that creates multimedia performances combining electronic music, visuals, art, and film. Formed in 2007, BLOT produces genres like minimal house and tech-house, and creates audiovisual shows featuring these genres. BLOT also makes music videos, films, and graphic designs. In 2010, BLOT plans to release music internationally and produce their first album, while expanding their multimedia work, performances abroad, and collaborations with other artists.

1. Electronic Music Interventions in India | 2010

2. Introduction
BLOT is an acronym for the Basic Love of Things, which is the essence of our
philosophy and is expressed through our experiments with Music, Film, Art &
Design.
Started in 2007 by Gaurav Malaker and Avinash Kumar, BLOT is a mixed media
performance collective that creates memorable experiences by transforming spaces
through live performances - comprising of sound, light, imagery and art.

3. Members
Avinash Kumar, 30, is a designer, visual artist, film maker and VJ, and is also one of
the founding members of the design + research firms - Quicksand,and BOX.
Gaurav Malaker, 25, is a musician and has been a DJ since he was 15, progressing to
producing electronic music after training with PointBlank studios, UK. He is also a co -
founder of Qilla Records - a new Techno label.

4. Overview of Work > Electronic Music
BLOT produces and performs several genres of electronic music with a present focus on minimal
house and tech-house. While the first 2 years have been used to experiment and articulate release
worthy sounds, 2010 promises to be a break out year for the music with releases slated for labels in
Germany and Europe and the first BLOT music album.

5. Overview of Work > AudioVisual Performances
BLOT creates multimedia environments for the appreciation of electronic music. This juxtaposition
of sound, visuals, spatial elements and concepts bring a new perception towards this form of
music, often acting as an inclusive force on audiences that otherwise might not favour it. In its
ideal state, with neither sound nor visuals leading the way, the viewer / listener is free to navigate a
larger aesthetic plane.

6. Overview of Work > Independent Films and Music Videos
BLOT believes in a mixed media culture that has resulted in several music videos and
independent films that will find their way into a debut AudioVisual DVD album in 2010.
Using several techniques touching traditional film making, stop-motion animation, motion
graphics and new media technology, the central aim is to create contemporary visual music
pieces and independent cinema that breaks with traditional approaches to creation and
publishing in India.

7. Overview of Work > Graphic Design
Seeing that the music scene, especially the club and electronic music scene was inundated with
fairly uninspiring graphic design for flyers, posters and communication, BLOT has concentrated on
making all aspects of electronic music experiences richer and relevant. While there is no financial
remuneration for this within traditional event budgets, these are important decisions that finally
create a body of work that is unified and hopefully inspiring over time.

8. Overview of Work > Professionalizing Electronic Music Experience Design
Having multi-disciplinary skills within BLOT has been critical in being able to professionalize the
dialogue with nightclubs, venues and sponsors. Unless bands and performers take this step, new
media such as electronic music and modern film will not gain respect in the eyes of these
stakeholders. What has been critical in the success of BLOT till now has been the ability to not only
perform at high standards, but also take up the ownership of creating new concepts,
communication design, promotion, documentation and sponsorships.

9. Overview of Work > Visual Art
What started as a graphic design exercise for events has now become an agenda for BLOT - the
exploration of visual ideas as independent content that can then be published either on soft media,
on print or on products such as apparel or youth culture artifacts. The realization that all forms of
content - tangible and intangible - support and enrich each other is core to the BLOT philosophy.

10. Overview of Work > Tangible Artifacts and Products
Starting mid 2010, a range of products that include T-shirts, print artifacts, lifestyle products and
published content (CDs, DVDs, Magazine) will be available for purchase through an online store
and a few retail touch-points. These products are not meant to popularize BLOT, but to create a new
stream of creative work that can express our journey better.

11. Overview of Work > Collaborations - 1
Using electronic music as the core, these collaborations push the boundaries of the audiovisual
performance, including projects that span graffiti and street art (with Vincent Bruno), immersive
outdoor environments (with Sattyananda), classical music jams (various artists), Indian classical
dance (Jayalakshmi Eshwar) and experimental video techniques (with Viktor Furiani). It is
important for BLOT to explore new territories constantly in order to reinvent their performance.

12. Overview of Work > Collaborations - 2
Moving beyond the realms of purely electronic music has been one of the side tracks for BLOT’s
work, as is seen in these collaborations with Indian and Western Classical Music and performers
from India and abroad. A significant performance here was at The Southbank Centre in London
with acclaimed beatboxer and flutist Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee in Sep 2009. These collaborations
expand the audience’s understanding of what the work of a creative collective like BLOT includes.

13. Overview of Work > Creating Festivals and Experiential Properties
One of the key understandings from the experiences of the past 2 years have been that for
significant transformation of the cultural environment, BLOT must create relevant cultural
properties / brands that can then attract the right composition of artists, audiences, venues and
sponsors. The TechnoDrome Urban Arts Festival is one such property started in early 2010 with
premier international artists, multiple venues and impactful set ups.

14. Overview of Work > Research and Explorative Projects - 1 | November 2008
B.L.O.T. was commissioned by the Design Biennale @ St. Etienne, France to create an AV
installation titled ‘The Sounds of Velocommerce’ which captured the sights and sounds of bicycle
based commerce in India. In collaboration with Quicksand Design Studio, B.L.O.T. also created a
rich media, online archive of images, sounds and films that can be accessed on www.velowala.org

15. Overview of Work > Research and Explorative Projects - 2 | March 2010
Views On The West Poster Design Exhibition > BLOT was invited to submit work to an exhibit of 50
posters made by graphic designers from India and the Netherlands, displaying interpretations of
views on the West from an Indian perspective. The poster (above left) was very well received by the
jurors and audience, and BLOT also performed at the launch of the Exhibition. (www.zeebelt.nl)

16. Overview of Work > Curation of Contemporary Art Experiences
Since 2009, BLOT has functioned as the strategic vision and curator for Mocha ArtHouse - an
experimental art gallery and cafe in New Delhi. Using its networks of artists and understanding of
Indian and Global contemporary art and culture, BLOT has been programming an exciting
schedule that includes some of the forerunners from the global arts scene.

17. Overview of Work > New Studio Spaces for Creative Expression + Consumption
BLOT has recently embarked on a mission to create new studio spaces that foster individual and
collective creative work. Inspired in part by visits to artists in Europe and encouraged by the rapid
growth of the creative economy in India, projects like BlotSquat (a studio / cafe ) and the new BLOT
sound production studio hold the keys to a productive future.

18. Overview of Work > Travel and Performances Abroad - Europe | Summer 2009
The first BLOT Europe tour was completely self-initiated with the intention of building new
relationships and understanding the environment for music and performances. Highlighted by a
successful performance at the legendary Bar25 in Berlin, this tour was catalytic in building
confidence and opportunities for the future.

19. Overview of Work > Travel and Performances Abroad - Germany | Spring 2010
BLOT recently completed from a tour of Berlin in collaboration with the Indo-German cultural
agency Culture-Must (India). BLOT performed in several new and legendary venues, and based on
the success of the performances, has been invited back to Berlin in the summer of 2010. Meetings
with agencies, labels and artists have fostered new opportunities for cross cultural exchange
through electronic music and the arts.

20. Overview of Work > Self Promotion, Bookings and Management
One of the critical decisions BLOT made in the early days was to be a self sustaining, independent
creative collective, which also meant that there have been no managers, bookers or promoters. This
has brought a better and deeper understanding of not just how to make all our content cohesive,
but also what our content means to various audiences.

21. Overview of Work > Press and Media Coverage
BLOT has been in the media eye consistently, but more importantly across diverse perspectives
such as the evolution of night experiences, music production, visual art and new culture.

22. THANK YOU!
www.blottin.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/blottin
www.soundcloud.com/blot
avinash@blot.in
+91-9818955338