242.pilots was a live video improvisation ensemble consisting of HC Gilje

HC Gilje

HC Gilje is a Norwegian artist who works with realtime environments, installations, live performance, set design and single channel video....

 (no), Kurt Ralske

Kurt Ralske

Kurt Ralske is an American visual artist and musician. He is the former singer and guitarist in alternative rock band Ultra Vivid Scene.-Biography:During the mid-eighties, Ralske was a guitarist in the bands Nothing But Happiness and Crash....

 (us) and Lukasz Lysakowski (pl), which performed at various international festivals and venues 2001-2004.

Utilizing their own custom software, 242.pilots expressively improvise rich, layered video works in real-time (both as a trio, and as soloists). The performance software created by Gilje, Lysakowski, and Ralske allows video to be controlled on-the-fly in a fluid and expressive manner. Improvising as a group, the three artists respond to and interact with each other's images in a subtle and intuitive way. Images are layered, contrasted, merged, and transformed. The degree of interplay and unspoken communication between the artists is akin to the best free jazz ensembles.

242.pilots invited various musicians to create the live soundtrack for the performance. Collaborators have included Justin Bennett (uk/nl) , Kelly Davis (us), Tim Hecker

Tim Hecker

Tim Hecker is an electronic musician and sound artist based in Montreal, Canada. Hecker previously recorded under the moniker Jetone, but has become better known internationally for his ambient recordings released through Kranky, Mille Plateaux, Alien8, Force Inc, Staalplaat, and Fat Cat under his...

 (ca).

In 2002 they released a dvd on new york label Carpark Records

Carpark Records

Carpark Records is an American independent record label based in Washington, D.C. .-Signed artists:* 242.pilots* Beach House* Cloud Nothings* Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez* Belong* Casino Versus Japan* Class Actress...

, based on a performance recorded in Brussels. The following year the dvd won the image award at Transmediale

Transmediale

transmediale is an annual festival for media art and digital culture taking place for one week in February in Berlin, Germany. The festival engages in reflective, aesthetic and speculative positions in between art, technology and culture...

 in Berlin.

Discography

• "242.pilots live in Bruxelles", (DVD,Carpark Records, cprk21,2002)
• "Wanna Buy a Craprak?", appear on(cd compilation,Carpark Records, cprk23,2003)

Selected performances

• Guggenheim, Bilbao march 2004
• MUTEK
  Mutek
  Founded in 2000, MUTEK is an international festival organization dedicated to the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts. Its central platform is an annual five-day event in Montreal that takes place in late May and early June...
  
  ,Montreal may 2003
• The American Museum of Moving Image, New York City may 2003
• Transmediale, Berlin feb 2003
• Ultima Festival, Oslo oct 2002
• Taktlose Festival, Bern sep 2002
• Galapagos,New York City jun 2002
• Petite Theatre Mercelis, Brussels feb 2002
• club transmediale
  Club transmediale
  The annual CTM Festival festival is a music and visual arts event held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1999, the festival originally focused on electronic music, but has since evolved to cover a wide range of genres under the banner "festival for adventurous music and related visual...
  
  , Berlin feb 2002
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal oct 2001
• Impakt Festival,Utrecht oct 2001
• Steim Institute, Amsterdam oct 2001