Kosen Solar
Kosen Solar is formed by Sergio S. Ferreira and Frank Beekman,
Frank and Sergio started working together in 1995, at the time Sergio was a new media researcher for Riverland, part of MIT’s Media Lab TVoT (Television of Tomorrow) consortium and Frank co-founded Arkaos.
They met at a new media conference, Frank exposing the Arkaos´ software prototype of the first midi driven realtime visual sampler and Sergio showcasing the early steps in web tv animations with Macromedia Director.
Since both had similar interests and sharing a common background in the Belgian Electronic music scene, Frank as a techno record producer and Sergio as lighting artist for various legendary clubs, they had to work together.
Their first project in 1996 was in collaboration with Arkaos co-founder JC Deep, Frank and JC produced the soundtrack for Sergio´s MTV advert for Wave Magazine.
After an article in Keyboard magazine on the Arkaos software, they received a phone call from the Jean Michel Jarre management asking if they could produce a demo. Sergio with the backing of Riverland´s editing suits and Frank and JC armed with the Arkaos software quickly produced a convincing demo, which landed Arkaos a contract to produce and perform live visuals for all Jean Michel´s concerts. This led to Sergio leaving Riverland and joining Arkaos to work the Jean Michel Jarre projects including the Oxygen Tour and the 850th birthday celebration of the city Moscow, 3.5 million people assisted live at the event.
After such an enormous exposure, the demands to consult and work for various live acts kept coming in, names included David Bowie, Beastie Boys, Pulp, ….
One of the demands came from,.. Daft Punk who had just celebrated their number one hit “Around the world” and were ready for a world tour featuring state of the art sound, lighting and visuals. This was an instant match for Frank and Sergio, who were delighted to be back to their techno and clubbing roots.
Frank and Sergio helped define the lighting design in close collaboration with LD Gordon Roberts, designed the stage and video setup, produced all the visual content which they performed live during each show.
Following their 1997 performance at the Mayan in L.A. Variety Magazine wrote :
In 2019 Sérgio and Frank reconnect after almost 20 years of each following their own path, they finally join again and form Kosen.Solar,a production project, working across various media to produce audio visual performances and installations. The use of photovoltaic cells to generate sound has been a common characteristic shared by Kosen Solar projects, Kosen Solar is slowly evolving and growing towards being a broader platform / label.