by LORRAINE CARPENTER

In a city so rich with techno talent, where international artists and audiences converge to soak in our progressive sounds and visuals every spring and summer, you'd think there'd be ample sensory sustenance to overload on the whole year round. With Supernova01, the first of four minimal-techno/ maximal-visual events to take place over the next year or two, Patrick Trudeau hopes to fill the gaps between the MUTEK, MEG and Elektra festivals, the summertime Picnik Electronik parties and sporadic I Love Neon events, and to experiment with multimedia environments.

"This is really where the freshest, most innovative electronic music is happening, and I wanna push the limits of what's being done with sound and imagery," says Trudeau, an employee of Aria Nightclub and a former indie film director.

"My appreciation for cinema and passion for electronic music led to video mix, which I consider a fresh take on film, almost a new medium. Images can support sound and create an effect of synesthesia that makes it easier to either lose yourself in the party or discover something introspective and cerebral."

Trudeau has invited les Passagers to contribute their award-winning VJ skills to Supernova01, while the Maya Mind Machine will premiere a video project and double as DJs. Mateo Murphy will take his turn at the tables along with jet-setting DJ and label-head Jay Haze. Haze's experimental glitchno imprint, Contexterrior, is represented locally by Pheek, who will follow Swiss techno-pop artist Popshop with a live performance.

In conceiving this inaugural event, Trudeau is looking ahead by collaborating with avant-garde artists, as well as looking back to the parties that inspired his initial immersion in the local scene.

"There used to be some overlap between progressive electronic music and the afterhours scene. I remember Plastikman at the beginning of the '90s, when Richie Hawtin was throwing these dark concept parties and you would come out of them quite changed by the music and the surroundings. Today, there are events where it's as if you're seeing the music and hearing the image, and that's where I want to go."

At Station C on Friday, Dec. 17, 8 p.m., $15

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