First+assignment

http://marcobrambilla.com/home.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT1ZkFfZNWs

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Civilization is a video installation in the elevator at the Standard Hotel in New York by Marco Brambilla. The piece is combined by taking hundreds of pieces of stock footage and combining them to create a moving landscape depicting the ascension from heaven to hell. The idea is the when you ascend in the elevator, you’re a ascending towards heaven, and when you descend, you are descending to hell.=====

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Civilization was created by looping together over 500 pieces of semi known to obscure cinematography individually looped into a canvas creating a really long wallpaper. Six major sections are looped together creating hell, lower purgatory, middle purgatory, upper purgatory. Heaven and upper heaven/lower hell which was the loop point.===== -Savannah Robertson

http://electroland.net/
 * ELECTROLAND**

Electroland is a team, founded by artist and architect Cameron McNall, that creates large scale projects and art installations that can be both functional and beautiful. There were a few that were my favorites out of the list of projects. One was the Connection piece. This was a series of light fixtures that were installed in the walk way of an airport. It would recognize when someone would walk by and indicate that with changing light. The lights would also dance in other patterns and colors. The second was The Green Facade which was proposed for a building in Hollywood in 2008 that used a vinyl print that looked like folliage with solar pannels instaled that powered lights inside the building that were made to look like flowers steaming from the solar panels. A beautifully frunctional art piece. -Jon Carr

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The first assignment we were given was to review a long list of web pages and to write a response to one including a link to said web page. Please edit this page and include your contribution and name.

The link I chose was for the project that seeks to turn a tranquil stream into a computer interface. What could be more GREEN? http://acg.media.mit.edu/projects/stream/ -Kevin Koleckar

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 * Scott Sona Snibbe**

http://www.snibbe.com/

Without reading Scott Sona Snibbe’s biography, I knew his art existed in an ideological spectrum of interest. The first sentence of his Artist Statement is, “The purpose of my work is to bring meaning and joy to people’s lives.” I’d like to focus on the second part- joy. Given the nature and location of many of his pieces, public space or unexpected spaces, the capacity to impart joy on random observers/participators requires universal engagement- a difficult feat amidst universal diversity. Scott’s latest instillation “Transit,” in 2010, involved 29 HD monitors, installed in a graceful curve pattern above the heads of travelers in the LAX Tom Bradley international terminal. These 29 monitors displayed the silhouette of travelers walking and preparing for travel. The figures spontaneously break out into dance and just as suddenly they stop and continue on their journey. The power that lays behind this instillation- which is aesthetically pleasing without any further analysis- is its transformative power. Redefining the way people engage in the environment of the airport terminal. A space otherwise assumed to serve a very specific and somewhat formal function. The video display both entertains the temporary viewers, and also creates a larger dialogue on how space can be used- in general, and the diverse facets of the terminal- specifically. Many more examples of cinema-performance interactivity can be found in Snibbe’s work, such as “Make Like a Tree” or “Visceral Cinema: Chien”

-Elia Vargas ..............


 * Funbrella!**

The funbrella is a fun little device that let's users experience "rain" without getting wet. Students from Osaka University thought it would be fun to experience different "rains" from different places and different times. An umbrella is rigged with springs, a coil, and magnet with functions much like a microphone. When something hits the top of the umbrella, whether it be heavy rain, light rain, spaghetti, rubber snakes, or BB balls, the springs vibrate and the magnet records the vibrations as electrical signals. The recorded "rain" can be played back and vibrate the handle. The user can feel the vibrations on the handle, and feel as if they are getting rained upon. The device can also transmit vibration signals from one person to another. The funbrella was presented at Siggraph 2009, a conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive technologies.

[|Official Video Presentation]

[|DigInfo Spot on Funbrella]

Angeline Bautista .....................

//"Terrain"// 2003 []
 * John Klima**



I have always been interested in the methods by which we look at and interpret images or content and how when those tools are changed our perspective changes as well. The flat 2d quality of traditional computer monitors limits how we can think about and visualize imagery. This is why the work of John Klima peaked my interest so much. His installations and sculptures try to make that connection with the virtual or digital and the real tangible.

"The virtual computer imagery mirrors and extends the potential and agency of the physical components to produce cohesive worlds that are both humorous and sinister"

His 2003-2004 installation "Terrain" rethinks the concept of the computer or projector screen by shaping it in response to the image being viewed. A a grid of 225 electro-mechanical actuators conform and change the shape of the fabric screen in real time response to the 3d imagery being projected onto it. To further the interaction between the digital and the real world, the mechanism that trigers the transformation of the screen is a light sensor which measures and responds to the lights and shadows on the screen and raises or lowers portions of the screen in response. Because it's a direct measurement of the environment rather then the digital content, a viewer can interact and manipulate the shape of the screen by casting shadows or light onto the screen. It would be interesting to see this work produced with more accuracy or point of control and fluidity.

"Terrain represents unique angle on the issue of digital representation. Using light -- the analogue representational force behind photography and cinema -- Klima enables a seamless transition from virtual data to physical forms, simultaneously inserting the "human" as the manipulator, and master, of this transformation."

-Patrick Boehner

**Chi's Artist Pick: Paul Chan **
====The artist that I choose to reach currently has his art works on exhibit at the MOMA in New York and the Guggenheim, his name is Paul Chan. His piece at the MOMA, is called "Waiting for Godot in New Orleans" and his other installation piece at the Guggenheim is called " 7 Lights". After observing both installations and reaching the background of these 2 installations online, I would have to say that they are both are very profound and meaningful. I also feel that "7 Light" hold more impact visually dynamic to me because Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, was a still piece and 7 Lights was a mobile piece. ==== ====The 7 Lights installation art piece is compose of obsolete computer technology and projections. The installation begins when we enter a dark room and a projector turns on and we are introduces to a silhouette of a window with light shining through. As time went on we see shadows and silhouette of object's such as birds,trees, air planes pass by with no sound. The colors of the sky though window would change as the morning turns into dawn and finally the window brakes. This imagery varies in range of time bewteen stages of different light series, roughly about 15 min. Chan's concept for this piece is to awaken the idea of light, the politics of time, and the promise of disaster through a series of unforeseen events through a prospective of the person viewing through the window. Most people who get pull in to the hypnotic hallucinations of images leave content with the visual display of the art piece but not fully understand the full story behind it. You be the judge. ====

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 John Slep works in video installation. The pieces that I viewed address emotion and interaction in the contrasting context of video. The first video link is an installation called "Little One." Here, Slep has created a digital, vaguely-human form that reacts when moved. The installation invites people to handle the "baby" and see how the form reacts to movement and shaking, as a human child might.
 * Nova Barton: John Slep Artwork**

The second link is another work by the same artist. The video form is a furry animal embedded in a tree stump. The digitization reacts fearfully when approached trembling and rustling the surrounding leaves.

 I think these works explore our emotional relationship to ideas, symbols, and life. Though these creatures are digital, they still react in a predictable lifelike way. I think it brings a heightened awareness to the viewer of our impact on others, our psychology and our relationship with media.

 http://www.johnslep.net/ flashvideo/little_one.html http://www.johnslep.net/ flashvideo/cornered.html  _

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The main artists who created the Scrapyard Challenge Workshops are
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Jonah Brucker-Cohen and Katherine Moriwaki. Since 2003, the Scrapyard Challenge workshops have occurred in 14 countries around the world. I felt that their work of collaborations with many people around the world was very inspiring, mainly due to their integration of using waste and particularly old technology waste since after once technology is obsolete, where does it go? It becomes garbage and this art is a form of recycling these items for a new life as art. Their idea of "Do-it-yourself" style is incorporated with their interactive style of doing workshop with many different people and artists around the world. I feel that the art presented here is about using these forms of "garbage" in a new light and allows people to look at the form of technology and art in a new light, it may be continually changing and evolving- art and technology but also the remaining of the past just gives new light to art's ever-changing face in the world. I enjoyed how that many of the projects were colorful, imaginative and fun for the participants in the photos because art is not always just about the end product but the process of getting there as well and from what was presented on their site, it seems a lot of fun and I'd love to be able to go to one of their workshops one day and participate and make something that is old into something new!

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Jessica Johnston : Electroland : Damon Seeley and Cameron McNall : Real Time <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> http://electroland.net/projects/realtime/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Real Time is ten short films that are shoot in Los Angeles, and are projected on large airship balloons hanging overhead. They featured on called. '24.' As much as I didn't know why the girl was wearing a bakini, and obviously the stylist wasn't paying attention in one of the shots. I picked this one because of two things. 1. I love the fact that they projected these films on huge balloons high above the pavilion. Conceptual Art; art that can be anywhere not just in a galarie, and in this case, film that isn't displayed in a dark theater. Another reason I love it, is because when the girl goes into a different light setting, a different location, her pale skin reflects, absorbs that color. Expressing that we are a projection of what we see, hear, and feel.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">I found this guy when I was researching more on Electroland. I found this artist to be very interesting.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-X1sBkQGTM&feature=related

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When I was looking through the list of artists and projects, I came across nu-K-ke. The terms "doll" and "interfacing" caught my eye and I was interested in finding out how a doll could be hooked up to interface with the internet so I decided to browse the site.

[|http://www.saunalahti.fi/~off/nukke/]

The creators, Laura Beloff, Christopher Lindinger and Robert Praxmar, have taken the idea of voodoo dolls to a new extreme. Essentially a doll is rigged to a computer. When the dolls is stabbed, the networked computer choses a "victim" at random from a list of registered participants. An image of the victim is brought up on screen and the dolls speaks or sings. The victim can chose to send a short message that is read aloud by a text to audio program. The "victim" at the end of the "stabbing" is presumed to be dead by the "stabber".

I think this idea is a hilarious one. It transforms a mythical/ theoretical way of taking revenge into a visual way of taking revenge with none of the little problem like actual murder. I would say that the only down side to this entertaining act is that the database of registered victims is not very large and the victim would not be one that the "killer" would know. It would take a little joy out of the revenge aspect.

The second artist I found was Zach Lieberman. Here's his site:

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The particular project I looked at was his "Drawn" installation. In this installation, a participant paints a simple picture with bold ink on plain white paper. Once finished the participant touches his or her picture and on a projected screen the image moves about. With the flick of a finger a flower can be disassembled and then flung in various directions. The movements are rigged to different sounds so that when an object is moved a particular sound will play. This particular installation won Lieberman an award.

This project works great with children and adults who think they are children. There is a simple joy in building something and then being able to break it apart. I would love to experience this installation! It would be amazing to be able to animate a drawing with no programming on the part of the participant! I was excited when I saw the video to say the least.

Amber Kalmbach

(sorry for posting this so late. i originally had this post on my wikispace, not the class wikispace)

Jabberstamp

http://www.rafelandia.com/jabberstamp/video.html

Jabberstamp was created by Hayes Raffle, Ruibing Wang, and Cati Vaucelle in 2006 at Cornell University. It is a tool that allows children to work with a drawing and incorporate sounds to that drawing. It begins with a child creating a picture and then applying a microphone shaped stamp anywhere in their picture to record a sound of their choice. That stamp leaves a mark and when the children apply the trumpet stamp to that mark they are able to hear the sound they created. The children experience interaction with their peers and it enables them to share their stories. I found this tool very interesting and creative. I have seen interactive books where children press a button and it makes a sound to an already established story, but the Jabberstamp allows children to create their own drawings, stories, and sounds. I like the creativity it evokes and the interaction with pen and paper.

Candace Magana

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