week 13 research: Brian Knep

Brian Knep is a media artist working with cutting-edge science and technology. As the artist-in-residence at Harvard Medical School, he works side-by-side with scientists, co-opting their tools and techniques to explore alternative meanings and ways of connecting to the world. Knep’s works range from microscopic sculptures for nematodes to large-scale interactive installations

this called Drift Wall and it is a two channel interactive video instillation

A wall of drifting panels that react to viewers’ gazes. The shapes on each panel slowly drift upwards, changing their look and behavior as they cross the membrane between panels. When a viewer looks at a particular column, the shapes on that column slow their movement and begin to slide down, rather than up, the wall. When the viewer looks away, the shapes revert to their upward drift.

The columns begin identically and change in reaction to viewers, so the state of the piece at any given time is the result of every viewer who’s looked at the piece since it began.

These works use child-like drawings to examine, in a humorous way, the illusions that drive us. The creatures, with their huge, exaggerated faces and skeletal legs, are caricatures of the endlessly cycling everyman. They are presented as shadows, and they react to our intrusions into their small worlds.

some interactive pieces use emergent patterns to explore change and reaction to change. Drift Wall reacts to viewers’ gaze, each column drifting downwards only when a viewer looks at it. At any given time, the state of each of these pieces is unique, the result of every previous viewer interaction.

The big smile blinks, looks around at viewers, and smiles only when no one is looking directly at it.Viewers get a glimpse of the smile as they look away, but when they look back the smiley no longer smiles.

For me ,When I look at it, I could’t stop smiling from it. It makes all my sorrow disappear.

week 12 research : Chris O’Shea’s (IAA) Hand from Above

In 2009, Artist Chris O’Shea created an interactive public artwork named as ‘Hand from above’ for Foundation for Art & Creative Technology and the Liverpool City Council. This project featured a hand of an enormous and mischievous ‘deity’. This hand appears to tickle passersby, pluck unsuspecting pedestrians out from their surroundings, and perform other whimsical actions. This artwork awarded ‘Honorable mention for interactive art’ in the Prix Arts Electronics which is the largest best-known and longest-running competition for computer arts in 2010. In June 2010, this artwork appeared at Times Square in New York City. This computer vision is very new and Chris used openFrameworks and OpenCV to build this software.  It is effective when Times Square shoppers find themselves are picked up by giant models.

Apart from the technology behind this artwork, it encourages people to question the normal routine because most people often find themselves rushing from one destination to another. It also stimulates people to think from different point of views by means of interacting with this artwork. And people are also reminded by it of mythical stories by mischievously unleashing a giant hand. Passers who walk by will be playfully transformed. Unsuspecting pedestrians will be tickled, stretched, flicked or removed entirely in real-time by a giant deity. From this artwork, people may ask, ‘what if human beings were not settling down on the top of the food chain“

Legible City from Jeffery Shaw

The original legible city was created by Shaw in 1998. It is an interactive artwork which has a sensor-enable stationary bicycle interface and visitors are allowed to navigate and explore a 3D virtual environment through pedaling and steering. The artwork has recognized for its synthetic experiences and in the field of experimental physical interfaces.

Visitors can have a seat on the stationary bicycle and ‘move’ through streets projected onto the surface in front of them. In the artwork, the streets are literally legible, lined by letters not by buildings. On the travel through the city, visitors can look into many narrative threads which are accumulating their own history of the city. There is a map displayed on the handlebars, thereby, visitors can find their positions. Jeffrey Shaw made three versions of ‘The legible city from 1998 to 1991, which includes Manhattan, Amsterdam and Karlsruhe. Among them, Manhattan is one of the very first interactive installations and is regarded as a key work of the genre today.

The Manhattan version was created on 1989 and comprises eight separate fictional story lines, which includes monologues by ex-Mayor Koch, Frank Lloyd Wright, Donald Trump, a tour guide, a confidence trickster, an ambassador and a taxi-driver. There is a specific letter color for each story line. So, visitors can choose one or another to follow the path of a particular narration. Amsterdam and Karlsruhe was created on 1990 and 1991 respectively. All the letters of the two artworks are scaled. Then, they have the same proportion and location as the actual buildings which they replace. So, they can represent the actual building exactly. And the texts for cities are based on archive documents.

Combining computer and 3D technologies together, using the actual architectures in cities, adopting historical documents, this artwork creates fantastic experiences for consumers. Specially, consumers can allow interacting and exploring by themselves in this artwork.

week 10

There are also some other good work of Christa Erickson,Her currently interactive installation about debt and overconsumption titled ‘Debt Reducer’ is the representative product. Is the most famost one of hers

http://emedia.art.sunysb.edu/christa/debtreducer.html#

She use of technology alter the way in which the public experience art work. Taking the ‘Debt Reducer’ as an example, combined with computer, electronics, memory foam body, corset, satin rope, video of Gold Covered Chocolate Coins and Boiling Fat, Projector, through ‘belt tightening’ device and audio-video, this piece of work communicates a graphic, bodily sense of debt.  Currently, the national debt of American has increased over $ 10 trillion. This artwork reflects this situation and stimulates participants to think about personal and collective implications of debt and the over-consumption culture. Apart from the above, a motorized corset and interactive video installation was adopted. By this, visitors can submit their debt levels through their cell phones. With the submitted debt, a bloated dress-dummy torso will be squeezed by the device through an elaborate pulley and winch system. In the same time, video of gold foil covered chocolate coins cascades down and accumulates at different heights according to amounts of debt. Upon audio-video of simmering fat, the U.S. national debt, average student loan, and median gallery visitors’ debt can be projected. So, their artworks can not only provide memorable experiences to visitors but also provide the interactions to allow consumers to attend through advanced technologies. 

Another famous work create by her is “Search”

http://emedia.art.sunysb.edu/christa/search.html#

 ‘search’ as an example to explore this perspective, it is interactive motion tracking installation, including computer, projector, camera with wide angle lens, speakers. With the globalization today, the various cultures have accelerated the creation of many diasporas. It is common for today’s people to move, travel and is displaced for personal, economic, environmental, and political reasons.  In such as busy world, this piece of work is exploring such real moments using video tracking technology to reflect some looks in real life. In this work, using a large image of a hand and globe to indicate that there is no one near. On the other hand, this artwork also has the formalism style. It relates to wandering, such as active words like drift, roam, flee, migrate, seek, and what people desire when they stop moving, including home, refuge, respite, family, shelter, etc. Such formalization are merging and displaying as traces of bodies in motion in this artwork. 

Week 10 Christa Erickson

Christa Erickson is an interdisciplinary artist who investigates the politics, pleasures, and pains of spaces mediated by electronic technologies. She weaves together combinations of video, tactile materials, programming, physical cinematic devices, and live data in interactive installations

She  adopted various technologies in their artworks. Imaging technologies, such as photography, film, and video are used to help consumers remember. Communications technologies, including sensing, computer and communication technology, are using to extend consumers’ voices, eyes, hands and ‘presence’ geographically in real time. They also adopt biotechnologies to raise many cultural questions. Video, objects, electronics, and computer controls are used by them to create artworks. Being an interdisciplinary artist, Erickson investigates the politics, pleasures, and pains of spaces mediated by electronic technologies. And she applies together combinations of video, tactile materials, programming, physical cinematic devices, and live data in interactive installations.

 

overconsumption titled ‘Debt Reducer’ is the representative product.

 

They use technology to alter the way in which the public experience art work. Taking the ‘Elusive climber’ as an example, adopted computer with Java stock scraper, LCD monitor, bamboo, twine, this piece of work indicates the ups and downs of the Hang Seng Index, which has the same position in Hong Kong just as the Dow Jones or NASDAQ in the US. Java program is used to write files. So, every 30 seconds, the java program scrapes web page of Hang Seng Index. Apart from the real time information and data, this piece of work also used video and colour change management to indicate fluctuations every ten minutes. For instance, if the market is up, the red colour is chosen for that day. On the contrary, yellow colour is chosen for the video if the market is down.  From this point of view, it is evident that using Java program, this piece of artwork gives a real time and fresh experience to visitors. 

 

overconsumption titled ‘Debt Reducer’ is the representative product.

Regarding to one of her Replay series artworks,

http://emedia.art.sunysb.edu/christa/replaydoc/

“Salt-eater also” adopts advanced computer technologies while this artwork was completed in the year of 2002. video and sound loops on LCD screens are embedded into objects and projected. So, the repeating can be displayed endlessly. In the artwork, the video loop of a mouth which is continuously trying to take in the salt can be played endlessly if the viewers want to.  And it remind audience an unpleasant memory, and let them feel it was like when they are in trouble but they couldn’t get rid of it, and was stuck in an uninvited situation. It just explore such real moments from audience’s memory.

watch?v=txm7mrbSYtc&feature=related

This is a short art film, very different from the normal film, it is a little bit abstract, and full of mystery, and also most of the scene is very emotional, which provide audience a strong feeling. And it describe an artist searching for a muse in the East Villageartist now are using wide range of materials in their work。 And I  i love the way how the artist work with details, it used a lot of ways to impress  the inward thoughts of the artist. Some shot scale  and angle is perfect to create an mystery and abstract feeling.

week 6

There are two main kind of new media arts, one is single change, the other is installation. What I have researched before are all single-changed video art。 It is always designed to be screened, projected or shown as a single image. But the other kind of new media art-installation arts become more and more popular

The  revelation of digital video started from 1990 and it  has given wide access to sophisticated editing and control technology, allowing many artists to work with video and to create interactive installations based on video

New Media Art often involves interaction between artist and observer or between observers and the artwork, which responds to them.

new Media concerns are often use the element of telecommunications, digital modes, mass media to convey their concept  , with practices ranging from  visual art, performance, installation, art video

like some example below, they all use art form, installation to interact between video and observer.

This “shadow touch” was created by  Japanese artist, they began this research because they want to eliminate  the distinction between real and digital object

and he think it would be interesting if they could do this by using digital version of shadows, which are very familiar object

week 4

This “Mr.W ” shakes me. How creative and how meaningful it is!

As in real world, something looks like that. but we can rethink and reidentify of this thing with a totally different  point of view. As in this video. Mr. W looks like a mischievous and troublesome people, he always makes throuble to others. everybody doesn’t likes him and ignores him  until one perticular guy dicover him, accpet him and beeing friendly to him,  that makes him feel himself useful and valueble. He is Mr. Wind.

All throught the video, it uses a art form to describe wind, to identify wind which makes wind comes to life, makes him to be a human and has emotion with him. It creatively deliver the helplessness and grievance of Mr. Wind. It use creative way to personated wind.

I think it is the most powerful video I have ever seen.  Even it expressed in forms of art, but it convey the meaning very deeply, very strong and clear It makes me think deeply of how art it. It is not just to express or vent an emotion, it is also to arouse people’s relize. If it is in traditional way, to convey how the protential power of wind, that may not make a strong feeling and emotion to people,  but in this video, the metaphor all throught the video until the end that people finally know it is wind which makes a strong impressive and strong emotion to audience

week 3

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Jonatan_Schwenk___Maison_Sonore___2012

THis film really intersting, that I didn;t understand it until I watched it twice. And I also share this to some friends. After discussion, we all have different feeling about this film.

In first time I watched it, it doesn’t really make sense and doesn;t have enough logic to me. It makes me feel confusing of the connection of each parts.  Althrough it is a kind of narrative, but I feel that  not as same as traditional short film.  From these weeks research, I feel that video art does not necessarily rely on many of the conventions that define theatrical cinema, That the different between arts video and Tv production or experimental film. As in this film, we can not clearly find the storyline, and there is no discernible narritive or plotthe story plot as well,  but after watch it again and again,  I can really feel something from it , the deeply meaning,  the emotion which convey from the author.  As in this film, I think that author just use metaphors to descriibe his point of view of life and the world, and in this video, the noise is a metaohor of old, weary life of , the house is a metaohor of , the residential there want to get rid of that kind of life until one guy move in it.  It is an engimatic piece with a simple concept and loads of atmosphere. The stop motion puppets successfully blend realism and caricature, and the wide-angle compositions and eerie calm heighten the film’s tension. Throught the sequence and the shots, it is full of darksome. wired, depretive and  a litthle bit creepy atmosphere.

Anyway, different people will have their own different of feeling for this film , that waht art is, to arouse your emotion which from inside of your heart

New Media Art often involves interaction between artist and observer or between observers and the artwork, which responds to them

It use digital technolgy to dilivery the arts work.

The new digial technique involved in this video is FantaMorph, it can create a photo morphing pictures

It collected famous Femail Portraits in Western Art. Instead of just change the picture without doing any effect. It create a strong emotion that how the style of the painting changed through decades of years. It convey a amazing wonderful visual arts to audience with the background music.

For me, I think a good arts work is not depend on how advanced technique it used or how developed skill involved, just like this one, there is not much complecated technique, but it will bring audience a strong feeling.  The artist use this kind of mordern technique into old traditional artist painting and capture female essence through out 500 years  in art way.  it’s kind of sad to think these were real amazingly beautiful ladies, but now they’re all dead.