Chicago, Ill. - The SIGGRAPH 2011 Art Gallery: Tracing Home will present exceptional digital and technologically mediated artworks that explore issues related to the concept of home in the networked age, announced SIGGRAPH 2011 event managers. SIGGRAPH 2011 will take place 7-11 August at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Canada.
From more than 300 submissions, the Art Gallery jury selected 16 pieces to be featured at SIGGRAPH 2011. Included are 2D images, audio, video, and novel data-driven and mixed-media installations that explore "home" as both a conceptual category and a physical reality, often blurring the boundaries between the two.
"The interplay of physical and virtual within our lived experience enables simultaneous and discontinuous realities at the touch of a button, echo of a voice, or nudge of a sensor," explains Mona Kasra, SIGGRAPH 2011 juried art chair. "This year's Art Gallery connects attendees with a unique interactive approach to art that explores this new era of technology, from a platform that captures the story of current world disasters through tweets and stock exchange information to a computer system that allows attendees to remotely control physical aspects of a house in foreclosure."
The Art Gallery jury includes a wide range of artists, designers, technologists, and critics from academia, industry, and the independent art world. Works exhibited in the Art Gallery are published in a special issue of Leonardo, the Journal of the International Society of the Arts, Sciences and Technology. Peer-reviewed SIGGRAPH 2011 Art Papers will also be published in this special issue, which coincides with SIGGRAPH 2011 in August.
SIGGRAPH 2011 Art Gallery Highlights include:
MOSTON
Anya Belkina, Emerson College
A 12-foot-tall suspended inflatable sculpture, MOSTON conjures a technology-driven amalgamation of Moscow and Boston with its three-dimensional form of mutated Russian nesting dolls and two-dimensional surface design of printed artwork and documentary footage projection.
tele-present wind
David Bowen, University of Minnesota
This installation consists of a field of x/y tilting devices connected to thin dried plant stalks installed in the gallery, and a dried plant stalk connected to an accelerometer outdoors. When the wind blows, it causes the stalk outside to sway. The accelerometer detects and transmits this movement in real time to the grouping of devices in the gallery.
Open House
Patrick LeMieux, Duke University; Jack Stenner, University of Florida
Open House is an installation that allows visitors to telematically squat in an actual Florida home undergoing foreclosure after the United States housing collapse. Virtual markets transformed this otherwise livable property into a ghost house. Prior to the collapse, movements of global capital seemed like a distant reality, but it was imaginary systems of value, not bricks and mortar, that asserted ultimate authority. Open House temporarily resists eviction by mirroring the market and creating hybrid subjects who occupy both virtual and physical space. Cross the threshold, open the door, flicker the lights, and rattle the shutters.
The Garden of Error and Decay
Michael Bielicky, HFG/ZKM Karlsruhe; Kamila B.Richter, HFG/ZKM Karlsruhe
Programmer: Dirk Reinbold
Sound: Lorenz Schwarz
In this data-driven narrative of current world disasters, the artist, Twitter users, and stock-exchange information all influence the storytelling.
Wait
Julie Andreyev, Emily Carr University of Art + Design; Simon Overstall, Emily Carr University of Art + Design
The companion-species relationship is the starting point for the critique explored in Wait. Human and canine communication methods are brought to bear within this interactive video installation. Taking cues from the movements of the visitor, the dog (as imaged in the video) points to the relationship of control. The dog appears to be waiting for direction; as the dog looks directly at viewers, a state of suspended agency is implied, and viewers are compelled to ask questions about their relationship to the dog. Wait was produced in co-production with the Banff New Media Institute.
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Image: NASA BRC
Dataton Drives 'Exploration Space' for Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Linköping, Sweden - The first NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex exhibit to examine the near future of space exploration, "Exploration Space:Explorers Wanted," combines live theatre, interactive exhibits, and new media components.
The area was designed by BRC Imagination Arts Inc, in collaboration with the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and Delaware North Co. Parks & Resorts, the Visitor Complex's commercial partner.
Filled with light, color, sound and energy, the immersive exhibit gallery features large-scale digital projections, dimensional exhibits, and interactive experiences that invite visitors to be a part of the future of space exploration. Enter a virtual world that can transport guests instantly to Mars or the moon, with vivid action happening all around, says a representative.
The exhibit audio/visual systems were designed and installed by Electrosonic and include a 12x8-foot portal looking out onto a rear-projection screen that displays images of future destinations such as the moon, Mars, and nebulas for the introductory exhibit, "Your Destination."
A flat-screen LCD display, titled "On The Shoulders of Giants" showcases the next generation of spacecraft. Five large 12x15-foot trapezoidal exhibit screens immerse the guests in the future of space travel, while six screens of various shapes and sizes--including a 14-foot-wide 16:9 screen, a 12-foot-diameter screen, and four trapezoidal screens--support the main show "Explorers Wanted."
Twice every hour, the exhibit is transformed into a live immersive show environment for a 12-minute dynamic, presentation in which a NASA Communicator walks guests through new missions, new discoveries, and the immense challenges of space exploration.
"During the show, visitors sit on bench seats, surrounded by digital imagery, as the Communicator inspires the audience to become part of a NASA mission and the future of space exploration," says Tom Brighton, media support specialist, Electrosonic. "The main show is displayed on a series of fixed, geometrically shaped screens. The primary content is shown on a large 14-foot-wide center screen and a secondary 12-foot-diameter circular screen, stage right. Two additional projectors display content on four trapezoidal screens, which grow progressively larger in size as they arc over the top of the center screen."
The exhibit and show is run by a Medialon Manager control system with content served by 10 Watchout players feeding nine projectors and one monitor. Electrosonic took advantage of Watchout's programmability to ensure that seven of the projectors could display content onto the nine trapezoidal screens without images bleeding onto the wall. They also created a custom user interface for the WATCHOUT master PC controller so that staff can add updated content to the pre-programmed show to keep it fresh and relevant --a key customer requirement.
"The fact that all the screens are odd shapes and sizes makes the show very visually striking, but did present technical challenges," Brighton reflects. "Fortunately Watchout is not phased by such things and proved itself capable of performing pretty much any task we could throw at it."
"We love projects that push Watchout to new limits and the Explorers Wanted show at Exploration Space certainly does that," says Fredrik Svahnberg, marketing manager, Dataton. "The result is an immersive audiovisual experience that educates as well as tells a thrilling story of potential, not just of the future of space exploration, but also of each individual visitor. We are extremely proud to have been able to help bring this project to fruition in such a technically and creatively satisfying way."