New Media Art!
Sometimes you need a push to delve into things you once loved. Leaving university I needed a break from making electronic and robotic art, but maybe, just maybe its time for that break to be over.
I wanted to do my show and tell on something I know really well. I had a really hard time trying to remember all the cool mind blowing art I was shown and discovered on my own over the last 6 years. Even after having shared during my show and tell I know there must be some brilliant work that got lost somewhere over time. I found myself pulling out my old art books (links to which I will put at the end of this post) and leafing through looking for the most interesting works. While there was less contemporary work in them, it definitely helped revive the passion I had felt while learning and reminded me just how interconnected and complex the history of new media art really is.
Daniel Rozin – Wooden Mirror
While the execution of this artwork is very simple, it is highly effective at creating a non-conventional mirror. It has all of the connotations connected to a mirror, but everything from the input to the materials to the sound is entirely non-conventional. Rozin has also created mirrors out of other materials including trash, wooden pegs, chrome balls etc.
Wooden Mirror documentation and other works
A great local interactive artwork that is really well done in every aspect – from planning, to production, public participation to eco-friendliness this one seems to have it all. This was the one artwork I was most looking forward to showing.
Users can log onto the website and create varying patters of light for every night’s performance in Cambridge, ON. Every aspect of the project is powered by solar power and was built using recycled materials.
Theo Jansen’s & Arthur Ganson’s Kinetic Sculptures
Theo Jansen’s Creatures
More Theo Jansen videos including his TED talk
I find it amazing the complexity that goes into making creatures that are able to walk and move so beautifully and organically with no mechanics whatsoever. Ganson’s kinetic sculptures seem the antithesis to Jansen’s complex creatures – incredibly simple, step-by-step cyclical movement that animates everyday objects. I highly admire their technical skills.
Arthur Ganson – Walking Wishbone
More Ganson videos:
Max Dean
Max Dean has perfected making very simple, clever robotics. Taking everyday objects and giving them personality he’s making us question our interactions with technology. If you can be befriended by a table, what next?
Overall I found the show and tell very successful. People seemed engaged in what I was showing and hopefully I was able to show pieces that most hadn’t seen before.
Things that used to inspire me were brought back to the forefront and will hopefully push me to add more new media elements to my artwork that has lately been all analog. Seeing the amount of changes to technology in the short time since I was learning it in University is pretty staggering. All of the changes look to have made the process (especially in Max/MSP) much more user friendly. Now I just need to find the time for some experimentation.
Recommended books:
Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers
At a Distance: Precursors to Art and Activism on the Internet