Tag: technology

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Final Research Hyperessay

The history of art begins with the history of humanity- cave paintings. And since then, art has gradually evolves as humanity moves forward. Art is a product of human thought and the resources they have around them, that is why art largely reflected the innovational standings of societies. From bronze tools during the times before settlement to the marble busts after civilizations started to emerge to traditional paints and sketches to now. Now, as technology emerges alongside the development of the online web, streaming, and cloud; art has taken an adventitious turn into the digital and virtual. Humans have now engineered technology and the internet to serve as our media for the arts. From Ivan Sutherland, “Sketchpad” in 1962 to Lynn Hershman’s “Deep Contact” in 1983. Both utilize technology to create an art piece that is both engaging and interactive. In this digitalized game of “Tag” and “Hide-and-Go-Seek”, “I’d Hide You” by Blast Theory, blends both technology with human interaction But who and what is Blast Theory exactly? What is it that they do? Blast Theory is a community of pioneering artists who create interactive art pieces to explore social and political questions. This group was created in 1991 by Matt Adams, Niki Jewett, Will Kittow and Ju Row Farr. The works by this group utilize a multitude of different media; such as performance, installation, video, and online technology. But what makes Blast Theory avant-garde is the way they meld scientific technology with collaborative art. Blast Theory also allows the audience members to play a vital role in the production and outcome of the artwork. This engagement transforms the role of the artist to a viewer and the audience to the artist. In the end, the exploration of social and political questions becomes a more personal and thought-provoking experience for the participants. Some of Blast Theories other well-known works include- “Can You See Me Now?”, “Uncle Roy All Around You”, “Kidnap”, “Gunman Kill Three”, and “Karen.”

“Kidnap” (1998)
Picture from Blast Theory Website

 “Gunman Kill Three” was one of their earliest works and was geared more towards live and performance art. This work and several other early works focused on the club culture to create multimedia performances. Even in their early works interactivity played a key role in the performance. “Kidnap” was one of Blast Theory’s more controversial and risky works due to the issues the piece tackled as well as the methods Blast Theory chose to communicate the message with. “Kidnap” is an interactive and immersive experience that gives the participants a genuine “kidnapping” experience (with their prior consent). Blast Theory wanted to underscore the themes of violence, pornography, and politics. In “Can You See Me Now?” and “Uncle Roy All Around You” are two of their successful multimedia pieces that integrated locative media with mixed reality.

What drew me to Blast Theory was their ability to incorporate technology often associated as “anti-art” with social and political issues to create a stimulating and interactive art piece. This idea of mixing and recreating has always been an important value in my life and to see a group of artists express it so beautifully and simply resonated with me. Not only is Blast Theory feel a source of comfort but also serves as a source of inspiration. Blast Theory stimulates both the audience and themselves with their artworks. The artists within the group constantly try to challenge themselves with new technology, methods, and issues by pushing themselves to be more innovative and courageous.

Picture from Blast Theory

The basic premise of “I’d Hide You” is that people are equipped with live cameras and are divided into teams in which they play a game of tag around the entire city. The immersion lies in the second layer of the piece, in which these cameras send live footage to the internet; allowing anyone to watch the game as if they themselves were running. The interactivity can be experienced in the final layer of the artwork in which the viewer is now a part of the team. The viewer can help the participants find one another by updating online, the location of other runners using the runner’s GPS tracker. This interactivity is not only personal but also collaborative. The outcome of this project can be seen in the video below by Blast Theory who summarizes the entire event.

 

Unlike the other works by Blast Theory, “I’d Hide You” is not a politically or socially stimulating piece meant to impress eager enthusiasts. Instead, “I’d Hide You” is a simple game that interacts with, collaborates together, and immerses oneself in the experience. When creating this collaborative work, the artists took the most rudimentary form of interactive games, running. This simple idea of running and catching has been a form of human entertainment even before the onset of technology. For example, physical games like “tag” and animated cartoons such as “Tom and Jerry” revolve around the idea of a runner and a chaser. The entertainment comes from the adventure the runner and chaser experience during their journey as well as the ultimate conclusion that follows the long arduous journey. The participants of “I’d Hide You” get to experience this entire journey alongside the runners.

From the Blast Theory Website

During our History of Design class, as mentioned by our Professor, New Media art contains three aspects that make it unique and stand apart from any other forms of art. Interactivity. Hypermedia. Immersion. Under interactivity, there is also collaboration, which I believe is also very important in the work that I chose by Blast Theory.”I’d Hide You”. There is aspects of Hypermedia in this work but is limited to the interface used by the team in order to communicate with the runners as well as the live streaming cameras used to document the chase.

The interface

The interactivity in “I’d Hide You” can be seen between the runners themselves as well as the audience and the runners. The interaction between the runners refers to the actual game of chase where each person is trying to hide from other runners while simultaneously catching them on camera. The interaction between the runners and audience is documented by the audience watching the live stream and helping the runners. Through this journey, the participants and the runners become collaborators who have created a whole new experience and outcome by dabbling with the different variabilities in the work.

Variability. One of the five Principles of New Media discussed by Lev Manovich. In “I’d Hide You”, variability, is the strongest principle as the integration of multiple human interactions have created a multitude of different end results. Not only is there a man to man interaction but also a man to machine interaction. And technology itself is interacting with the audience as the technology communicates with the “performers”. As the audience inserts themselves in this experience with the use of technology, they themselves have become “performers”.

 

A scene from “I’d Hide You”

This immersion into the experience happens both virtually online as well as physically offline. The physical immersion occurs amongst the runner as they are literally thrust into the outside world to compete. The environment is completely candid as none of the passerby or store owners were told were told of the game. The virtual part of this piece materializes onto the digital screen through the live streaming video. This video is made possible by the camera and LED ring light each runner is equipped with before the start of the game. The runners are also given GPS trackers to constantly locate and update their location online, as well as given a phone that updates them to Intel given by their team members. The runner is constantly holding up the camera for their team members to see, this makes the participants the runner’s new “eyes”. Eventually, the participant immerses himself or herself into the experience and becomes one with the runner. Not only does the participant get to see what the runner sees, but he or she also gets to see it in real time. This real-time immersion can be seen in older works such as Ivan Sutherland’s “Head-Mounted Display” and newer games like “Pokemon Go!”. Real-time immersion makes the experience seem legitimate and consuming.

 

Picture from Blast Theory

“I’d Hide You” is a simplistic and exhilarating game that brings together different people for a fun night together. Using modern technology, the artwork contains both a collaborative interactivity and immersive quality; which allows for a wide range of variability. These are the characteristics and principles that define New Media. Participants follow runners on a tour of the nightlife in the city while playing a rigorous yet digital game of Tag and Hide-and-Go-Seek.

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Artist Selection: Blast Theory

Blast Theory

For my Hyperessay, I chose a new media piece by a Portslade-based artists’ group called Blast Theory, renown for their works that mix interactive media, digital broadcasting and live performance. The piece is an interactive, immersive, and collaborative work called, “I’d Hide You”. Linked below is the trailer for Blast Theory’s, “I’d Hide You”.

But who and what is Blast Theory exactly? What is it that they do? Blast Theory is in a sense, a community of pioneering artists creating interactive art pieces to explore social and political questions. Blast Theory does this by letting the audience members to play a vital role in the overall outcome of the production and outcome of the artwork. This way, the audience becomes the artists while the artist becomes the viewer. This makes the exploration of social and political questions a more personal and thought-provoking experience for the audience.

The Artists Behind Blast Theory

Blast Theory was created in 1991 by Matt Adams, Niki Jewett, Will Kittow and Ju Row Farr. And as mentioned before, Blast Theory uses a multitude of media; such as performance, installation, video, and online technology to highlight social and political issues that surround the very media they use. What makes Blast Theory avant-garde is the way they meld scientific technology with collaborative art while still taking a stance on social topics. Some of their other well-known works include- “Can You See Me Now?”, “Uncle Roy All Around You”, “Kidnap”, “Gunman Kill Three”, and “Karen.”

“Kidnap” (1998)
Picture from Blast Theory Website

“Gunman Kill Three” was one of their earliest works and was geared more towards live and performance art. This work and several other early works focused on the club culture to create multimedia performances. Even in their early works interactivity played a key role in the performance. “Kidnap” was one of Blast Theory’s more controversial and risky works due to the issue the piece tackled as well as the method Blast Theory chose to communicate the message with. “Kidnap” is an interactive and immersive experience that gives the participants a genuine “kidnapping” experience (with their prior consent). Blast Theory wanted to underscore the themes of violence, pornography, and politics. In “Can You See Me Now?” and  “Uncle Roy All Around You” are two of their successful multimedia pieces that integrated locative media with mixed reality.

“Can You See Me Now?” (2001)
Picture from Blast Theory Website

What drew me to Blast Theory was their ability to incorporate technology often associated as “anti-art” with social and political issues to create a stimulating an interactive art piece. This idea of mixing and recreating has always been an important value in my life and to see a group of artists express it so beautifully and simply resonated with me. Not only does Blast Theory feel like a source of comfort but also plays a part in inspiring me. Blast Theory stimulates both the audience and themselves. The artists within the group constantly try to challenge themselves with new technology, methods, and issues by pushing themselves to be more innovative and courageous.

In my next post, I will be discussing in more detail the art piece by Blast Theory that I have chosen to analyze for my Hyperessay.

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Intro to Interactive 1

After a brief introduction to what we will be doing and learning in Interactive 1, we were asked to find two interactive media projects that inspired us. For the two projects, I chose the works by an art duo called “Scenocosme” and another duo, Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett.  I could not chose a specific work by each of the two though the works that first attracted me to the artists were “Metamorphy” and “CLOUD” respectively.

“Scenocosme” are known for incorporating natural elements and the influence of energy in their sound and visual installations. Which can be seen in their works like “Akousmaflore”, “Kymapetra”, and “Metamorphy”.

“Akousmaflore” is an installation involving sensitive plants that react to human touch by producing sounds of nature.

 “Kymapetra is an installation involving specific minerals and stones that react to human touch to create specific and unique vibrations in a bowl of water.

“Metamorphy” is an installation involving a transparent veil that symbolizes the elasticity of human skin.

 

One thing that stood out about the works of Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett is their use of light and colors. Their work focuses on interacting a large community of people, from any age and all backgrounds.

“… and the heart-rending moment where Wayne and I stood back, watching people interacting with the piece…”

https://incandescentcloud.com/2013/01/06/moscloud-cloud-at-garage-center-for-contemporary-culture/

The work “CLOUD” has been recreated in many location around the world and spun some sequel installation called “NEW MOON”.

https://incandescentcloud.com/2013/01/06/moscloud-cloud-at-garage-center-for-contemporary-culture/

 

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Final Project: Project Social Life

       Project Social Life. Project Social Life is an interactive online social performance. In this experiment, we test the power of social media in our lives and the effects of losing control over our lives. Our project revolved around Instagram. Instagram was our source, our outlet, and our dictator. To test this, we created a separate Instagram account and constantly asked the question, “What should we do next?” on our Instagram Story. There would be a poll attached to each question with two options sent in by our followers in the beginning of the experiment. Our group would then wait ten minutes and do the option with the most votes, following the idea that we have no control over our actions but social media does.

Sneak Peak:

       Our entire day was curated by social media and the decisions of other people we barely know. We wanted to show people the power of social media in our lives and how it feels to be puppets held by the hands of strangers. Much like Finding Uncle Roy, a Blast Theory work that focused around the concept of trusting strangers, we put our trust and life in the hands of strangers.  We started off the experiment in ADM NTU but due to the demands of the people, we ended up in Haji Lane after a long subway journey. I like the rest of my group mates, was in charge of the Instagram account as well as one of the “victims” of social media and the lack of control.

        While the entire point of our project was to embrace the unexpected and the unknowable, there were still certain aspects to our experiment that left us in a sticky situation. We were always stuck at a certain place for 10 minutes because we were unable to proceed without the say-so of our Third Space companions. And until we got a response we were unable to move because no one told us “what to do”. 

     For our trailer, we were inspired by Carla Gannis’s artwork, “Until the End of the World (2017)”. Not only because the aesthetics of Carla Gannis’s work is compelling, but also because the meaning behind her work relates to ours to an extent. “Until the End of the World” is about a girl who is engrossed in her handheld device (technology) to the extent that she has no awareness of what is going on around her; the girl’s dreams and reality have manifested within the cyber world. Due to the project, our lives have also become controlled by our handheld devices. We were constantly on our phones to see the results, post the results, and record our results. Even until the very end, we our lives were controlled by the theoretical third space and the physical smartphone. In modern society, our lives are dictated by the third space; it is not always negative nor always positive. It connects us by bridging together the restrictions made by geography but at the same time influences our behaviors and thoughts to accommodate to the collective whole. Project Social Life does exactly that. Through this we succumbed to the majority and did what others told us to do yet through this experience in the third space with other people, we not only learned to negotiate with these people but created friendships with them. Life is about balance. It is important to keep this balance regardless of the situation as this gives you the most successful and meaningful use of a situation. In the begininning of this year, my friends and I stepped into the first space known as the 4D room unsure of what to expect from the class. After one semester, we find ourselves in the third space; connecting with different parts of the world and working with entanglements that we face in our everyday lives with eagerness and quick-thinking. 

Final Trailer:

password: projectsociallife

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Fresh produce at ANT Farm

 

ANT Farm is the name of a group of artists and architects based in San Francisco. These artists produced experimental work between 1968 and 1978, by incorporating a variety of different media such as; architecture, performance, happenings, sculpture, installation, and graphic design. Many of the pieces were archived using camera. And the works often focused its attention on the latest technologies only to critisize it make commentary on the effects it had on the American Culture, specifically video and television. ANT Farm was the product of, like many art movements of the past, a response to a current mode of thinking or predicament. America during the 1960s was full of rebellion, embracing the hippie movement, believing in being a non-conformist, and the birth of rock n roll. ANT Form built itself on these ideas and added a creative twist by incorporating video and new media technology. Examples of ANT Farm’s commentary work on the new technology or television can be seen in Cadillac Ranch, Media Burn, and the Eternal Flame.

“Ant Farm as a media collective was part of the communalism of the 1960s, the rock band, and the emphasis on collaboration and collectivity. Ant Farm also stood for the underground, where ants far from our view build colonies and communities.”

(Quote taken from Randall Packer’s Article on ANT Farm)

ANT Farm, “Media Burn”

ANT Farm’s Media Burn, made on July 4, 1975 at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, is a performance, spectacle and media critique. The basic premise of Media Burn is that it is that ANT Farm set up a collision between two of America’s most cultural symbols, the automobile and television. Even in Cadilac Ranch, we can see the focus on automobiles as not only a cultural icon but also as a metaphor for an even bigger commentary on society. Eternal Flame also plays on the idea of video and its impact on us as we watch the videos content as a physical and digital audience. The collision previously mentioned before is not just a simple collision of ideas or sides but a physical collision that led to fire and the destruction of the TV wall and the car.

Reflecting the ever growing  dependency on television, especially for political purposes or encouraging passivity, Media Burn prerecorded an “Artist-President” who gave a speech on the effect on mass media on society, “Who can deny that we are a nation addicted to television and the constant flow of media? Haven’t you ever wanted to put your foot through your television?” And as the televisions display this speech, a 1959 El Dorado Cadillac convertible crashes into it. This piece uses the car once again, as a cultural symbol (as seen in Cadilac Ranch) to address the pervasive existence of television in everyday life. They even recorded this artwork using the same media ANT Farm was making a commentary about.

This work caught my attention. Not just for the fire or the weird combination of seeing a wall of televisions falling on top of a new car. But because it manages to utilize two different icons in order to depict the commentary about our society. ANT Farm has manage to embed so much meaning into these respective icons and create a breathtaking performance. The irony of this work is that the “artist-dummies” that are driving the car being guided by the elaborate monitoring television system to their inevitable destination, which is a big wall of television sets.

(Not finished)

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A Hole in Space Stitched by Two Screens

Hole-in-Space

“Art challenges technology, and technology inspires art.”

– John Lasseter, Chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios and DisneyToon Studios.

In 1980, a live art instillation situated in both New York and California simultaneously is considered one of the earliest forms of live networked media art. This instillation titled, “Hole-in-Space” was launched by artist Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz, founders of the Electronic Cafe. These two artists dabbled in the advancing technological side of art that began soon after the introduction of the World Wide Web. The two artists  created a digital bridge that connect the physical distance in our reality. This bridge is located in a place called the “third space”, a space that is not physical where ideas coexist. The bystanders are thrusted into this third space, their own little world, without any previous knowledge or expectation of what this instillation would do.

The instillation required two screens, one in the Lincoln Center in New York City and the other in Century City in Los Angles, that were connected by one satellite. Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz created the first live telecast that functioned on realtime between the two different coasts. This live art instillation can be dubbed in today’s society as one of the “first Factime or video call”.

Live Video Call “Facetime” 2017 https://support.apple.com/en-sg/HT204380

 

       The beauty of the video linked above is that it allowed me to see the candid and genuine reactions of the people who experienced this phenomenon. To us, those who were born and raised in the age where smartphones and LTE (4G Data) is a social norm, the idea of freaking out seems overly dramatic and silly ( 2:40 Audience in LA realizes that the other audience is from New York City). However, society at that time never in their wildest chance believed that this could happen. These people lived their lives thinking that they couldn’t see the uncle who moved to West Coast to pursue his career as a director until he made enough money to come back for Thanksgiving. The audience even believed that the screen was just a prerecording of actors acting as if it was real time (3:03). This was time in our modern history where everything felt so pure and untouched by harms of the World Wide Web. Everyone was just having fun and reveling at the wonders of the third space.

“Heinekin! Here! You got it! You got it! You got it!… Here you go baby!”

“One for me!”

  • – The audience enjoying themselves and interacting with one another (by passing a beer) through the third space

       This Iive art piece, contrary to other live performances where the audience merely watches the artist in his or her element, requires the help of the unsuspecting and curious audience. Granted, by the last telecast, many people made plans to meet each other at the two locations. Specifically a The unclear nature of the project allowed the artwork to be completely be run by the audience by letting them interpret the work in their own way. Certain people used this project to see the face of loved ones who they haven’t seen in a while, while others as seen in the video, started to treat this as a chance  to bring about their flirty side. This in a sense makes the audience, the artist and the artist, the audience. The intended audience becomes the artist because they have total control and paint the essence of the artwork on the blank screen. While the original artist becomes the audience as they witness how the “new” artists choose to pursue the artwork.

Daina Pupkevičiūtė & Vaida Tamoševičiūtė Practicing for the Big Performance
http://creatureliveart.lt/distance-connections-live-performance-creature-duo/

       Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz’s “Hole-in-Space” is a revolutionary piece of art that has continued to influence future generations of artists. Such as the artistic duo, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, who perform live art from different places in the world. Specifically, their “Limitless Distances” performance, which is about longing, distance, and connection. The artists performed this at “Meno Parkas” gallery in Kaunas, Lithuania and artist residency “Route-Art-Rageous” in Lutherstadt Wittenberg. Technology has influenced our society in many ways, from education to leisure and art. Art no longer pertains to traditional mediums such as painting and sculpture but it has expanded  to ready made objects and technology.

 

 

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Open Source Studio

Open Source Studio

History

“Evolution of the Mobile Phone”
https://www.slideshare.net/IIBA-UK/iinnovation-technology-and-the-digital-age

Technology. Merely a byproduct of an idea drawn on paper by men and women, has transformed into one of the most influential advancements in modern society. Specifically the creation and expansion of the World Wide Web, an open source of information designed only 25 years ago. Through a short period of time, the internet has managed to influence a large part of our lives and even spread throughout many parts of the world. The influence is so strong that many people, specifically the millennials consider the presence of internet and smart phones as “normal” and “mundane”. When the World Wide Web launched, it served as a platform and tool for many artists.

“Please Change Beliefs” http://www.adaweb.com/project/holzer/cgi/pcb.cgi?change

With the increase in technology, the method of Open Source has made a resurgence in popular culture. The Open Source way of thinking, producing, and distributing art was part of the “norm” until the strong influence of patents, copyrights, and proprietary ownership in the 1980s. Open Source in a sense is “technological production that is collectively authored or manufactured and distributed without profit, or limited profit-sharing according to specific guidelines” (“Open Source Studio” Randall Packer). And Open Source Studio (OSS), is an online free database that encourages users to collaborate together and exchange ideas for inspiration. In a sense Open Source Studio  is another way of “do(ing) it with others” (DIWO).  This peer-to-peer social interaction is a break from the individual, solo based working system encouraged by society. It allows us to bounce back ideas with one another to create the most well thought out and creative product. Which in the end helps the society grow not only through creation but as a community. 

 

“Teamwork Meme”
http://www.quickmeme.com/Teamwork
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Micro-Experimenting #2

Tele-Stroll

Summary

For this micro-project, my friends and I were put in a group of three. Resulting in my friend doing the project twice. However, for my project, we decided to do it about food. She and I are from different cultures and our original plan was centered around the differences in our cultures food. However, due to the factors such as; queue length and preparation time, we could not accomplish every aspect of our original plan.

Original Plan

Our original plan was centered around the plot of two friends from different parts of the world interacting with one another even though we are separated by land. In a sense we put ourselves in a third space, our phone screen, which in turn opens up a door for us to “pass on the food” and “apply lipstick simultaneously”. Our plan was to continue this tele-stroll until eventually we coincidently meet up at a certain location.

 

Posted by Daphne Natimin on Tuesday, 23 January 2018

*sidenote: my phone broke the morning of that day and I had to use my friends Facebook account

Discovery

However, Bella and I discovered something very unexpected. Small actions like playing with our hands to move our hair out of our face or shifting our glasses and even scratching our faces became synchronized without prior planning. It has been psychologically theorized that the more time you spend with someone the more you and the other person synchronize their movements– like a mirror. This proved to be true between Bella and me during our tele-stroll. Even though we were not physically together during the stroll, we both occupied and connected the third space together.

Reflection

Technology has advanced drastically. From its humble beginnings in factories to the growth of the internet, technology has become a tangible and standard part of human society. While some believe technology has done more bad than, there is an undeniable fact that technology has broken down the distance and branched together a new form of connection not obscured by distance or time. This connection creates a new form of space where people can together to play an active and cooperative role in society.

Let’s get the tele-stroll on the roll!

 

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Micro-experiment #1: Social Broadcasting

HII EVERYONEEEEEE ?????

Posted by Cecilia Hyun Jae Cho on Thursday, 18 January 2018

SUMMARY

       Entering the Experimental Interaction classroom, I had no idea what we would be expecting. We could assume that it would be about different modes of interaction from physical to spacial but we never really thought about internet. Internet has become the main mode of communication between people locally and globally. Internet connects us as well as serves as a platform for expression and storage system. In this micro-experiment, we used the Live video function provided by Facebook to record fifteen minutes of our time and then post it on a Live Video Wall. 

LIVE FACEBOOK WALL

       The wall was such an interesting way of compiling all the videos. The way it was laid out was like a newsroom where there are multiple screens taking in information from different places around the world (different time zones and locations). And though everyone is on the same wall, every screen shows people own little world. Even if the 15 minute journey was in the same school, everyone’s journey seemed different and unique.

FILMING

       Filming the video was an amusing experience for my friends and me. We released our “inner youtuber” with a “vlogging” style way of recording our videos. We acted silly while walking around the school from the Foundation 4D room to the Sunken Plaza. And the fact that there were people around the school who were unaware of our micro-project, mad the experience even more hilarious.

REFLECTION

       The power of technology has allowed us to connect with people in such a creative yet simple way. And though some people see technology as something that creates more problems such as; anti-social behavior, disillusionment, and accidents. Technology, like everything else in this world, and a flip side to it. Technology branches people from all over the world together and allows people to fortify those connections.