Action Refraction

If Trees Had Spines

Jennifer Steinkamp is an installation artist who works with video and new media in order to explore ideas about architectural space, motion, and perception. (She also contributed imagery to the U2 concert tours PopMart and Elevation.) York production/design prof Ian Garrett recommended we have a look at her work with digitally animated trees for the Dream's many forest scenes.

Orbit 2 (2008 -- still images and description, artist's video) video installation at The Armory Show:

Mike Kelley (2008 -- still images and description, artist's video), video installation at Mass MoCA:

Dervish (2005) -- still images and description, artist's video)

A brief video of Steinkamp talking about making the piece Mike Kelley (she starts talking about the software at 1:40):

Here are still images with links to several more pieces for which I couldn't find embeddable video:

The Vanquished (2011) -- still images and description, artist's video)

Eye Catching (2004) -- still images and description, artist's video)

Marie Curie (2011) -- still images and description, artist's video)

Florence Nightingale (2010) -- still images and description, artist's video)

And some earlier works:

Happy Happy (1997)

Smoke Screen (1995)

Naysplatter (1996)

3D Set Projection

In this music video for "Sweater" by the Belgian band Willow, director/editor/3D animator Filip Sterckx creates a universe on a soundstage using just three projectors, two walls and a floor:

The behind-the-scenes shows how much craft and practice it takes to interact with a virtual environment (and stay on the treadmill!):

(Hat tip to Jos Humphrey.)

Light of Hand

What kind of theatre magic can you create with a handheld screen (or seven)...?

"The iPad act was a custom creation, made to be performed in the Stockholm booth at MIPIM trade show in Cannes. It was commissioned by lovely bureau Step2 Communications and the brief was to create a visual, magical and striking presentation about Stockholm using modern technology.

Charlie Caper and Erik Rosales imagined, scripted and built it. We also flew in Ben Seidman from the US to help with all aspects of it and the music was written by Markus Jägerstedt. The video on the iPads is made by Image Research."

Created and written by Charlie Caper and Erik Rosales
Commissioned by Step2 Communication
Music by Markus Jägerstedt
iPad animations by Image Research
Magic Consultant Ben Seidman
Conceptual inspiration Marco Tempest

For more information see http://www.d1gits.com

PBS Weighs in on Kinect and Holograms

On Idea Channel (a PBS show that examines the connections between pop culture, technology and art), Mike Rugnetta asks: Does the Kinect Make Microsoft an Arts Benefactor?

If you haven't had a chance to play with Microsoft's Kinect, you're missing out on some great video games and some amazing art! The Kinect is a crazy awesome piece of XBox 360 hardware that maps your physical movements onto any screen. Artists of all stripes have embraced the Kinect - using the gesture recognition technology to create some pretty amazing interactive artworks and insanely impressive visuals. These works wouldn't have existed without this amazing piece of technology, making the corporate giant Microsoft the 21st century's incarnation of Lorzeno de Medici."

And further to yesterday's post on holograms, here's another Idea Channel muse:

You might have heard about the debut of Hologram Tupac at the music festival Coachella earlier this year. But with Queen's recent announcement of a Hologram Freddie Mercury and TLC's plans for a Hologram Lisa Left Eye Lopes, it looks like Hologram stars are here to stay. Is this hologram mania just nostalgia, or is it part of an art movement called "New Aesthetic" that blends art and technology?

Which of course leads inevitably to the question: "Is Miku Hatsune A More Authentic Pop Star Than Lana Del Rey?"