Japanese media art unit Exonemo’s latest work focuses on the differences between two worlds - the real, physical and our increasingly information-based, virtual. Citations of doubt in the real world itself among the two artists (Sembo Kensuke and Yae Akaiwa) led to an identification and consideration of a gap between the two worlds, namely one of “death.” For the duo, “death” in the real world has no relation to a death in the proposed imaginary world of information. Un-Dead-Link (exhibited at Plug-In, Basel till August 24) works to connect the different realities and blur such a boundary by relying on a pre-programmed software with electronic goods Exonemo bought in Basel. “We modified the game Half-Life2 by using Garry’s mod. The game is connected to the piano while all electrical goods are connected by midi/dmx (protocol) with custom devices.” With that, the audience can see, feel and hear the effects of a symbolic death in a computer game in an actual physical environment, bridging the gap. The gallery has two contrasting spaces- the ground floor is bright and open while the basement floor is dark and closed; reflecting the two worlds in the space. — Vicente Gutierrez, Neural.

The Tech Virtual Museum Workshop, a project of The Tech Museum of Innovation, is a place to design and prototype exhibits online, using the web and Second Life. You can propose an idea, and develop it with other creative thinkers and experts from around the world. Anyone can join and all contributions are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

The best projects will be eligible for prizes and will be co-developed as physical exhibits at The Tech Museum in conjunction with its upcoming Art, Film and Music exhibition that will open June 4, 2008. Here is a list of all of the projects already underway, and two musical ones: Continue reading

Dancing in Second Life - Mixed Reality Performance in Second Life & Real Life - part of The International Society for Improvised Music (ISIM) Second Annual Conference: Building Bridges :: December 14, 2007; 2-3 pm EST / 20:00-21:00 GMT+1 :: Locations: online in Second Life: Funk Soup Theater, Gembong West, 31/75/551 and at Northwestern University School of Music, Lutkin Hall. Attendance is limited. RSVP with your Second Life name. First time in Second Life? Check out our SL help page.

In this session, Second Life avatars will dance with improvised music from Real Life at ISIM. Real Life performers are Pauline Oliveros - electronics, harmonica & small instruments with spoken word artist Ione & dancer Heloise Gold. Continue reading

SYMPOSIUM 4: Audio Extranautes: Flux, Distance, Sociability :: December 17-18, 2007 :: ENSA Villa Arson, Nice :: Ping the Vatican workshop :: December 19-21. Details concerning registration here.

The principal objective is to investigate questions concerning the local, social and collective aspects of interaction between physical and digital space (Internet, telephone etc), expressed through experimentation in current digital audio practices. Audio Extranautes, new perspectives on acoustic space via electronic networks, opens several axes of research developed jointly by the two laboratories: Continue reading

Flocking Orchestra (aka DT1) by Tatsuo Unemi and Daniel Bisig: DT1 is an interactive installation that employs flocking algorithms to produce music and visuals. The user’s motions are captured by a video camera and influence the flock’s behaviour. Each agent moving in a virtual 3D space controls a MIDI instrument whose playing style depends on the agent’s state. In this system, the user acts as a conductor influencing the flock’s musical activity. In addition to gestural interaction, the acoustic properties of the system can be modified on the fly by using an intuitive GUI. The acoustical and visual output of the system results from the combination of the flock’s and user’s behaviour. It therefore creates on the behavioural level a mixing of natural and artificial reality. The system has been designed to run an a variety of different computational configuration ranging from small laptops to exhibition scale installations.

Teri Rueb’s Core Sample, like many Land Art works, is dependent on weather conditions, has limited access, and demands physical exertion. Two subways and a ferry boat later, we arrived at Spectacle Island - one of the eleven islands in Boston Harbor Islands national park - and headed for the Visitor’s Center. Outfitted with a GPS enabled PDA and a set of Seinnheiser headphones, I stepped into the bright sunlight and waited - as per instructions - for the signal to activate the device. After about 4 or 5 minutes, the headphones came to life, and I began my walk. Continue reading

Earlier this year I was briefly involved in the final stages of a project called “Mix House“, by architects Karen Van Lengen and Joel Sanders, and composer/sound artist Ben Rubin. My role was to compose a piece for the last minute of the video shown below. The concept behind the house, which currently exists only as a design and in this animation, is described below in the official text from the “Open House: Intelligent Living by Design” exhibit in 2007, a collaborative exhibit between the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

“‘Mix House’ expands the modernist notion of visual transparency afforded by the ubiquitous picture window to include aural transparency as well. Continue reading

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller create multimedia pieces that combine aspects of sculpture, cinema, sound installation, and short-story fiction. Installations such as ‘The Paradise Institute’ (2001) use forced perspective and a three-dimensional sound track to create the illusion that one is sitting in a large theater. Their ‘sound walks’ and ‘video walks’ are immersive pieces that use common consumer technologies, such as iPods and video cameras, to create experiences that blur the line between experienced reality and narrative fiction. Their works are exhibited internationally and they currently have a solo exhibit ‘The Killing Machine and other stories’ that will arrive at the Miami Art Museum on Oct. 15, 2007.

Due to Janet and George’s busy schedule, they will not be able to answer reader’s questions in the comments section following the interview. Continue reading

A mixed reality, typographical videoclip for “Cuarteto de Nos“, a rock band from Uruguay (in Spanish). A nice mix of typographical effects with traced black & white cartoon-like band members. Thanks to information aesthetics.

SoundScapes by Rachael Watts 10/7/07 :: An article on the 2007 Soundscape Contest for the Zurich Digital Arts Week (DAW).

The word SoundScape conjures notions of sounds that range from the passive wallpaper variety to that of something engaging, interactive and assertive. Here SoundScape could be seen as according to Brian Eno, ‘music for everyday living’ or, sounds for potential or future living. For the Zurich Digital Art Weeks (DAW), 2007 a SoundScape programme was developed. The works selected, according to the DAW website, display an ability to ‘evoke the presence of things or beings in space to the extent that each work ‘immerses the listener into a real or imaginary sonic environment’. Immersion and engagement are key characteristics of all works to be presented.

We become easily affected by sound. It permeates the body through the ear, which is essentially a hole in the head, a fact Kahn and Whitehead remind us in their text “Wireless Imagination: Sound, Radio, and the Avant-Garde”. It is how we choose to consume and compute this phenomena in conjunction with specific production techniques that dictate how immersive sound can be. It is important to understand how individually, we come to listen and interact with the sounds and what perspective and associations we bring to the sounds that determine our opinion of the quality and ingenuity. Continue reading