Advanced technology is usually seen as something that is far off and incomprehensible, but many aspects of new media art bridges that gap. The slowLab conducted research and collected 6 principles of design projects. These principles include:
To begin with, Chris Milk’s “The Treachery of Sanctuary” falls under the third principle, which is to reflect. Milk set out to utilize technology to induce human emotion; with the help of Tricklebank, I believe he succeeded.The artists take the audience through an entire emotional process. The piece gives the viewer a visual representation of the lifespan of the artist’s’ idea or their own. The piece includes a triptych, where the journey of “creative conception.” When a person stands in front of the panels kinect and infrared sensors take their bodies and and mingles it with birds. The first panel makes the body dissolve into a flock of birds, portraying the first moment of conception. The second depicts the body being attacked by birds, which represents a critical response. The third panel permits the body to produce a giant set of wings. The last panel showcases overcoming the critical response and preserving the best bits of the idea. Some of the most impressive aspects of this piece are how relatable they make a creative process. When artists speak about the way the come to their ideas, it always feels really foreign. This piece brings their thoughts and the ideas of the viewer together. Also the piece is just stunning aesthetically.
Next, Nalini Malani’s “In Search of Vanished Blood” created a multimedia piece that included rotating mylar cylinders, 6 video projections and Eastern and Western text projections. These elements come together to create an environment for the viewer. Milani’s work falls into the first design principle of reveal. I like how she is creating an environment that merges two cultures together seamlessly. The piece has an activist angle which I like because I believe that it is important to use your voice and speak up about issues.
The first fantasy project I would like to present is to gather local street artist in different communities and spray paint uncolored murals on walls using magnetic spray paint. Then providing throwies so that people and children in the community can color them in with lights. It would give street artist an opportunity to legally paint on walls and be fun activity for local residents.
This project was inspired by the principles, engage and participate. The collaboration of a group of artist is crucial; plus the collaboration of the artists and the participants is equally important. It is simple for people to make throwies; it is an open source project.The sense that there will be so many hands involved in the project is point. Even small children can have a piece of the work.
The next project I would like to make is inspired by the sixth principle: evolve. I would like to create an environment that measures the temperature of a person and their volume then project a series of images from an archive that the computer thinks they would enjoy. I would like to record the correlations between volume and temperature and which image they enjoy the most. Once there is more data, the image selection should be better and better.
The last project has been sparked by the principle of reveal. The everyday activity of looking at oneself’s reflection is an act many do not think about. The frequent and every day task of looking at yourself in the mirror will trigger a video livestream that will be projected in another location. Most people are pretty shy about their vanity, but we all do it.
