FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2006
Contact:
The Museum of Television & Radio Presents
Beyond TV: New
Media Art from Studio IMC
An Interactive Gallery Exhibit Showing From
June 2 to August 31, 2006
Offers visitors the
opportunity to experience technologies used in video games,
the Internet,
social software, and cell phones.
Since the last major shift in
media from radio to television in the late 1940s, the TV set has been at the
center of the American home. Today, with
the advent of “new media,” the viewer is transformed into an active
participant, and a seismic media shift is underway.
Individual Piece Descriptions
•CINE
2.0
(Collaborative
Immersive Networked Environment, pronounced "sign")
Artists: James
Tunick, Miro Kirov, and Houston Riley with Tony Rizzaro and Braden Weeks Earp
CINE 2.0 is a mixed-media environment inspired by Star Trek: The Next Generation’s
Holodeck. Multiple users fly through an urban
datascape in an immersive environment by using body gestures. Participants in
the environment can also collaborate to compose music and, in addition, people
out in the city itself can send photographs from their cell phones to be
incorporated into the datascape environment.
CINE takes the computer screen out of the box and reconfigures
it as a life-size environment. Control of visuals and sound takes place through
full-body gestures rather than just mouse-clicks. As the traditional computer screen and
mouse-keyboard interface transforms to fill the room, future entertainment
platforms like CINE will enhance collaboration among multiple users, opening up
whole new worlds of learning, art, creativity, and play. CINE is powered by a network of servers and
computers that includes Studio IMC's BlackBox and IMCvote mobile technology.
•Swarm
Artist: Daniel
Shiffman
Swarm paints a digital portrait of the viewer. Stationary viewers will see their portrait,
while moving ones will produce an image more like an abstract painting.
Swarm is an interactive video installation that
implements the pattern of flocking birds (using Craig Reynold’s “Boids” model)
as a constantly moving brush stroke. Taking inspiration from Jackson Pollack’s
“drip and splash” technique of pouring a continuous stream of paint onto a
canvas, Swarm smears colors captured from a live video input of the person
looking at the screen, producing an organic painterly effect in real time. The person viewing the screen becomes part of
the art.
•freeSTYLE
Artist: Dana
Karwas
freeSTYLE is a music video created entirely from cell
phones. Video clips and text messages are sent in by cell phone, which are then
sequenced at random and mixed with music to create a living, abstract music
video. Participants can send a video or text message to 1@dk22.com.
Cell phones offer an extension of one's identity. Users
can send messages to freeSTYLE and, in return, they will hear and see their
messages free-styled back to them with an added beat. Guided by a hip-hop beat
of choice, the user can hear and see their mobile presence in the form of a
living music video.
•Zig
Zag Muzig Block (ZZMB)
Artist: Inhye Lee
Going beyond the tradition of the children's mix-and-match
toy, ZZMB allows the viewer to create new characters from four existing singing
characters by rotating or sliding each block. Playing with ZZMB's blocks also
creates new musical compositions.
Each top, middle, and bottom block plays a different
character's voice, harmony (chord), and rhythm (beat) of music, which are
written as parts of complete scores. Users can make variations of the sound by
applying different voices, chords, or rhythms from other blocks. When blocks
are matched to compose one of the original, matching characters, users can hear
the full original score. Slide the blocks to the side to make more musical
variations.
•LifeForce
Artist: James
Tunick
LifeForce transforms the cell phone into a digital paint
brush and musical instrument. The work comes alive only when the viewer
participates, waving a cell phone to "paint" with light and sound. Multiple users can control the pulsing visuals
as well as push sounds across the space.
Powered by Studio IMC's BlackBox media player and custom
software, the installation invites viewers to collaborate utilizing a
flatscreen, stereo sound, and cell phones. The work is a commentary on the need
for more participatory art forms in contemporary museums, and strives to
validate the mobile device as a tool for creative expression. LifeForce envisions
a future in which such artistic tools are common to public spaces like city
sidewalks and sides of buildings.
This exhibit was curated and
produced by Ellen O’Neill, David Bushman, Jack CK Chen, and Arthur Smith at The
Museum of Television & Radio, and by James Tunick, Tony Rizzaro, and Brad
Leinhardt from Studio IMC.
Admission to Beyond TV: New Media Art from Studio IMC is included
with the Museum’s suggested contribution: Members free; $10.00 for adults; $8.00 for senior citizens and students;
and $5.00 for children under fourteen.
Studio IMC (Interactive
Multimedia Culture) is a New York City-based new media agency headed by James
Tunick and Tony Rizzaro. Studio IMC is comprised of an international team of
artists and software engineers focused on innovation. Studio IMC also produces
a tradeshow called the IMCexpo with the aim of spurring innovation and
showcasing its artists. More information
can be found at www.StudioIMC.com and www.IMCexpo.net.
The
Museum of Television & Radio, with locations in
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The Museum of Television &
Radio in New York, located at 25 West 52 Street in Manhattan, is open Tuesdays
through Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. and until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The
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