kathryn's blog

3Destruct, by Crea Composite (Thomas Vaquié, Jérémie Peeters and Yannick Jacquet), is a huge 3D screen made of mosquito net strips hanging from the ceiling. Animated and abstract images are projected on it and you can enter the screen and walk around the mosquito net labyrinth, following your whim, other visitors or the source of the accompanying music.

An interesting project in a world of openess and participation that might be worth following over 2008.

http://open.culture.org.uk/

"Phil Redmond, the creator of Grange Hill and other TV classics has launched a fantastic website called Open Culture to engage the people of Liverpool during the Capital of Culture year.

The website provides an unmoderated space for users to engage with culture, create culture and spark cultural debates!

I forgot to mention this great project too.

Simasticus by Charles Earl Love Yust (USA)
http://www.simasticus.com/

Simasticus applies Sims game-play to the real world where actual people and the public play the role of Sims characters and the game player retains control in provoking interactions. They utilize Sims game iconography and parts of the useri interface to present a set of tools that a game player uses in achieving the goals of getting strangers to interact in a positive way.  This project has been successful in getting strangers to interact (and dance together) on the street using text messages and thought bubbles projected into public areas from elevated locations in nearby buildings.

Last week i was also more fully introduced to artist group UHC Collective based in Manchester after hearing Jai Redman talk about their public art projects on Friday and also seeing them win the Artgene Open Prize that evening.

http://www.uhc.org.uk/

I particularly love their project Spring Shrouds, which is hiding new technology rather than revealing it.
UHC were commissioned to produce 100 ad shell shrouds, intended as temporary works of art, which carry the image of a tree and the legend 'trees breathe - adverts suck"

Last week I attended a great conference and programme of events and activity at Urban Screens Manchester http://www.manchesterurbanscreens.org.uk/

Our chinese artists 8gg did a great public audio visual performance on the screen outside Urbis on Saturday and we'll upload a recording of that event soon but i just wanted to highlight a few projects that i found interesting to you.

Alexander Stublic

Forms part of the artist group Mader Stublić Wiermann who collectively produce some great public art work the could work well on our very own Storey.
The piece below is Twists and Turns a video cloak for the UNIQA Tower in Vienna that interprets the building as part of the piece.

Watch the video here
And see further examples of his work on his website here http://www.webblick.de/indexEN.html
He has developed some great gallery based work too.

Prof. Joachim Sauter
Founder of art+com and full professor for New Media Art and Design at the University of the Arts, Berlin and since 2001 adjunct professor at UCLA, Los Angeles. www.artcom.de

He showed us some really interesting work that is completely tied into the infrastructure of a city. For example Duality (2007)

For a new building complex in downtown Tokyo, ART+COM has developed an artistic installation. It is located on the bank of an artificial pond at the exit of the metro station Osaki. The project deals with the duality between liquid / solid, real / virtuali and water ripples / light waves.

Fizzees makes the news
Fizzees, is a new prototype 'digitali pet' developed by Futurelab which promotes physically healthy behaviour in young people.  It has been getting media attention after being showcased at SIGGRAPH 2007 in San Diego and covered on the BBC.

Its a very interesting project in relation to our own ideas about our forthcoming Portable Pixeli Playground and the commissioning of new work that children and young people can get physical with.